Looking for a reliable & easy spelt bread recipe

I regularly use dmsnyder’s San Joaquin Sourdough with spelt or spelt and whole wheat making up 5-20% of total flour. Couldn’t tell from your note whether you had any All Purpose or bread flour available. I usually bump the hydration up to 75% and make batards with the dough. As far as I’m concerned, David’s 14-step process is the star of his post. Read it, then read it another 5 or 6 times. It just works for me.

Good luck,

Phil

I've been working on improving my baking of sourdough and have been baking a recipe from the Perfect Loaf.  http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/62620/spelt-red-fife-and-rye-sourdough original recipe here https://www.theperfectloaf.com/spelt-rye-and-whole-wheat-sourdough-bread/  I've outlined the original recipe and in my blog posts, I've bake and documented three bakes, made small modifications.  The spelt comprises 25% of the total flour with whole wheat, rye and strong white flour making up the rest.  It tastes great.  I've only been baking sourdough for just under a year and only able to bake every two weeks for the most part and occasionally weekly so I still consider myself a novice.

Benny

The search function turned up several: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/search/node/spelt%20recipe

or http://www.thefreshloaf.com/search/node/spelt%20formula

Btw, often times you can salvage an overly sticky or wet dough just by working in some white flour during the bulk ferment and still be able to cook it as a "loaf."

And then  if it still looks like it won't form a loaf, then at any time, during bulk ferment or the final proof, you can divide the dough into smaller pieces, 125 g to 225 g or so, and make bannock or flat breads.  Anywhere from 3/4" thick dough slabs down to pita size, or even chapatis/tortillas

After mixng in white flour to lower the hydration, or even just coating the surface, give it another 30 minutes rest, at least, for the added flour to absorb moisture from the rest of the dough.

Intentionally making pita or bannock is one of my favorites anyway, as it cooks faster. 

And if the flat bread is not palatable, then just bake  it a little more to dry  out, cut it up, and feed it to birds.  Or make bread crumbs/crutons for yourself.    With a little ingenuity, dough/bread never has to go in the trash.

Bon appétit.

I started experimenting with spelt in the last few months. I've made a few batches of 100% spelt with 50% whole spelt and 50% refined and a spelt starter; I've used Hamelman's Whole Wheat Multigrain with spelt instead of whole wheat; and in the past few days two batches of The Perfect Loaf's Spelt-Wheat-Rye.  My lessons from the 100% spelt is that spelt doesn't have the strength of wheat. It feels wetter, so I gather the grain doesn't absorb as much water as wheat. The flavor, however, is delicious. Hamelman's 5-grain with Rye, similar to the Multigrain Wheat, is perhaps my favorite bread. The spelt variation is right up there in flavor. 

My 100% spelt loaves, baked in a combi pan, were flatter than the equivalent with wheat, despite efforts to build strength. Given the choice, I would combine high percentages of spelt with bread flour or All Purpose. If you only have spelt, treat it like wheat but consider decreasing water slightly and another stretch and fold and tighter shaping. And accept that whatever it looks like, it will be delicious. My first Spelt-wheat-rye loaf flopped. It was like crusty focaccia. Sliced in half horizontally and drizzled with shallot olive oil, yum! Or melted cheese. 

You can also use your spelt in brownies, muffins or anywhere else you might use AP flour. 1:1. 

BTW, I pursued the 100% spelt bread because a friend with gluten issues (modified FODMAP diet) can eat SD spelt with overnight fermentation. 

Hello! Coincidentally I came to TFL just now to make a post about a new spelt bread I baked today. It was quite a simple, no-fuss recipe, and I was so surprised and delighted with how delicious it is: a hint of sweetness, a ton of rich flavor, and a light, moist, tender crumb. Everyone in my house is going crazy for it. I hope you love it as much as I do!

Adapted from  ‘King of Bread’ Patrick Ryan. Note that I changed the steps a bit to add an hour of rest for the dough to hydrate before adding the salt. I also corrected the salt amount called for in Patrick's recipe.

2 x 400g (1lb) loaf tins or 20cm (8inch) proving baskets\

• 700g medium grind whole grain spelt flour (I ground mine in a MockMill with a medium coarse setting and then re-ground half the flour on fine.)
• 510ml water
• 35g black treacle (or honey, molasses, or barley malt syrup, which is what I used)
• 20g salt
• 7g dried yeast 

1. Mix together the treacle and water.
2. Add the water mix to the spelt flour. Sprinkle the yeast over the water. Use a dough whisk or wooden spoon handle to just combine. Do not knead. Let sit for 1 hour to hydrate the gluten and bran.
3. Spread the dough out on a counter and add the salt. Roll dough up and knead for a few minutes until the salt is mixed in. The gluten is already developed by the rest, so it doesn't need much kneading. The dough will be tacky, soft, pliable, and extensible, and will show windowpane.
4. Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover and let it rest for 20-30 mins at room temperature.
5. After 30 minutes turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, stretch the dough out like a sheet, and give it a letter fold. Fold the dough like a letter, in thirds, first from one side and then the other, then again in thirds down from the top and up from the bottom. This helps to build strength within the dough.
6. Return the dough to the bowl, cover and leave to rest for another 20-30 minutes.  Again, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface then stretch the dough out and give it another letter fold. Return to the bowl for a further 60 minutes until fully proofed. It will be bubbly and quivery. 
7. Turn out the dough on to a clean kitchen surface and do a gentle letter fold to partly de-gas it. Don't stretch it as much as before: allow it to keep some thickness and air. The goal is to get rid of the very big bubbles.
8. Divide the dough into two then pre-shape each piece of dough into a rough round shape.
9. If making a round loaf, tighten the round. (You can watch how to shape the dough in the video). Place the shaped dough upside down into a floured proving basket, seam side facing up, or alternatively in a bowl lined with a lightly floured tea towel
10. Alternatively, the dough can be shaped and placed into a bread tin. (You can watch how to shape the dough in this video). Once the dough has been shaped, place it in a buttered floured loaf tin
11. Leave the dough to prove at room temperature for about 50 minutes. While it's proving, pre-heat the oven to 230°C/425°F and get your steaming setup ready, if desired. Turn the dough out of the basket onto a baking tray and score the top of the loaf with a sharp knife or baker’s razor blade. Or if using a bread tin, dust the surface of the dough with some wholemeal spelt flour before placing into the oven.
12. Place the loaves in the oven. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until a good crust has formed and the loaves sound hollow when tapped on the base.

I'm not sure what your notion of easy is, but this bread made with buttermilk and a mix of whole grain spelt and other flours is reliable and delicious. 

Buttermilk-Spelt Sourdough Bread

You can also substitute spelt for whole wheat flour in most sourdough recipes. It does develop and hydrate differently, so pay attention to you dough.

David

This is the first TFL post by "Sandi." It has the aroma of a scam. I wouldn't click on any of the links in the post, unless your computer has amazing anti-virus software.

If legitimate, a recipe that results in a delicious loaf of bread one hour after the flour is milled would be quite remarkable. 

David