Spelt bread with whole grains

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 1 sachet of sourdough extract (Biovegan spelt sourdough extract)
• 5 g yeast, fresh
• 600 ml water, lukewarm
• 300 g wholemeal spelt flour
• 300 g spelt flour type 630
• 250 g spelt
• 200 g sunflower seeds
• 1 pinch of sugar
• 1 tsp salt

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Rest time approx. 5 hours 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 50 minutes; Total time approx. 6 hours 50 minutes

without wheat

Soak the spelt grains in hot water, covered, for 2-4 hours. I boil a large amount of water in a kettle, add the spelt grains to a saucepan, then pour the boiling water over them, put a lid on, and use the heat to swell. Mix the spelt sourdough extract with about 300 ml of lukewarm water and let it swell for a few hours, stirring occasionally. Dissolve the yeast cubes in another 300 ml of lukewarm water. Weigh the flours and first add 50% of the sourdough, then the dissolved yeast, salt, and sugar, then the rest of the sourdough. Mix everything together, ideally in a food processor. Drain the spelt grains, test for bite if necessary, and add them to the dough along with the sunflower seeds. (Be careful, the seeds and grains will make this a very heavy dough. I have a Kitchen Aid and it can handle this amount without any problem.) If the dough is too wet, add more flour and cover and let it rest/prove for at least an hour. After the resting time, punch down the dough and knead thoroughly on a floured work surface. If necessary, add more flour, then place the dough in a greased bread pan or loaf pan and press firmly to prevent any large air bubbles from remaining in the dough. Let the dough prove again until it has almost doubled in size. If you like, add a few sunflower seeds on top for decoration. Bake the bread at approx. 180-200°C for 50 minutes, turn it out and let it cool on a wire rack. The bread should be firm and sound hollow when tapped. (I use a Miele combi-steam oven and bake under automatic programs/bread/spelt bread for 45 minutes and then bake for another five minutes.) As with any bread baking, this recipe requires time, a bit of patience, and experience.