Spelt bread recipe
According to the Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Institute, approximately 5% of Irish children and 3% of Irish adults suffer from food allergies.
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The following foods account for nearly 90% of all allergic reactions:
- Cow’s milk
- Eggs
- Shellfish
- Fish
- Soya
- Peanuts
- Wheat
- Treenuts
Food intolerance symptoms are usually described as unpleasant reactions to particular foods and occur when our body is unable to digest those foods successfully. Can you tell I’m trying to sound authoritative here? Just go with it.
“The most common food intolerances are to gluten and lactose”
However, my spelt bread recipe is free from the most common allergens and is low in gluten.
With the increase of food allergies and intolerance comes a greater awareness and greater dietary choices. Supermarkets now stock dairy free alternatives to milk, butter, cheese, and yoghurt. Those with gluten intolerance now have a choice of breads, cakes, and other baked goods made with a wide range of gluten free flours and grains. Check out the wonderful blog Dublin Gluten Free for a list of gluten free food alternatives and other great resources.
However, even with all this great choice and convenience I still hear a lot of allergy sufferers bemoan gluten and dairy free breads with cries that they miss fresh baked bread that is moist, tasty and substantial. Gluten free bread is often dry and crumbly. Do to health reason I was on a gluten free diet for a year and found I ended up not bothering with bread substitutes because they tasted like corrugated cardboard.
With this in mind, I set out to create a recipe for tasty and filling bread that will satisfy and cater for most people with specific dietary requirements. It will also appeal to those following a low sugar, unprocessed diet, or those who are still managing to stick to a healthy diet (what are your secrets?).
I created this spelt bread recipe so it can be enjoyed fresh (a lot of allergy friendly bread needs to be toasted to taste better). It goes great with soup, is delicious smeared with butter or jam or both (feck it, why not?), and it holds together well enough to make a sandwich. This was a tough challenge, trying to cater for many different diets, but one I enjoyed and I hope you enjoy it too.
So here it is, my free from / food intolerance / allergy friendly…
Spelt Bread Recipe
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 50 minutes
Yield: 1 loaf
Ingredients
400 grams of whole grain spelt flour (spelt flour does contain a small amount of gluten but is well tolerated by most, however if you are intolerant to spelt flour just substitute brown rice flour or any gluten free flour)
2 teaspoons of bread soda (gluten free if necessary)
1/2 a teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of fruit sugar (fruit sugar is sweeter than sucrose cane sugar and has a lower glycemic index, which is preferable for diabetics, however if you don’t have fruit sugar just substitute granulated sugar at the ratio of 3 to 1. If you are on a no sugar diet just leave it out)
100 grams of pin head oats (gluten free if necessary)
150 grams of porridge oats (gluten free if necessary)
4 tablespoons of sunflower oil (or any other mild tasting oil)
500 grams of natural / plain dairy free yoghurt or 450 millilitres of milk – soya / rice / almond etc. (use leftovers to make my lemon yoghurt scones or raita)
As you can see from the ingredients, this bread can be easily adapted to suit all tastes and dietary requirements.
Prep
Grease a 2lb loaf tin and line the bottom with parchment paper.
Pre-heat oven to 190°C / 170°C fan assisted / 375°F / gas mark 5.
Instructions
Sieve flour, bread soda, salt, and fruit sugar together in a large mixing bowl.
Add in pinhead oats and porridge oats.
Mix in the oil and combine for a few minutes with a wooden spoon.
Add in the yoghurt or milk a little at a time and mix well. You may need to add more of the wet ingredients depending on the flour used, just use enough until the mixture is thick and sticky (like the folk in Coppers of a Saturday night).
Pour the mixture into the tin.
Bake on the middle shelf for 50 minutes. Or until a skewer comes out clean, or until the bread ‘sounds’ done. Or whichever way you like to test your bread’s doneness.
The finished product should be moist and dense (like your one next door, wha?) with a wonderful doughy texture.
Simples, no?
