Carneros Spelt Loaves

Carneros Spelt Loaves 

As I'm writing this I'm eating a slice of the bread with sharp shedder cheese and a cup of coffee (since it's early in the day. It would be wonderful with a glass of red wine too.) The crust is a little crispy and the inside soft and chewy. The spelt flour gives the bread it's character. My picky husband also liked it, which is a good sign! I baked it with my dinner plans in mind. I'm going to make a salmon dish for dinner; with orange/lemon aioli, the bread is going to be a side dish, along with a green salad. I had to try the bread myself before serving guests of course…I've never baked this bread before, I made up the recipe as I mixed the dough. It is worth trying. I'm making it again, soon. It takes a total of 2hours and 15min to make it. It's a long time, but out of that time the dough is resting 2*40mins and the baking in the oven is 25min. The recipe is easy and not complicated at all. I exercised a horse during the first resting period and fed the baby/edited pictures during the second resting period. It's a low maintenance bread and you can do other stuff while the bread takes care of itself. 

The recipe is for 2 loaves of bread.

2 cups organic spelt flour

2,5 cups organic all purpose flour

3/4 oz active dry yeast

2tsp salt

Combine with a fork in a big bowl.

Add 1,5 cup cold water and 2 cups boiling water (then the mixture will have the right temperature.) Beat the dough in a machine for 3min or 5min by hand. Add 0,5 cup all purpose flour during the process, and mix until you have a smooth dough. Knead the dough by hand (take some flour on your hands,) on a table for a couple minutes. 

Cover the dough and let it rise for 40min (it almost double it's size in room temperature.)

..after 40min

Place the dough on a floured surface, cut into two pieces. Form the pieces into loaves. (Pat the dough to 12*6 rectangle and roll up tightly.)

Place your loaves on parchment paper and cover again. Let the dough rest there for another 40min.

(For extra stylish bread, use a sharp knife and make some diagonal slashes across the bread before baking.) If you want a crispy outside brush some water on the loaves before baking. I didn't do it, but they turned out pretty crispy anyway. 

Bake the bread in the lower part of your oven at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 25-30min. 

Let the bread cool down covered, on the baking pan.

Enjoy!