Spelt and Poppyseed Sourdough Bread

For an easy sourdough bread, make this loaf. It includes white spelt, bread flour, and lots of poppyseeds, and the sourdough flavor is amazing  

If you're just starting out on your sourdough journey, this spelt and poppyseed sourdough bread is an easy loaf to make. The method is simple and the resulting loaf has a wonderfully sour flavor, a crispy crust, and an airy crumb. 

You can make this loaf in a round cast iron Dutch oven, an oval roasting pan (either clay, cast iron, granite ware), or in a long covered clay baker. 

I used the Emile Henry Covered Long Bread Baker. It's one of my favorite tools for making artisan sourdough sandwich loaves. 

Ingredients You Will Need:

White Spelt Flour: White spelt flour can be used as a 1:1 substitution for white wheat flour for most baked goods. If you're nervous about that, you can substitute about 25% of the flour with white spelt and begin from there.

For bread, you will definitely need some strong bread flour to strengthen the dough. You could also experiment by adding some vital wheat gluten to help strengthen the dough.

From Your Pantry: Bread flour, poppyseeds and salt. 

Sourdough Starter: Use a recently fed and active sourdough starter that is 100% hydration (by weight). 

Water. 

About Spelt:

Spelt is an ancient grain that is a relative to modern wheat. It has a mild nutty flavor and it is rich in protein and fiber. White spelt is similar to white wheat flour, in that the flour is sifted to remove the bran and endosperm. 

Spelt flour was pretty common until modern wheat was introduced around the 1900s in the U.S. 

If you are interested in trying out spelt in your bakes, you can begin by substituting about a quarter of the wheat with spelt and see what you think. 

I love the flavor it brings to cookies. 

To Make This Spelt and Poppyseed Sourdough Bread:

This bread takes a couple of days to make, most of it hands off. 

Early in the evening of day one, mix together the ingredients by hand. Over the period of about two to three hours, stretch and fold the dough over itself to strengthen the gluten. 

What is "stretch and fold?" It's taking one side of the dough, pulling it to stretch it, and folding it over the rest of the dough. Typically, each "stretch-and-fold" requires about eight pulls, stretching the dough from each "side" twice. You will begin to feel the dough develop strength as you do this. Four stretch and fold sessions will work well here.  

Let the dough sit overnight at room temperature. It should double or even triple. 

The next day, shape the dough and place it into a banneton and let it ferment in the refrigerator for 3 to 10 hours. Once the dough has fermented, turn it out into you lidded baking vessel and bake it for about an hour, removing the lid after about 45 minutes. 

Equipment You May Need:

Along with the baking vessels mentioned above, you will need some sort of banneton for letting your dough rest after shaping. 

For this oval loaf, I used a banneton that sort of looks like a cane banneton, but is actually pressed wood. 

For a round loaf, you can use a towel lined bowl or a cane banneton or brotform. 

More Spelt Recipes: 

Pita Bread

Whipped Spelt Bread

Spelt, Barley, and White Wheat Loaf

Chocolate and Coffee Cake

Whole Grain Spelt Rolls

Spelt and Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread

White and Spelt Sourdough with Poolish

Basic Country Loaf with Spelt

One of my favorite ways to use this bread is for grilled cheese, a tuna melt, or patty melt. I love how the melty cheese leaks through the holes in the bread and creates some crispy goodness on the outside of the sandwich. 

This month, the Bread Bakers are sharing recipes with ancient grains, including millet, oats, corn, and spelt. 

• Bajri Tilachi Bhakri from Sneha's Recipe
• Banana Millet Bread from The Wimpy Vegetarian
• Banana Oat Pancakes from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Khapli Wheat Roti from Cook with Renu
• Milled Ancient Multigrain Bread from A Messy Kitchen
• Peanut Butter Ancient Grain Corn Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Spelt and Poppyseed Sourdough Bread from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Spelt Coconut Sourdough Bread from Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Sprouted Spelt Banana Walnut Muffins from Food Lust People Love

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board. 

Spelt and Poppyseed Sourdough Bread

Yield: 20 slices

Author: Karen Kerr

Prep time: 1 HourCook time: 1 HourInactive time: 15 HourTotal time: 17 Hour

Make this sourdough bread for an easy loaf that includes white spelt, bread flour, and lots of poppyseeds.

Ingredients

• 50 grams (1/4 cup) active sourdough starter
• 350 grams (1 1/2 cups) water
• 300 grams (2 1/2 cups) bread flour
• 200 grams (1 3/4 cups) white spelt flour
• 25 grams (2 tablespoons) poppyseeds
• 7 grams (1 teaspoon) table salt

Instructions

1. In the early evening, in a large bowl or Cambro bucket, combine all of the ingredients and mix by hand until you have a shaggy dough. Cover and let sit for one hour.
2. Stretch and fold the dough over itself, about eight times, and cover again to let it rest. Complete 3 more stretch and fold sessions over the next 2 to 3 hours, until the dough comes together. Cover the dough and let it rest overnight, until doubled or tripled.
3. The next day, turn the dough out onto the counter and preshape it into a boule or batard with the seam side down. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 10 minutes.
4. In the meantime, dust your banneton or brotform with rice flour or a mix of rice and wheat flour.
5. Re-shape the loaf and place it into the banneton, seam side up, and cover with oiled plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator for 3 to 10 hours. The dough will probably not rise, but that's okay.
6. When you are ready to bake the bread, heat the oven to 450 degrees F. Cover the dough with a sheet of parchment and turn the dough over so that the parchment is under the dough. Lift the dough into your baking vessel. Use a bread lame or sharp knife to score the dough. Cover the pan with the lid and bake for 50 minutes.
7. Remove the lid and continute to bake the bread for about 10 to 15 minutes more, until golden. Turn the loaf out onto a rack and cool completely.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

103

Fat (grams)

1 g

Sat. Fat (grams)

0 g

Carbs (grams)

19 g

Fiber (grams)

2 g

Net carbs

17 g

Sugar (grams)

0 g

Protein (grams)

3 g

Cholesterol (grams)

0 mg

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Recipe adapted from Whole Grain Sourdough at Home by Elaine Boddy. She also had three other books, all easy to follow and perfect for sourdough beginners and veterans alike. They are The Sourdough Whisperer, Easy Everyday Sourdough Bread Baking, and her newest book, The Sourdough Bible. I have them all.