Milled Ancient Multigrain Bread #BreadBakers

Spelt and Kamut (khorasan wheat), are two of my favorite grains as well as being ancient grains.  They are thankfully much easier to find now than they were 16 years ago when I was having to avoid modern wheat for my sensitive kiddos.  I fell in love with the nuttiness of spelt back then and the wonderful butteriness and extensibility of Kamut when paired together with spelt.  Interestingly, I tried Einkorn back then, which is supposed to be the oldest and easy on the digestion, and I can't tolerate it myself!  It's also less widely available, so feel free to do as I did and use more Kamut in place of the Einkorn.  It does give a beautiful golden color and buttery sweet flavor though.  I could have sworn I had some Einkorn berries, but a dive through three freezers and a pantry came up nil, so I went with Kamut.

A note for those new to spelt: especially when using whole and fresh milled spelt, be careful not to over knead the dough!  Spelt has a lower protein content and the gluten is also more delicate.  Once the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl, stop kneading.  Once the protein breaks down, the previously bouncy dough will reduce to a sticky, smooth and difficult to work dough that will yield a dense and disappointing loaf, or you will have to add more flour and also get a dense loaf.  Store bought white spelt is a little more forgiving but still be gentle with the kneading.

The small amount of yudane (a process that gelatinizes the starches in the flour), helps give softness and spring to the loaf.  The vitamin C or vinegar helps reinforce the gluten structure.  

This is a lovely, multi purpose loaf: nice and soft, and good for eating out of hand, for sandwiches, toast, dipped in stew, etc.

Ancient Multigrain Bread

305g spelt berries
80g Kamut berries
45g rye berries
45g einkorn berries (or more Kamut)
45g barley
1 Egg 50g
300g water
10g salt
9g instant yeast
35g oil
30g golden syrup, maple syrup, or honey
⅛ tsp vitamin C powder (optional, or 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar)
34g boiling water

bread flour if needed

Start by milling the grains.  Once the flour is milled, sift the flour through a fine mesh sifter.  Save the bran that is sifted out for another use, or discard.  Weigh the sifted flour and if necessary add enough bread flour to make 500g flour.  (I ended up with 486g sifted flour.) 

Make the yudane:

Once the grains are milled, put 17g of the fresh milled flour in a bowl.  Pour 34g of boiling water over the flour.  Mix immediately into a thick paste being sure to incorporate all of the flour.   Set aside to cool.  

To a stand mixer add the 270g of the 300g water, egg, oil, syrup or honey, and vitamin C (or vinegar). Add the cooled yudane paste and the rest of the freshly milled flour to the mixer bowl with the wet ingredients.  Using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until all ingredients are just incorporated, about 2-3 minutes. Add the remaining water if the dough looks dry.

Allow the dough to rest and hydrate for 20 minutes.  Cover the bowl to prevent the dough from drying out. 

After resting, add the salt and yeast to the dough.  Again assess if the dough needs the final 30g water and add as needed if it was not added before resting.  Knead the dough until it is well combined and starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl.  (This could take anywhere from 3-15 minutes depending on your mixer.)  Do not over knead.  Remove the dough to an oiled surface and give it a few folds to further develop the gluten structure.

Once the dough is kneaded and folded, transfer it to a lightly oiled bowl.  The dough will be somewhat loose and stretchy.  Cover and let rise until it has doubled in size. This will take about 20-40 minutes, depending on the room temperature.  (Spelt is a vigorous riser.)

Popped the lid in our cool kitchen by 40 minutes.

 After the dough has doubled in size, gently deflate it with an oiled hand and shape it into a loaf.  You can add a fold to tighten a little, but be careful not to tear the gluten.  Place the shaped dough into a buttered 9x5-in. loaf pan.

Cover the dough and let rise again until it has doubled in size.  The second rise should also take about 20-40 minutes. 

 

While the dough is rising, preheat oven to 350°F.  Once the dough has risen, bake for 35-45 minutes, or until the internal temperature is 200°F.

Brush the top of the loaf with butter if desired.

Remove the bread from the oven then transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.

Here are some more ancient grain recipes:

• 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. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated after each event on the #BreadBakers home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send Stacy an email with your blog URL to foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com.