Skip to main content

Spelt and Oat Focaccia Bread Recipe

 


HOW THIS SPELT AND OAT FOCACCIA RECIPE CAME TO BE:

One day I was browsing the flour shelves in my favorite health food store when another shopper sighed in frustration and gestured at an empty shelf. Evidently it had been the Spelt Flour shelf, which was now 'sold out'. 

We entered into one of those conversations based on shopper bonhomie. We both liked spelt flour. It is an ancient grain, but has almost a 1:1 ability to be used in the place of bread flour or all purpose flour, even though it is technically a "whole grain flour" like whole wheat-- but sooo different in its baking profile from whole wheat. It has quite a high gluten quantity, but doesn't require as much kneading. In fact, if you over-mix spelt flour, you end up with that stringy quality that says "high protein" (or rubber bands). It has a nice nutty flavor (again, unlike whole wheat), and a sort of "soft cake-y" texture in some baking. And it is high in fibre-- definitely a plus over regular wheat.

So, I came home where I actually had a small cache of spelt flour, unlike my shopper friend. I spent a few baking sessions in making focaccia, the no-need version of the more or less traditional Italian flat bread (sometimes called "white pizza" because of the similarity). After a couple of delicious jaunts with the usual white bread spongy, yummy usual bread, I began to think that it would be nice to have a bread that was not just delicious, but also had a little more nutritional value. I found a pretty good recipe for a bread that mixed in oats and whole wheat, but I have a spotty past with whole wheat (could you tell?) and thought about what else I might use. Aha! Spelt flour!

So, this version uses oat flour (I just ran it up in my food processor) to lighten the bread up a little, and because I have a lot of oats and the other flours are pricey, so why not try the oats as a supplement? I took the whole wheat-oats recipe and just plugged in spelt for the whole wheat. AND it worked. Beautifully! So light, spongey, tasty, fragrant! If you want to try the whole wheat-oat recipe, I've added it at the bottom of this page.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 4 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 1/2 cup organic rolled oats
  • 2 cups organic bread flour or all purpose flour
  • 1 cup organic whole grain spelt flour
  • 4 1/2 teaspoons fast-rising yeast
  • 1 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 cup of cold water
  • 1/4 cup of boiled, hot water
  • 1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt or salt crystals


Directions

  1. Grind up the oats into flour (use a coffee bean grinder, food processor or blender)
  2. Put some parchment paper inside a cake pan (8x8 or 9x13) and lightly oil with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Use a piece of paper towel to apply the oil evenly.
  3. Combine all the flours, yeast, 1 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 2 tablespoons oil, and hot water combined with cold water in the bowl of a stand stand mixer.
  4. Beat the ingredients on medium-high for 1 minute only. Too much beating of spelt flour is not a good thing.
  5. Using a lightly oiled spatula or other scraper, scrape the dough into the pan and ease it into flatness. Don't worry about filling all the cracks, etc, since the dough will do that as it rises.
  6. Put a damp tea towel or piece of very lightly oiled parchment paper over the top of the pan-- do not seal the pan with cling wrap. Let it rise in room temperature, about one hour or until doubled in size.
  7. 20 minutes before the rising is complete, heat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit/190 degrees Celsius.
  8. Lightly pock the dough in the pan. Drip over the final tablespoon of oil and sprinkle the 1/4 teaspoon of kosher or other rough salt.
  9. Slip the pan into the middle rack in the oven and bake for 40 minutes.
  10. Cool the focaccia bread in the pan on a cooling rack for 10 minutes and then carefully remove the parchment paper and cool the bread "naked" on the cooling rack until cool (30 minutes to 1 hour).
  11. Enjoy the bread in any of several different ways: as open-face sandwiches, with hummus or other dips.
  12. Wholewheat-oat focaccia recipe here.

Nutritional Information per Serving (assuming 9 servings):

  1. Calories: Approximately 225 calories per serving
  2. Protein: Approximately 6.5 grams per serving
  3. Carbohydrates: Approximately 35 grams per serving
  4. Fat: Approximately 7 grams per serving
  5. Fiber: Approximately 2.5 grams per serving
  6. Sugar: Approximately 0.2 grams per serving
  7. Sodium: Approximately 314 milligrams per serving

 No Need to Fret with No-Knead Bread (Caraway-Rye) (Organic Granny)


Basic Whole Wheat Bread Made with a Stand Mixer (Organic Granny)

 


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Colcannon (Irish Mashed Potatoes) and 3 Ethnic Take-Offs

Colcannon is a lovely Irish traditional mix of boiled cabbage or kale along with a root vegetable, usually mashed potatoes, but sometimes turnip, or carrots. Leaks and/or onions, and garlic, are pretty popular additions. Chopped green onions, chives and/or parsley are often used as a stirred-in garnish. You will also find 3 other Colcannon-type recipes-- take-offs of cultural classics with potatoes and greens from Mexico, Zambian and Ukrainian are sure to delight you as well when you want to try something a little different. These are all delicious, healthy comfort foods! I am vegan, so all of the recipes are vegan colcannon-- no dairy butter or milk involved. The following are ingredients in the colcannon I made (Missing from the picture are water, garlic, pepper, oil, and fine sea salt): Lovely Colcannon: potatoes, cabbage, leaks, green onions, and parsley INGREDIENTS (2-4 servings) 3 T.   (30 mg)  Olive Oil (or water, or coconut oil) 1/2 Cabbage , shredded ...

Pan-Fry Carrots (Roast Carrot Sticks)

Pan-roasted carrots (with some potato fries mixed in) Our younger son--at one time in the life he styled as "Nomad Farmer"-- lived and grew organic vegetables, fruit and berries on an off-grid community farm in the interior of BC.  We stopped in to see him the one time and came away with a load of over-wintered carrots, still as carrot-y flavoured and plump as on the day they were dug from the ground, thanks to the hill-side root crop storage cellar.   Our granddaughters opted for fish and chips today for lunch, and some of the 'chips' were carrot chips.  They are also a great base for a roast carrot soup.  When you roast veggies, you get extra delicious flavour.  You will also find two wonderful recipes for Holiday carrot side dishes-- Maple-glazed roasted carrots with a recipe for a lemony vegan sauce (made with cashews) and Lemon-Herb roasted carrots made with a Pecan Relish recipe, PAN-FRY CARROTS (Roast Carrot Sticks) <more properly ...

Hearty Cream of Tomato - Bean Soup - Vegan, Gluten-Free

If you have only ever eaten Cream of Tomato soup from a can,  this will be a tasty coup for you! Here is another wonderful bean recipe adapted from my fave The Great Vegan Bean Book: More than 100 Delicious Plant-Based Dishes Packed with the Kindest Protein in Town! - Includes Soy-Free and Gluten-Free Recipes! *  .  This creamy tomato-bean soup will fill in the gaps for anyone who feels they just don't have the time or energy to cook up a healthy lunch -- the secret is to pre-cook your beans in a large quantity and freeze them.  Then just assemble your other ingredients and presto, you have a very nutritious base to your lunch in less time than it would take you to order and be served at your typical restaurant. And you will know what is actually IN this soup ! INGREDIENTS: 2 T.      Olive Oil or Vegetable Broth 1/2       Onion , minced 3 cloves Garlic 1 tsp.     Marjoram 1 tsp.     Thyme 1/2 ts...