Want to know what’s so great about sourdough bread? Read The Differences Between Quick-Yeasted Bread and Wild-Yeasted Sourdough Bread.
spelt sourdough sandwich bread
As promised, here is the recipe I’m currently following for spelt sourdough bread – for sandwiches or free-form loaves. I really love working with spelt because the resulting baked goods are usually light, fluffy and moist. Once I get the recipe right, that is. 
But working with spelt is different than working with wheat. You use less of it, for one thing. The dough will seem wet (compared to wheat flour dough) but if you add more flour, the dough gets hard and the resulting product is usually dense and heavy. So resist the urge to add more flour. I’ll tell you in the recipe what characteristics of dough you want.
Another difference is that the gluten is more fragile, so you should knead it less than you would wheat. In the Bosch mixer, you’d knead for 6 minutes on speed 2 (newer models), or 4-5 minutes on speed 3 (newer models). Older Bosch models only have speeds 1 and 2 – and 2 is more like speed 3 on the newer models, so you’d be kneading on speed 2 for 4-5 minutes.
A few notes about starter. First, I keep my starter at a thinner, pourable consistency. This is partly out of my hands – I think spelt makes a thinner starter. But I believe it is possible that every person’s starter is a different consistency. Therefore you will want to be ready to adjust the recipe (adding more or less flour, or more or less water) depending on the consistency of your starter. (See my Resources page for sources.)
I want to thank everyone who gave me advice in my post asking for sourdough help. Your guidance was invaluable! My recipe is a spin-off of Heather’s, which she shared in the comments. Since I am working with spelt, and since I believe my starter is a different consistency, I have had to adjust amounts of flour and water.
This recipe can easily be doubled in the Bosch, and perhaps even tripled. 
Edit: I have been using this recipe with whole wheat – hard red wheat to be precise. It is lucious bread, too! The differences: wheat makes a thicker starter, so sometimes I use a little less flour because of that. Which is surprising because usually, one needs to use more wheat flour than spelt. This is all about the dough – you want smooth, elastic, not sticky, and not dry. Also, kneading time for whole wheat is 8 to 10 minutes in the Bosch.
Spelt Sourdough Bread
Makes 2 loaves
- 3 cups sourdough starter
- 1 cup pure water
- 1 generous tablespoon sea salt (adjust to taste)
- 5 to 6 cups organic spelt flour, preferably fresh ground, but allowed to cool to room temperature
- more whole spelt flour and pure water for feeding the starter
- extra virgin coconut oil – for oiling bowls, pans, and/or tops of loaves (or grass-fed butter)
Get the starter out of the refrigerator. Feed it with equal parts spelt flour and pure water, so that you can take out 3 cups and still leave starter behind, preferably as much as you took out. Let it come to room temperature, about an hour.
Combine the starter, water and salt in the mixing bowl. Mix on speed 1. Add 4 cups spelt flour. Mix in, still on speed 1. Add 1/4 cup more flour at a time, until the dough is springy and pulls away from the sides of the mixing bowl. You are looking for the dough to be a bit gloppy and sticky, but still be warm and smooth. Sometimes when you test the dough it really wants to stick to your finger – you want it only mildly sticky and more wanting to stick to itself than you. Make sense? Resist wanting to add more flour; it will not behave like wheat.
If using mixer, increase mixer speed to dough setting (Speed 2 on newer Bosch Universal) and knead for 6 minutes. If using an older Bosch, the speed 2 is like the newer speed 3 – so knead for 4-5 minutes and then check dough for good elasticity. Otherwise, knead by hand for 8 to 12 minutes, until dough is smooth and elastic.
