Yesterday I started my January kick-start! Bye-bye mince pies (sniff sniff), goodbye boxes of Leonidas chocolates, wheels of cheese and general piggery. I did a big shop to restock my cupboard and decided to make a spelt bread to keep me going for the week.
My cousin gave me a book called The Guilt Free Gourmet for Christmas and it’s written by Jordan and Jessica Bourke, a brother and sister duo from Dublin and all of the recipes are wheat, sugar and dairy free. Most of these “healthy” books tend to have rubbish recipes, but this one is great. Jordon is trained in Ballymaloe and worked in a Michelen star restaurant and Jessica is a nutritionist who makes sure all the delicious recipes pass the healthy test. I recommend it for anyone looking for a healthy but really tasty recipe book.
They had a recipe for Spelt bread which I tried, and honestly its the nicest Spelt bread I have ever eaten. It’s ridiculously easy to make, and packed with seeds and other good stuff. The recipe says to put in raisins, which were great in it, but I generally leave them out if I’m planning on using the loaf for sandwiches etc. Spelt still has gluten in it, but it’s much better for you than other breads. It’s easier to digest and higher in protein. This bread is well worth trying, I munched mine hot from the oven with smokey red pepper hummus… delicious!
Ingredients (Makes one loaf):
475g Wholemeal spelt Flour
1 tsp bread soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sea salt
150g mixed seeds (optional- I sprinkled mine on top instead of putting them in the mix)
50g raisins (optional)
550ml tepid water
1 tbsp blackstrap molasses
1. Mix all dry ingredients together
2. Stir the molasses in to the water, and then mix the wet ingredients into dry ingredients.
3. Immediately pour into a greased and lined bread tin (20cm/8 inch loaf tin), and pop into a preheated oven at 180C for 45 to 60 minutes. It’s done when brown on top and a skewer comes out clean.
4. Take out of tin and let cool on it’s back. (If you put it straight into a tupperware or bread bin the steam from the heat can make the crust soft, so let it cool first)
Can I half the recipe?
If so, which tin size would I have to use?
and for how long should I bake the loaf?
Thanks!
Hi Daniella,
Yes you can half the recipe and a 1/2 pound tin should do the trick. It would probably take 30-45 minutes depending on your oven. Just pierce it with a skewer when you think it’s done and when the skewer comes out clean it’s ready. If you’re worried the current recipe might make too much for you, you could always just freeze half the loaf- it freezes perfectly.
Also you could use honey instead of the molasses, it would have a different taste but I’m sure it would still work fine. Alternatively you could try a tablespoon of dark brown sugar.
I hope that helps and thanks for your interest, I hope it works out well for you 🙂
Emma
Can I substitue blackstrap molasses for honey?
Hi 🙂 the recipe calls for both bread soda and baking soda, but these are the same thing. Did you mean baking powder?? Recipe looks delucious, I can’t wait to try it
Hi Laura- good spot! It’s one teaspoon bread soda and one teaspoon baking powder, I better amend that now. It actually is really delicious, I always make it during the week without the fruits and seeds for sandwiches. I hope you like it 🙂