I've attempted to structure our days with a predictable rhythm for the kids. We all seem to thrive with some predictable flow. Monday – shopping, Tuesday – library, Wednesday – baking, etc…
Oh, how we love Wednesday.
Baking means many things here. Sourdough rolls, tortillas, overnight muffins, raw granola, cookies, and of course, homemade bread. Oh, bread. I love you.
We work off of a variety of recipes but always start with freshly ground spelt flour.
We appreciate the ease of the no-knead bread concept, but we also sometimes enjoy baking just for the sake of the kneading and playing with dough.
Today Lupine spent close to an hour kneading and sculpting and cutting out "biscuits" from bread dough. Our kitchen is warm, our house smells amazing, and our bellies are full.
Hooray for the simple pleasures of baking day!
Baking day is a favorite day here too – my 5 year old plans to have a ‘famous bakery’ when he grows up, so must practice with breads, pastries, sweet, you name it. He loves to crank our wheat grinder – something soothing and meditative about it.
We usually grind wheat berries for all of our baking (often soaked/dried) – have only tried spelt in limited quantities. Do you use 100% spelt for your breads?
I love your photos and your bread looks divine! Nothing better for little hands than kneading and sculpting and making something that nourishes!
Denise,
We will sprout and dry (ideally), but I have (at least for now) given up on 100% whole spelt baking. It is so dense – too much so for our taste. I usually add around white flour (spelt or wheat) for 1/4 of my flour to give a bit more lightness. The batch photographed was closer to 1/3 white, 2/3 freshly ground spelt. Sass.
Thanks! I’ll have to try that some time. 🙂
Would you be willing to share your complete bread recipe?
Sure! We dont fuss with much measuring, but here are some solid estimates:
Wednesdays Seed Bread
3 C warm water
2 Tb yeast
3 1/2 C freshly ground spelt flour
3 C white spelt flour
1/4 C sunflower seeds
1/4 C sesame seeds
1/8 C poppy seeds
Proof yeast in a large mixing bowl.
Stir in flour and seeds.
Combine well and allow to rest for 2-3 hours. (No kneading here, though play with it if you wish.)
Chill dough thoroughly, then sprinkle generously with flour and scoop out approximately 1/3 of your batch with floured hands. (The baking technique is based loosely on the Artisan Breads cookbook that I linked to in the post.)
Form into a ball by tucking under the bottom until the top looks smooth.
Set on parchment paper and dust with lots more flour.
Rest for 20 minutes, then turn on oven to 450 F. (Have your baking stone in the oven if you have one.) Put an empty bread pain or broiler pan in the oven. Youll need it in a bit.
Preheat for an additional 20 minutes then slash the tops of the loaves with a bread knife.
Pour 1 C boiling water into the hot broiler pan and place the bread dough on the baking stone (or on a baking sheet).
Bake for 30-40 minutes until the bottom sounds hollow when you thump it.
Cool (mostly) and enjoy (thoroughly).
Your bread looks great! I’ve been meaning to mess around with the 5 min artisan bread recipe but haven’t gotten around to it. (and now I don’t have too…you have for me…sweet!) I see you linked to the 2nd book they came out with…did you find it useful from a TF standpoint? I also didn’t know you could get white spelt flour…hmmm…I’ve been muddling through with 100% soaked/dried. I’ll have to check that out.
Oh! I was going to mention too…we have used 1 batch of your tooth soap with pretty good success. (I don’t think it was mixed well enough and kids would complain of soap taste once in awhile) I just found Spry tooth gel (w/no baking soda) and we’re liking that too. I’m sure we’ll be back to making it as the other will add up $$…
Happy Friday!
Jody,
Ive found that the kids slowly adapt to any hint of a soapy taste. It just takes a little transition time for their sensitive palates. I didnt know they had a second book until I checked that link. I used the first book basically to understand the theory. Then I made up my own recipes. Its still flour; its still unfermented bread. But sometimes – for a treat – we want that in our lives. Peace,
Rachel