Easy German Spelt Bread

The easiest and the quickest German spelt bread recipe made with minimum staple ingredients and no proofing time. Make this delicious whole grain spelt sandwich bread that is ready in just 1 hour and will last for a week. 

This post was originally published on August 5, 2015 and updated on August 17, 2022 by Elena Szeliga with a few changes to the original recipe (read below).

Whole Grain Spelt Bread

If I were to choose the best food smell in the world, it would most definitely be the scent of freshly baked bread. Crispy crust, fluffy crumb, nutty and sweetish flavor of a whole grain bread… This recipe has it all.

Making bread from scratch doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, this is one of the easiest spelt bread recipes out there. See the quick steps in this spelt bread web story.

Simple ingredients like flour, water, yeast and salt combine together to make this easy and delicious spelt loaf that doesn’t require long kneading and proofing time. This is achieved by placing the loaf into a cold oven, so the proofing is done directly in the oven.

What is Spelt Bread?

Spelt bread is made out of regular spelt flour, whole grain spelt flour or a blend of spelt and wheat flour. Just like brown bread, spelt bread is very popular in Germany. This recipe uses 100% whole grain spelt flour but you can use a 50-50 ratio of regular and whole grain spelt flour.

Spelt Bread Benefits

Spelt is one of the oldest cultivated crops, better digestible, and with a broader scale of nutrients. It is packed with healthy organic compounds, vitamins and minerals.

Is Spelt Bread Healthier Than Wheat?

Yes, spelt is an excellent choice if you would like to substitute wheat with a healthier equivalent (see benefits above). It's more clean and organic, because spelt needs much less fertilizers than wheat.

Does Spelt Bread Have Gluten?

Yes, spelt contains gluten, although its gluten structure is weaker than wheat.

How to Use Spelt Flour

Just as an idea, you can use spelt flour also for pizza dough or savory tart crust. It has a very distinguishable nutty flavor, which makes it good for cakes and pies as well.

Baking With Spelt Flour

There are a few things to mention about spelt flour before you start baking with it.

• The first thing is that spelt flour naturally proves and rises faster than wheat flour. That’s why this recipe has no proofing time. It actually rises in the  oven!
• Spelt flour bread needs less liquid than other types of flour. So in case you want to substitute wheat with spelt, you’d need to add water slowly and gradually and you will most likely need less of it.
• As with the wheat flour, it is better to measure spelt flour by weight than by volume (cups), as the density of different flour types vary, as well as humidity in your house. I recommend to use gram measurements for this spelt flour bread, keeping in mind that you might need a bit more flour if your dough is too sticky.
• Spelt flour requires shorter kneading time than wheat flour. It makes it easy to overknead, which is not a good thing. The optimal kneading time is 5 minutes by hand or using the dough attachment of your stand mixer on low speed.
• Sifting flour helps enrich it with oxygen, making the bread more fluffy and airy. If you are sifting whole grain flour, just put the sifted parts of bran back to the sifted flour.

Baking Time

Baking time for bread recipes with spelt depends on your oven and on the size of the baking pan you used, and varies anywhere between 45 and 60 minutes. Mine is usually done after 50 minutes.

When you are not sure, whether your spelt bread is baked through, just tap the bottom of the pan and if the if it sounds hollow, the bread is done. Otherwise, continue baking it for some more minutes.

Spelt Bread Ingredients

• Whole grain spelt flour (can be substituted for regular)
• Dry active yeast
• Lukewarm water
• Sea salt
• Apple cider vinegar
• Olive oil to grease the baking form

Top Tips

• Make this easy spelt bread recipe whenever you crave a nice homemade sandwich bread that is ready in 1 hour.
  
• This recipe requires a very short kneading time and no proof time as the bread rises right in the oven.
• Spelt is a great choice if you are looking for a healthier equivalent to wheat.
• You can use a 50-50 ratio of regular and whole grain spelt flour in this recipe.
• Make sure not to overknead the dough. Slowly knead it for 5 minutes by hand or using a hook attachment of a stand mixer.
• If you want your bread to to be extra crusty, take it out of the form when it's baked through and bake for additional 10 minutes.
  
• To check whether the loaf is baked through, tap the bottom of the baking pan and if it sounds hollow, the bread is done. Otherwise, bake it for some more minutes.
• Don’t slice the bread directly after baking. Let it cool on a wire rack before slicing.
• Store the bread loaf in an airtight bag in the fridge for up to a week. You can also freeze it for up to 3 months.

Recipe Variations

• You can use fresh yeast in this recipe (one ¼ oz package dry active yeast equals ¾ oz fresh yeast).
• You can use lemon juice instead of apple cider vinegar.
• If you like a little prickliness, you can either add soaked seeds of your choice (pumpkin, sunflower, chia, hemp seeds or pine nuts). Alternatively, add soaked and cooked spelt grains or other grains to the bread. Soaking ensures that the bread isn’t dry.
• Use any type of high heat resistant oils instead of olive oil like sunflower, canola, avocado, sesame or peanut oil.
• To make this bread oil-free, line your baking form with parchment paper, instead of greasing it with oil.

More great bread recipes

Wholemeal Brown Bread

No-knead Beer Bread

Pumpkin Bread with Walnuts

Whole Wheat Tortilla