I’ve had to hide this in a cupboard because I can’t stop eating it. This spelt and honey tear and share bread is incredibly moreish and a good accompaniment to lots of different autumn meals. Eat it for breakfast or tea, split and spread with butter and honey; dunk it in a bowl of spicy pumpkin soup; or devour it with a good cheese.
Spelt is an ancient grain with a lovely, nutty flavour. I bought mine freshly milled from Suffolk’s Pakenham Watermill, which is well worth a visit if you are in the Bury St Edmunds area. People with milder intolerances sometimes find spelt easier to digest than regular wheat flour because it’s lower in gluten. Having said that, it is still a wheat, so unsuitable for coeliacs.
I’ve mixed it 3:2 here with strong white bread flour to give a better rise. Although you can make this tear and share entirely with spelt please be aware that, like rye, it will produce a denser bread.
The glaze is optional – slightly sticky but delicious. I like it with a pinch of cayenne to play against the sweetness of the honey, but again, that’s a matter of choice.
Spelt and Honey Tear and Share Bread
Ingredients:
300g stoneground spelt flour
200g strong white bread flour
7g instant dried yeast
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp runny honey
325ml tepid water
For the glaze:
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp runny honey
Pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
Method:
Put the flours and yeast in a large bowl and stir to mix. Add water, honey and salt and mix to a dough. Knead on a lightly floured work surface for about 10 minutes by hand or in a food mixer fitted with a dough hook for 5-6 minutes. It will start out sticky but become drier and more stretchy and elastic as you work it.
Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and leave to prove for an hour or until doubled in size. Spelt rises faster than regular wheat flour so don’t let it over-prove. Knock it back, divide into eight even portions and form into individual rolls. Place these in a lightly oiled 22cm cake tin – I find a springform tin is easiest.
Prove for a further half hour and set the oven to 200C/180 fan/400F/Gas Mark 6. When risen, bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
While the bread is cooking, melt together the ingredients for the glaze in a small pan on a low heat. When the bread is done, release the sides of the tin and brush the glaze over the bread while it’s still warm.
Move to a wire rack and cool completely before tucking in.
Christmas morning breakfast treat sorted! Thank you, Linda!
You’re welcome, Jan, hope you like it as much as we do.
Can just imagine this bread with a lovely coating of butter! Use spelt flour in my Sourdough along with Rye. Will be happening tomorrow. Thanks Linda :))
Thanks, Mary, pleased you like it. Let me know what you think!
Sounds wonderful and would be good with a good cheddar, I’m sure.
Yes, a nice sharp one. Thanks, Fiona. Lx
Would that be grated cheese in the dough or a slice of cheese tucked in the finished bread? I bought some spelt yesterday. Small steps…
Tucked in or on the side! Cheers, Chip.
Sounds delicious – and looks like it was made for that plate!
I do love my old bread boards! Thanks, Jane. x
I love the idea of the cayenne pepper in it..
Thanks, Steph, just enough to tickle the tongue!
Waahoo. My first ever yeasted bread and I thank you for it. It was not smooth sailing switching outdated instant yeast with dry active yeast mixed in the flour before reading instructions. Thank you google. My over achieving oven baked it in 20 minutes, though possibly 15 and I was a little heavy handed with the cayenne with no regrets. Can the spelt be subbed out if I find myself in one of your far flung territories with fewer options? Thanks again Linda. I made bread! Can phyllo dough be far behind? Small steps…
I’m thrilled that you made it and like it, Chip! Thanks. Yes, you can sub ordinary white bread flour – it may take just a bit longer to rise as spelt rises quickly but as the original recipe is a mixture there won’t be a huge difference. Hope that helps and well done! *roundofapplause*