No, this recipe is not gluten-free, but for those of you who are intolerant to wheat, this might be a great alternative.  Because there is more protein in spelt than wheat, it is easier to digest.  If you have celiac’s disease, don’t eat spelt unless consulting a physician/health practicioner before hand, for spelt has gluten.  Anyways, our favorite spelt bread in the grocery store is from Prairie Grain, and it costs more than $5 a loaf.  I have been using Arrowhead Mills spelt flour in my pancake batter and some muffins as well.  It costs just over $5 a lb, so I thought I better start learning how to make spelt flour now that the dancer and I are wheat-free. 

The designeris very supportive and has been encouraging me with each try week to make the bread.  Finally, success.  It is tastier than the whole wheat bread the boys are eating and the spelt that we girls are enjoying.  So I think we’ll be making a loaf every other day.  I have this bread-maker that the beautiful Gretchie Love gave us for our wedding, so I’ve been using it to bake the loaves.  I like baking in the bread-maker because it is much like the crock-pot…you leave it and it takes less energy than the gas oven we have. 

Bla bla bla 🙂  Here is the recipe:    (I made a small loaf at first, I am sharing the larger loaf recipe)

Ingredients

3 cups spelt flour
1 cups warm water
1  tbs yeast
1 tsp salt
3 tbs honey
3 tbs coconut oil

1. Dissolve yeast in the warm water (I’m doing this in the bread-maker…you can also do it in your mixer). Add honey and coconut oil. Mix until there are no lumps. (I think I get the lumps because I’m using raw honey).
2. Add salt and half of the spelt flour. Mix and let rise 30 minutes.
3. Gradually add remaining spelt flour and mix until you have a nice dough. Allow to rise another 20-30 minutes and then bake. (I am using the shortest baking cycle with the bread maker, and use a spatula to help it form a nice dough. I don’t think you have to help the bread maker when using white flour. Or you by a bread-maker that is for gluten-free flours or non-white flours).
4. For those of you baking it in the oven, bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. (Depending on your prefered crust color).

As with most homemade bread loaves, this one tastes divine warm with butter on top! It is rich, moist and oh, soo good.  Enjoy.

p.s.  Don’t want to wait twice for it to rise?  I have found that if I mix the first 2 c of spelt flour with the other ingredients, wait a few minutes, and then mix in the remaining cup, it still works magically, and in a third less time.  🙂