Traced Elements

Tag: spelt flour

  • Spelt Bread for the New Pemberton Bakers

    Spelt Bread for the New Pemberton Bakers

    Hi everyone, and thank you for visiting this website and thank you as ever to Lisa for running it. It is a lot of fun to contribute to – now more than ever. I see at the Pemberton Supermarket that there are store-packaged containers of yeast! The usual small amount of yeast that the store stocks in jars is apparently not enough for everyone (including myself) making bread these days. I think it is wonderful. I have been making my own bread for years. A warning however – do not buy large quantities of yeast at a place like Costco, in bulk. Yeast loses its power after a while, so buy it in small jars (after this Covid crisis is over). Bread takes patience and time and it is very disappointing when your bread doesn’t rise due to outdated yeast!

    This is the recipe I have tweaked over the years. I meant to post it last June but I scrolled down today and noticed that either the recipe got bumped off or I didn’t actually post it like I meant to! Sorry about that. This bread is especially good for toast in the am. There was a butter shortage last week when I got to the Pemberton Supermarket so I bought what was left – organic butter at $10.00 per pound – yikes! We were rationing it at that price. Thank you to the Pemberton Supermarket which during regular times is well stocked, clean, friendly, and bright, but during this crisis is doing a wonderful job supplying our community.

    Delicious Fibre-full Spelt Bread (yield: 2 loaves)

    Ingredients:

    7 cups whole grain spelt flour

    (I used the Everland brand this time but Bob’s Red Mill works well too. I have recently had all my Anita’s brand sprouted spelt flour go rancid on me recently even being kept in the freezer so I am not going to use it or recommend it for the time being.)

    4 tsp instant dry yeast

    1 tbs table salt

    1 cup ground chia seed (MUST be ground first)

    1.5 cups slow old-fashioned oats

    3 ¼ cup water

    1/3 cup unsalted butter

    1 cup oat bran

    Method:

    Put 4 cups flour into stand mixer, and add: yeast, salt, oats, chia. Mix well with dough hook.

    In saucepan place water and butter, over low heat. When butter has melted remove from heat and add to mixer, with mixer on low speed.

    When flour and water mixture are well incorporated, add oat bran and 3 cups of flour slowly.

    Increase speed to medium. When dough is elastic and well mixed (10 minutes), remove dough and place in a large buttered mixing bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in oven with oven light on for 1 hour.

    After one hour, remove dough and divide in half. Take each half and roll into a cylinder. Place each cylinder into a greased loaf pan. You will have two loaves.

    Place loaf pans into oven with oven light on for 1 hour.

    Remove pans from oven after one hour and then turn on oven to 375C.

    Bake loaves for 30-32 minutes. Cool on rack. Enjoy!

  • Pemberton Blueberry Banana Muffins

    Pemberton Blueberry Banana Muffins

    These muffins are a great staple to have on hand at any time of year. And they make good use of “all the Pemberton blueberries you froze last summer”. You did that of course.

    Lisa has asked me to explain why I substitute spelt for wheat flour on every occasion. Well, a number of years ago my mother warned me that wheat is inflammatory and can cause arthritis-like symptoms in people after the age of 40. And like clockwork, after I hit 40, sure enough, my hands got stiff after I ate wheat. Didn’t matter if it was crackers or bread: after I ate wheat my hands were stiff the next day.

    So it was a no-brainer to switch to spelt. If you can get to Costco, some locations sell Anita’s Sprouted spelt flour which I really like. Some brands don’t work well. I tried the Everland brand from Amazon and my muffins did not hold together at all.

    Thank you Mum for this invaluable advice. I hope others will give it a go. Stiff hands and fingers are no fun at all, and it really is an easy switch to transition to spelt. I have no time for white flour anyway. No nutrition content and I prefer the nutty, complex taste of whole grains in most of my baking – with the exception of brownies and birthday cakes!

    Pemberton Blueberry Banana Muffins (yield: 15-18 muffins depending on size)

    Ingredients:

    1 cup plus 2 tbs whole grain spelt flour

    2 tbs corn meal

    1 tsp baking soda

    2 eggs

    ½ cup grapeseed oil

    ½ cup white sugar

    2 large very ripe bananas, mashed

    3/4 cup blueberries

    1 tsp cinnamon

    1/4 tsp sea salt

    Method:

    Place mashed bananas, oil, eggs, sugar, cinnamon and baking soda in stand mixer and beat well until combined. Add flour and cornmeal and mix until just combined.

    Preheat oven to 350F.

    Use a 3 tbs spring-loaded cookie/muffin scoop (I like the OXO brand) to place scoops of batter into buttered muffin pans. (I like silicone muffin pans as they clean easily in the dishwasher.)

    Press 3-4 blueberries into top each muffin. (I prefer adding my blueberries this way as then they look nicer but you can always add during mixing process.)

    Bake 20 minutes and check for doneness. May need another 5 minutes. Oven temperatures vary so baking times are not set in stone. Enjoy!

    ** Coming Soon: another cookbook review – thanks to Lisa. I tried one recipe from a very recently-published Japanese cuisine cookbook, but the result was ho-hum so it needs some more time and patience!