These Seeded Spelt Rolls Will Make You Come Back for More

I had never used spelt flour before I made these little seeded rolls. The only reason being that I had never found spelt flour in any of the shops I frequent.

Quite a few of you wanted spelt flour recipes and I wanted to expand on the new Wholemeal/Multi Grain Breads playlist I made, so this was the perfect way to do it.

Spelt flour has a different balance of gluten forming proteins than regular wheat flour. Gluten is formed between two proteins – glutenin & gliadin. Glutenin makes the dough elastic and gliadin makes it stretchy. Spelt flour has less glutenin, so it will produce a dough that is more stretchy and less elastic.

It is by no means a bad thing, just something to be aware of. Stretchy dough will produce lighter bread. But it will be trickier to handle.

Spelt is also a bit healthier than regular wheat, especially the wholegrain kind that we use in this recipe. The seeds add their own nutritional value, and the use of a preferment brings great flavour.

This recipe makes 8 large rolls. If you would like to make more simply multiply the amount of ingredients. You can also make this into a sandwich loaf by baking the dough in a tin.

Watch the video down below for detailed instructions.

Ingredients

For the preferment –

100g (3.5oz) white bread flour

100g (3.5oz) water

25g (0.9oz) pine nuts

25g (0.9oz) linseeds

Pinch of yeast

For the main dough –

350g (12.3oz) wholegrain spelt flour

9g (0.3oz) salt

6g (0.2oz) instant dry yeast or 7.2g (0.25oz) active dry yeast or 18g (0.6oz) fresh yeast

20g (0.7oz) honey

260g (9.15oz) water at room temperature if your kitchen is between 19C – 22C (66F – 72F) *

*To learn more about dough temperature when using a preferment click here.

1 egg for glazing

50g (1.75oz) linseeds to sprinkle on top

Method

1. Make the preferment. In a bowl combine the water, pinch of yeast, seeds, and flour. Mix well until there is no dry flour left. Cover and ferment for 10 – 14 hours or until doubled in size.
2. Make the dough. In a large bowl combine the water, salt, yeast, and honey. Mix well to dissolve the salt and hydrate the yeast. Add the preferment and the spelt flour. Mix again until there is no dry flour left.
3. Tip the dough out on the table and leave it to rest for 15 minutes. This will allow the spelt flour to absorb the water better and develop some gluten.
4. Knead the dough using the stretch & fold method for 10 minutes. *Desired dough temperature 24C – 25C (75F – 77F). If your dough is warmer, then it will ferment more rapidly. If it is cooler, then it will take longer. Adjust proofing time accordingly.
5. Cover and ferment for 1 hour.
6. Fold.
7. Ferment for 1 more hour.
8. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces and pre-shape.
9. Leave to rest for 15 minutes.
10. Shape the dough balls.
11. Place on a non-stick paper lined tray, dust with flour, cover and leave for the final proof. This will take around 1 hour depending on the temperature of your kitchen. *During the final proofing preheat your oven to 160C (320F) fan on.
12. Brush the rolls with egg and sprinkle with seeds.
13. Bake for 25 minutes.
14. Leave to cool down a bit and enjoy!

These rolls will stay soft even a day later, so you can keep enjoying them. Once they do become stale you can toast them to bring them back to life.

Keep in mind that the conditions in each kitchen are different, so fermentation times may vary for you. It is up to the baker to control the bread and react accordingly.

Your oven may be different too, so your baking time may vary.