Transfer dough to a well-oiled large bowl. Rotate dough around so it gets coated on all sides, top and bottom, with the oil in the bowl. Cover bowl with a damp towel or plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for 12 hours or overnight, until doubled in size. Or place in a warm location in your home (no more than 80 degrees) for five to six hours, until doubled in size.
spelt sourdough free-form loaf
Separate dough into two portions. Shape loaves and place in oiled loaf pans, or arrange free form on an oiled baking sheet. For loaf pans: cut into top of each loaf 3 times diagonally with a sharp knife. For free-form loaves: cut an X into the top of each loaf with a sharp knife. Put pans in a warm place draft-free place to rise, such as near (but not on) the burner that vents the oven’s heat. The rising time here is up to you. I let my loaves double in size and it takes about an hour or two, depending on room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Transfer the pans to the preheated oven. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes, until the tops are nicely browned and the loaves sound hollow when tapped. Turn loaves out onto cooling racks. Brush with oil or butter, or cover with a towel to keep crust soft.
© Copyright 2009 by Wardeh Harmon
Organic spelt (Vita-Spelt company) is available to me for $2.33 per pound. Each loaf uses 1-1/2 pounds of the grain, making each loaf’s cost about $3.49. The sourdough bakery in my area charges $4 to $5 for each loaf, and they are not whole-grain. Even with today’s higher prices for organic grains, my homemade spelt sourdough bread is a frugal and nourishing option. Do you have quality whole-grain sourdough breads available in your area? At what price?
This post is part of Pennywise Platter Thursday at The Nourishing Gourmet.
Hi! Thanks for the recipe – looks great. One thing I never see in recipes for sourdough though is storage. How long does it last and what do you do to keep it fresh?? Thanks. =)
Megan´s last blog post… Part 2 of 2: Beating Crohn’s Disease and living symptom free
Hi, Megan – sourdough bread lasts longer than quick yeasted bread. Still, store in bread bags or freeze if not using right away. I have a loaf out right now that is still good and on the 3rd day. The other loaves from the batch I put in the freezer. Hope this helps.
LOVELY work on the free-form loaf. It looks beautiful. I’m doing up a batch of sourdough tonight. That is … AFTER my husband and I preserve a case full of roma tomatoes.
Thanks, Jenny – and great for you snagging all those Romas! Good sauce all winter. I love it!
Hi, Wardeh: The recipe doesn’t say it, but are you sprouting the spelt you use for this recipe? Also, I don’t have a Bosch. Instead, I use a Kitchen Aid Artisan mixer with 10 speeds. It seems like I should maybe aim for a speed somewhere on the lower end of the middle area for 4 to 5 minutes? Guess I’ll have to play with it a bit to see. Now I need to get a starter from Cultures For Health! Thanks for sharing this!
Love,
Sonya
Sonya Hemmings´s last blog post… Bag Lady With Bling
Wardeh—I meant to also tell you that I love your video welcome! It’s so neat to see your facial expressions and hear how your voice sounds after only knowing you from your still photos and written text. Nice touch!
Love,
Sonya
Sonya Hemmings´s last blog post… Bag Lady With Bling
Sonya – This is NOT sprouted spelt. I would check your manual for what speed to use for mixing, and then kneading. I don’t recommend that you double the recipe if using a KA. I used to have a KA and stripped the gears kneading bigger batches of whole grain dough. Have fun!
Hi Wardeh!!!
I am going to try this. I don’t have a Bosch, any idea how long I would knead it by hand? I don’t do much bread baking, yet, so I don’t have a use for one until I do.
Also, I have a starter in the fridge that I have neglected for a month or two. It has a lot of liquid (hooch?!?) on the top. Have I ruined it, or can I just pour off most of the liquid and call it good?
Hope all is well with you.
Kelli – I’d say about 10-12 minutes kneading by hand. But starting checking for it to be good and elastic at about 8 minutes.
The starter… I don’t know. Though the liquid separation is normal. Mix it all up, feed it, and smell it. Leave it out awhile and smell it. If it is bubbly and smells good, like sourdough starter (but not rotten), give it a go.
Thanks, Wardeh. Does using the sourdough starter eliminate the need for sprouting the spelt? How are your gluten-sensitive family members tolerating it?
—Sonya
Sonya Hemmings´s last blog post… Bag Lady With Bling
Sonya – the yeast in the starter does a great deal to prepare the grains for digestion – pre-digesting the gluten, neutralizing phytic acid, and making nutrients more available during digestion. However, sprouting, IMO, does even more work than souring, because the grain is transformed into a vegetable plant. In any case, everyone who is gluten sensitive is doing fine with sourdough bread – no symptoms whatsoever. What I haven’t tried yet is using sprouted spelt in this recipe – want to try it?
