Perfect Bread Machine Spelt Bread

"My husband's quest to find a recipe which produces light, fluffy (rather than solid and dense) spelt bread from a bread machine has finally paid off. He did lots of experimenting, and this one has produced consistently good results. Update: can't see how to respond to the review which found the bread heavy, so responding here. If you definitely used WHITE spelt flour, not wholewheat, then it sounds as though perhaps different bread machines get different results? :-( However, there is one other possibility. Did you use fast action dried yeast, suitable for breadmakers? Or Dried active yeast which is for hand baking? We were using the former. The other thing my husband suggested trying, if you're using the correct flour and yeast, is to try upping the amount of yeast you're using, and see if that helps. You could also try upping the amount of water slightly, but try each solution separately first :-) My husband's number one rule, stemming from his scientific background :-) Hope one of these tips work, and not that it is the bread machine themselves (ours is a Panasonic SD255)"
 
Download
photo by Julie W. photo by Julie W.
photo by Julie W.
photo by Liz L. photo by Liz L.
photo by Michael photo by Michael
photo by Rick429CJ photo by Rick429CJ
photo by Rick429CJ photo by Rick429CJ
Ready In:
4hrs 5mins
Ingredients:
7
Yields:
1 loaf of c12 slices
Serves:
12
Advertisement

ingredients

Advertisement

directions

  • Add water to bread machine, then oil, then flour, then salt, then sugar, then yeast.
  • Set on "Normal" setting (which is 4 hours), with small loaf and light crust settings.
  • NB: If you use wholegrain spelt rather than wholemeal, then reduce the yeast to 1.5 slightly rounded teaspoons (about 3.5g).

Questions & Replies

  1. My bread machine is smaller. I used to have a Black & Decker with 2 rotating parts, now this new one, a Hamilton Beach, has only 1 rotating part and is definitely 2/3 the size. I'm not sure about the size of this loaf, so should I play it safe and cut the ingredients in half? Then, should it still be baking for 4 hours? My normal setting is 2h53 (1.5lb) or 3h (2lb) with 2 kneading cycles and 3 rising cycles.
     
  2. what if i just got the wholegrain one instead of the white? Will it turn out to be really tough if I just use the wholegrain spelt flour?
     
  3. Are you suppose to use white OR wholemeal flour, or both?
     
Advertisement

Reviews

  1. I made this recipe in my ancient Sunbeam bread machine which does not have a short knead setting and nor does it have a four-hour cycle time. The bread rose beautifully but then crashed and looked like a disaster. I am completely blaming my machine and not the recipe. And even though I thought the loaf was going to be a write-off, I tried a piece and it was so fantastic that we ended up devouring the whole misshapen loaf in no time at all! Definitely a five-star recipe if you've got the right bread machine!
     
  2. Thanks Chef UK and hubby! For once my spelt loaf was to die for!! I used all spelt flour and no whole spelt flour as I was too impatient to go to the shops! I must have a different breadmaker, as the settings were slightly different and time was only just over 3 hours. My bread turned out quite fluffy! Very excited! Dying to make my next loaf! One thing I would like to ask is if I were to add seeds for instance, at what point would I be adding those? Again thank you!!
     
    • Review photo by Liz L.
  3. Followed recipe exactly and it was light and fluffy as described. This will be a keeper. Bread was eaten in one day it was that yum!
     
  4. One other thing you can try, if you have a programmable machine, is to decrease the kneading times. Spelt bread has a very delicate gluten structure and ideally should not be mixed for more than 4 minutes. I have a very old programmable Breadman Ultimate (10+ years old), and set the first knead for 3 minutes (the incorporation knead) and the second knead set for 4 minutes. Then first rise is 40 minutes, skip the punchdown and second rise, a 15 second shaping and a 50 minute final rise. 40 minutes baking. If your loaf is collapsing, you may have too much moisture. Try adding a tablespoon or two of flour or decrease the liquid to 1 1/4 cups. The dough ball is generally a tad bit sticky, but should not be "wet" looking. Hope this helps. I've had great luck doing this using 100% white spelt flour.
     
  5. It is a very chewy, but airy bread. Quite tasty! My only question is why the center deflated a bit. Might I need to add more yeast to maintain the fullness of the bread (I used about 1 3/4 TB)?
     
Advertisement

Tweaks

  1. I put in a cup of seeds and currants when the timer went off to add extra ingredients. It really added to the taste of the bread.
     
  2. THIs consistently rose up then collapsed on the longer baking setting. I now use a rapid bake and it makes a dense but tasty loaf. I substitute one cup of strong white flour too.
     
  3. Perfect loaf. I used white bread flour (wheat)) and substituted maple syrup for the sugar. 2 t of yeast. Kids love it and it digests well.
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

I love to cook, and I love to eat! As a result I prefer to cook and eat healthy, low cal food on the whole, but only if it tastes good :-) I'm British, lived in Germany for 12 years, but have now moved back to the UK. We try to grow and make as much of our food as we can.
 
View Full Profile
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Find More Recipes