Whole-Grain Spelt Bread

I am a little obsessed with bread baking lately. Normally I get some kind of spelt bread at an organic bakery in the city. Although their bread is great and I really love the bakery's local produce the habit gets very expensive after a while and additionally, my taste buds got really bored from eating the same ol' bread week after week. Consequently, I did not enjoy eating bread as much as I used to. And let me tell you, that is a veeeery bad thing because as a German girl, I love bread! Yes I do.
Thankfully, there was light at the end of the tunnel. A few weeks ago I found Jenna’s recipe for this sandwich bread. And if I haven't said it clear enough here, her recipe was life-changing. Life-changing in a way that I do enjoy baking bread now and am no longer freaked out by the "chemistry" of making a yeast dough. It is actually quite fun. Given the circumstance the active dry yeast that has been hiding in the back of your kitchen drawer for ages is not as active as a lion sleeping in the sun. Is that a bad comparison? Alright. Make sure your yeast is active and you'll be set. Just saying.

I knew this bread would be a hit by the time I took it out of the oven. My kitchen was filled with the amazing smell of freshly baked, doughy bread and I had to sample a slice immediately! So good!
The original recipe calls for wheat flour, but since I prefer spelt, I replace the whole amount with spelt flour. This time around, I also used a part whole-grain flour to add more fiber. And although the original recipe did not recommend the use of whole-grain flours, I was surprised of how well the bread turned out anyways and I thought it was nice to share the recipe again.
If you are feeling like adding some raisins to the dough, go ahead! I’ve tried it with adding 50g raisins to the dough and I loved it!

Wholegrain Spelt Bread

Ingredients:
(makes one loaf)

160g spelt flour (type 630)
210g wholegrain spelt flour
48g rolled oats
14g sucanat
8g salt
7g active dry yeast (1 package)
1 1/3 cups water, luke warm
15g (vegan) butter, at room temperature

50 g raisins (optional)

In a small bowl mix water and active dry yeast. Let sit on the counter for a few minutes until the mixture gets bubbly.

In a larger bowl mix flour, oats, sugar and salt. Add water-yeast mixture and knead with a handmixer (dough hooks!) for 10 minutes on high speed. I do not recommend to knead by hand, since the dough is very sticky! At the end of the kneading time, the dough should be less sticky and smooth. Cover the bowl with a table cloth and let sit in a warm place for 90 minutes or until the dough has about doubled in size.

When the dough has doubled, put it on a slightly floured surface . Add raisins and quickly knead to combine.  Sprinkle with additional oats (as many as you like). Slightly roll the dough to make the oats stick to the dough slightly. Add the dough into a greased  loaf pan. Cover with a table cloth and let sit in a warm spot for 15 minutes.

In the meantime preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F).
After 15 minutes add bread to the oven ande reduce heat to 175°C. Bake for 45 minutes until golden brown. And crunchy. Do not open the oven while the bread is still baking.

Remove the bread from the pan and let cool for at least 15 minutes.