If that worked, it would be the best of both worlds!
Yes! I really do want to try it! It might take me awhile to get it all together (sprouted spelt flour, sourdough culture and time and practice to experiment with it), but I’m determined to do it one of these days.
I have never done the sourdough starter thing, and I’m a little nervous about it, but with your help and that of your readers/contributors, I’m also excited to dive into it. I’ll keep you posted!
Love,
Sonya
Sonya Hemmings´s last blog post… Bag Lady With Bling
[...] sharing the recipe I’m currently following for spelt sourdough bread – for sandwiches or free-form loaves. I really love working with spelt because the resulting [...]
Great post! I love spelt too and have been using it recently too.
Your pictures look great. Thanks for being part of the carnival again. You are such a gem.
Kimi @ The Nourishing Gourmet´s last blog post… Summer (Ending) Recipes
Wardeh, I love your video! It’s so cool! I would love to try this spelt bread. Could you send me a piece? lol Anyway, I’ve never eaten spelt before. Nobody in our family is gluten-intolerant, but I would like to bake with this grain because I think it’s wise to eat from a variety of the grains, don’t you? Thanks for your recipe.
MarLou´s last blog post… Recipe 100% Whole Wheat Bread
Nice!
You guys are light-years ahead of me on this whole sourdough thing. I seriously need to get off my behind once and for all & learn how to do this.
Ren´s last blog post… The Thing About Brussels Sprouts
Wardeh, I appreciate reading your recipe and your method for making this bread. The responses are helpful too so thanks to everyone.
It’s a very nice personal touch.
P.S. I love your welcome video too! I went on dh’s laptop because I just HAD to see you.
Marg´s last blog post… Bread baking battle
[...] them into food in a traditional manner. Instead of a quick-yeasted bread, you’d create sourdough bread. Instead of cooked to death canned vegetables, you’d lacto-ferment your [...]
Maybe I didn’t read close enough, but I’m gathering that the sourdough method replaces the benefits of sprouting?
Your loaf is lovely. We love spelt and I can’t wait to try some sourdough.
Christie – The sourdough method is an alternative to sprouting. They both help with nutrient assimilation and pre-digestion of gluten. However, sprouting does a little more than souring, because the grain is transformed from a dry grain to a young plant. There are some additional benefits from that – increased vitamin and enzyme content, among other things. If someone were sensitive to gluten, I’d suggest they start with sprouting, then try souring, then try soaking. The most likely success will be with sprouting.
Thanks for this wonderful recipe, Wardeh. You’ve inspired me to start baking bread again, which I formerly abandoned b/c I felt that it was just too time consuming and unnecessary since we have some wonderful bakeries in the area. Unfortunately, I don’t see much sourdough in this area . . . .
Two questions:
Do you have a starter recipe and recommendation?
I noticed you provided tips for buying spelt. Any recommendations for how to buy bulk, low price grains in general? My local health food store stocks there, but they are expensive!
Thanks,
Vanessa
Vanessa – I did not make my own sourdough starter – I purchased a starter. (See Resources for sources.) You could read through the suggestions in the first sourdough post I made – several readers shared favorite links and/or their own techniques:
http://gnowfglins.com/2009/07/17/foray-into-sourdough-brea/
Regarding grains, I purchase in bulk from a natural food warehouse. I’m not sure which you would have in your area, but I think you probably have United Natural Foods. You could search for others at this database: http://www.coopdirectory.org/
Other options would be asking your health food store for co-op pricing if you purchased in bulk. Or see if there are farmer/producers in your area who sell directly to the public. There are more and more of those these days, small organic farms who like to deal with the public. Hope you find something and enjoy the sourdough bread baking!
[...] bread: Tata made sourdough bread while we were in Montana, and we brought it home with us. I sliced it for breakfast Saturday [...]
