Wholegrain sourdough spelt bread tastes amazing, but it quickly goes stale. Here’s a sourdough recipe made from 100% wholegrain spelt flour that won’t go stale!

When I first started teaching myself sourdough baking, I was determined to work with the nutty, ancient grain spelt and not leave out any of its bran. I wanted a well-risen, easy-to-make, wild yeast loaf which was soft in the middle and crusty on the outside.

Spelt tastes great, but it easily goes stale

After a few months, I had beautiful loaves that tasted great, but they’d go stale very quickly. I tried to find solutions – most people online suggested freezing the loaf, but (you’ll know, if you’ve tried) fresh spelt sourdough doesn’t taste so good when it has been in the freezer.

The answer: a scald

I carried on experimenting and hit on an answer: adding a scald – a portion of flour cooked in water – to the dough. This made the bread even softer, and stopped the problem with it going stale.

SInce that discovery, I have made this bread every week. it has become a joyful, delicious staple in our home. It is wonderful fresh, slices really well, keeps and copes with being frozen better than standard spelt sourdough.

Download a .pdf file of the recipe here.

Want more wholegrain spelt sourdough recipes?

Since creating this recipe, I’ve gone on to make spelt one of the foundations of my ancient grain baking. If you’d like to learn how to use spelt to create sourdough staples and treats in your own kitchen, you can find my recipes in my ebook Spelt Sourdough Every Day.

 

Wholegrain Spelt Sourdough Bread (that won’t go stale!)

You will need a 1kg loaf tin and an active sourdough starter. (See my post How to Create a Sourdough Starter for guidance if you need it.)

I build my sourdough levain for this bread the night before I want to bake. I then make the scald and mix the dough the next morning, ferment during the day and bake that afternoon. These timings can be played with depending on your schedule and the temperature of your house.

The night before:

Build your sourdough levain

45g wholegrain spelt flour

32g non-chlorinated water

13.5g active sourdough starter

• Mix these well and leave them in a warm place overnight. (If you need help, check out my article called How to Keep Your Sourdough Starter Warm.)

The next morning:

Make the scald

48g wholegrain spelt flour

192g non-chlorinated water

• Put both of these ingredients in a saucepan on medium to high heat and stir the mixture continuously, with a whisk or wooden spoon, until it starts to really thicken.
• Turn the heat down to low and continue to stir well for another few minutes – you are looking for a thick mixture that is not lumpy. Protocol suggests this mixture should reach 65C/150F. In practice I have found that cooking for 4/5 minutes will do this. Once done, leave this to cool.

Make the dough

507g wholegrain spelt flour

11g salt

196g non-chlorinated water

optional: 1 tbsp honey

• Mix the salt into the flour in a large bowl.
• Add your sourdough levain (which should be peaking or have just peaked), the water, the optional honey and the cooled scald. Mix until well combined using your hands.
• Cover and leave to bulk ferment in a warm place. The dough should increase in size by sixty to seventy percent. In the summer, for me, this takes three hours, in the winter, five.
• At the end of the bulk ferment period, grease and flour your baking tin.
• Gently tip the loaf out on to a floured board and shape it to fit your tin.
• Place into the tin, cover and leave to prove in a warm place until visibly risen. In my warm house this usually takes between an hour and an hour and a half.

Baking in a metal loaf pan:

Preheat your oven to 230C/445F. Brush the loaf with water and cook at 230C/445F for fifteen minutes, then reduce the temperature to 210C/410F for another fifteen minutes, finally turning the temperature to 190C/375F for a further thirty minutes. After this time, take the loaf out and check whether it is done by either tapping the bottom and listening for a hollow sound or using a probe thermometer and looking for a temperature of c. 90-95C/194-203F.

Baking in a ceramic lidded pan:

I love baking this loaf in my Emile Henry ceramic loaf tin (pictured above) which has a lid. If baking in lidded ceramic here’s what to do: Preheat your oven to 210C/410F. Brush the loaf with the water and cook at 210C/410F for fifteen minutes, then reduce the temperature to 190C/375C for the remaining cooking time of c. forty-five minutes. After this time take the loaf out and check whether it is done by either tapping the bottom and listening for a hollow sound or using a probe thermometer and looking for a temperature of c. 90-95C/194-203F.

You might also like:

Podcast episode: All About Spelt Sourdough (You can also find this on your podcast player by searching for Ancestral Kitchen Podcast)

5 Reasons to Start Baking with Ancient Grains

How to Make Sourdough Rye Bread From Scratch