Cut yourself a slice and eat it whilst it is still warm and before the smell of freshly baked bread draws everybody into the kitchen to see what’s cooking and there is none left. This bread disappears quickly.
“Bon Nomnom”
So, what do you think of my spelt bread recipe? Did you try it out? Did you like it? What improvements would you make? Share a photo of your own attempt at this spelt bread recipe or leave any feedback and comments below. I love to hear from you.
You might also like to try my light and fluffy scones recipe.
Be sure to check out my honey butter recipe which is delicious smeared on a warm slice of the spelt bread.
Use up any left over yoghurt in my lush lemon yoghurt and sultanta cake recipe.
You can use up any milk or spelt flour by making my fluffy American pancakes recipe.
If you like this spelt bread recipe, please share with others.
Loads more bread recipes coming up. Hopefully not too far in the future, must maintain the blog more regularly.
Made this bread yesterday and it was absolutely delicious! Making again today,it’s all gone already!
Hi Joni, thank you so much for trying out the recipe. Glad you liked it. When I bake this bread it never lasts long! Glad to see it is the same in your home!
Goodmorning Melanie! Can i use steel cut oats?
Hi Nemy,
Yup, you can use whatever oats you like! Although just put a little less in if you use jumbo oats. I hope you like the recipe.
This sounds and looks delicious! I’ve tried a few free from cakes and have always been disappointed as they’ve been really dry. I’ll definitely give this one a go!
Yes, gluten free cakes and bread can be really dry but I think this bread isn’t dry at all and that’s thanks to the yoghurt and oil.
Oh I’ve never heard of this before, I have allergies so this might be something I could give a try! I love bread so much, its; the one thing I miss the most! Fresh bread and salted butter!
I eat so much bread. This one is great because it really holds up well when you slice it so you can get really thick pieces, great for smothering with butter.
I have a gluten allergy and I’m so happy that stores stock things up now. The food is actually quite good, but I do love making my own.
There is a really great choice of gluten free food now but I find that the GF breads can be a bit dry and bland. This one is great as you don’t even need to toast it to make it taste good, which is what I have to do with a lot of gluten free bread.
Wow this is great for those with allergies. I’ve never seen this recipe before but it looks really good.
It’s super adaptable so you can add in what you like and take out what you don’t. It really is great for people with allergies of many food intolerances.
I’m a sucker for breads. I haven’t been too successful baking with spelt. I will give this one a try! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
You shouldn’t have any problem with the spelt in this recipe. You don’t do anything to it, you just put it in the bowl and mix. No kneading needed!
My grandson suffers from a number of food allergies and when I saw your recipe I knew I had to make it. As I type, I’m sitting here with a fresh piece slathered with strawberry jam. The recipe is a keeper and I can’t wait to pass it along to my daughter. Grandma approved!
Oh Alison, I am delighted you like it. I think it is a great recipe and so adaptable. It is gorgeous with jam on top and I love adding some peanut butter too.
It looks so good and not even difficult to make (new cook here). I personally only make banana breads because I’m kind of afraid of flunking the recipe if I make other breads, just an irrational fear of mine haha. I also really liked that you used oats in your bread, I do the same to healthify my banana bread recipe.
I promise you this recipe is very easy to make and there isn’t much that can go wrong with it. Just make sure your oven is the right temperature and make sure it doesn’t burn on top.
A couple of questions: can I make the same recipe without the salt? I need to find a bread for my one year old daughter and I need it to be salt – free. And second: can this be made in a slow cooker maybe?
The salt is purely there for flavour so yes you can leave it out. I have never tried it in the slow cooker. No there’s an idea! Let me know if you do try it in the slow cooker and if it worked well!
Your pics are great! The bread sound so tender! Having food intolerances myself I will definitely try it! Thanks!
Thanks so much. I wasn’t too happy with the photos, but I am glad you think they are good.
It does look good. I am interested in finding more gluten free recipes for my family. Great pictures.
Spelt flour isn’t gluten free but it is very well tolerated by most.
What a great recipe – I’m going to try making this – homemade bread is always great!
I’d love to make homemade bread all the time! It is always great.