Spelt bread...oh so simple

Us Irish like our bread. We have it as toast in the morning, for lunch as a sandwich and maybe even with our dinner in the evening. There are so many different breads on the supermarket shelves that you would think our needs would be catered to, but so many are tasteless and nasty, full of sugar, salt and weird preservatives that, honestly, I don't consider them bread at all. This spelt bread recipe is an antidote to all of the rubbish out there. It has been borrowed and adjusted slightly from the gorgeous Cornucopia cookbook, well worth the investment for some wonderful veggie recipes.

Wholegrain spelt contains a broader range of nutrients in comparison to it’s more inbred cousins (like wheat) including manganese, B3, phosphorous and magnesium. The seeds in this recipe add fibre and essential fats which are vital for healthy skin, eyes, hormone and mood balance. Pumpkin seeds are also a good source of zinc, also important for healthy skin, immune function and fertility. Spelt does contain gluten, but much less than wheat and is generally much easier to digest.

Ingredients:

425g wholegrain spelt flour
40g each of sesame, pumpkin & sunflower seeds
15g each of poppy & linseeds (or you can make up whatever mix of seeds you fancy)
2 tsp baking powder
1 heaped tsp salt
550ml water
1 tbsp blackstrap molasses

What to do with em!

Oil and line the base of a 2lb loaf tin.
Preheat oven to 180C
Sieve the flour & baking powder (though wholegrain spelt flour can be a challenge to sieve, so don’t worry too much about that)
Add the salt & seeds & combine thoroughly
Mix the water & molasses in a jug (I use a little boiling water to warm it up a bit so the molasses is easier to dissolve)
Pour about ¾ of the liquid into a well in the centre of the dry mix
Make sure the molasses is evenly distributed, not clumped in sticky pockets (which won’t be the case if it is thoroughly dissolved in the water first!)
Use as little mixing as possible to achieve an even mix, as the gluten in spelt is more fragile than wheat. 
Add as much water as is needed to achieve a sloppy consistency (I often only need 500ml)
Pour mix into the prepped tin and press down evenly.
Bake in the centre of the oven for about an hour, until well risen and evenly browned.
Run a knife around the edge and turn the loaf out on a wire rack & tap the base
If it makes a hollow sound, the bread is cooked.
Cover with a tea towel and leave to cool on the rack before cutting