Local Grain Box #2

I got my second CSA grain box. This week:

- hard red winter wheat flour
- spelt flour
- Khorasan flour
- cracked hard red winter wheat (for porridge)
- rolled soft white wheat
- rolled spelt
- thick rolled oats

We made vegan blueberry-lemon muffins for breakfast with soft wheat and spelt flour. While they were baking started some bread. I used 2 cups hard wheat, 2 cups spelt flour and 2 cups Khorasan. I used my own recipe this time rather than the one from Laurel's Bread Book. I like this recipe because it is dry and you incorporate water while you knead rather than the opposite. I find this is much easier to work with then the sticky dough that needs flour added. My daughter Emily and I took turns kneading. After the first rise, she rolled out half the dough and added raisins and cinnamon to make raisin bread.

Here's my recipe:

Whole Wheat-Spelt Bread

1 tablespoon yeast
2 tablespoons brown rice or agave syrup (or honey)
2 cups warm water
1 tablespoon sea salt
4 cups Whole Wheat Flour
2 cups Spelt Flour

Stir yeast and sweetener into water. Let sit 5 minutes or until it froths. In large bowl, mix flours and salt. Add yeast mixture and stir until combined. Pour into board to knead. With wet hands knead 10 to 15 minutes, or until soft and stretchy. Rinse bowl out with water and leave wet. Form dough into a ball and place in bowl. Cover with damp towel. Let rise 2 hours, or until doubled in size. Gently press down dough and knead into a ball. Divide the dough in half and form into logs. Place in oiled loaf pans. Cover with damp towel and let rise about 1 hour, or until dough rises over the edge of the pan. Preheat oven to 375. Bake loaves 50 minutes. When done they should drop from the pan easily and have a hollow sound when thumped on the bottom. Let cool before slicing.

Makes 2 loaves