[...] From last week, I just loved Wardeh’s post on spelt sourdough. She gives very specific directions for spelt, which I appreciate because I also feel that spelt acts a bit differently than wheat. Check it out! [...]
[...] with desired garnishes. We ate our chili last night with rolls made from spelt sourdough (not [...]
Just found your site, and love it!! Wardeh, do you mind sharing which sourdough starter you purchased from CulturesForHealth? They have quite a few different kinds -
Thanks!
Hi, villarosa – Sure! I have the New England sourdough starter. (See Resources for sources.) I wonder now if my starter hasn’t taken on an Oregon-flavor? It sure is lovely. I love to smell and taste the starter.
Enjoy!
Thank you so much for answering my question… In doing reading on your website, am I understanding that you have not used the sprouted spelt flour to make sourdough bread? I normally sprout, dehydrate, and then grind my flour, so am wondering if anyone has done that and then used that flour for making the starter.
I used to make sourdough bread years ago, but lost my ’starter’ after a long vacation and have not taken the time to try to restart again. I’m grateful for all you have shared here…..
One more question…. just curious why you became vegan and then went back to eating differently? Just curious… Thank you again!
villarosa – You are correct. I have not yet used sprouted flour for sourdough bread.
We went vegan because we thought our son was allergic to animal protein. It turned out that he was only allergic to eggs. Even so, during the time that we were vegan, two members of my family got very weak muscularly. We also suspected a vitamin B12 deficiency. So we introduced naturally-raised animal foods into our diet and we felt much better.
[...] by Jen @ Mommy’s Soap Box, I made a sourdough pizza crust. I used about 1/3 of a batch of my spelt sourdough dough for each [...]
Wardeh, How did you manage cooking and baking when your children were younger? I have a 5 year old and a 22 month old and haven’t been able to cook or bake much since my baby was born. He wants to be in my arms or on a chair putting his hands in whatever I’m making or battling to stand on a chair in front of the hot range. It’s been so hard because we are not eating well – lots of pb&j, quesadillas, and take out and not a lot of fresh veggies. As someone who loves to cook and bake, this has been very hard on me and I really miss the process.
Jen – I’m sorry this has been so hard on you. I’m thinking back to when I really started cooking and baking, and my youngest was 2-1/2. The oldest was about 5. That’s when I started baking bread, anyway. I didn’t do as much then as I do now, but I do remember it being challenging. No matter how you discipline, it sounds like your son must learn that he cannot be in front of the stove and he cannot put his hands in what you’re doing.
You could make it fun – perhaps set aside special toys with which he can only play while you’re cooking. He can still be nearby, perhaps even at the counter. I would think he would adjust quickly to the new routine. For your part, you should decide what the consequences will be for him not obeying and follow through with it. Also, try to cook and bake in regular intervals, so he gets plenty of your attention other times and the cooking isn’t drawn out all day (which soooo happens with me these days!). Also, don’t try to do everything all at once -change over time. The good thing about sourdough bread is that it is easy – mix, knead, let sit. You’ve got hours where it is working and you aren’t. Actually, I’ve found that alot with traditional foods/cultured foods. The setup is easier than any other cooking – and they “cook” or “ferment” themselves. Think of today’s canning – hours slaving over a hot stove, with hot water, etc. Making lacto-fermented vegetables is simple as shredding or chopping, mixing and putting in a jar with brine. The bacteria does all the work. You might find that it all is easier than you think. Please keep in touch- and I’ll be praying for you to figure out a way to fit healthy food prep into your life again.
[...] sourdough starter is happily working, and I made a few loaves of sourdough bread as well as a loaf of sourdough raisin bread (next time I will make two loaves of [...]
[...] example, if you want to make Wardeh’s Basic Sourdough Bread, you would mix 1 cup of the mother starter, 2 cups of spelt flour, and 1/2 cup of [...]
[...] made an attempt at making baguettes with Wardeh’s spelt sourdough recipe. The spelt spread too much and came out short… I’ll have to try it again sometime, [...]
[...] been using Wardeh's Basic Sourdough recipe (thank you Wardeh!). If you're wondering why I'm even bothering learning how to make [...]