PKD Recipes

When incorporating spelt into an existing recipe, reduce the liquid by 10-15%. For non-yeasted bread reduce the knead time by ⅔ and allow 30 minutes rest at least for full development.

Serve these warm at breakfast with tupelo honey. The origin of its name, baps, is from the 16th century. Baps baked by the Scots is not sweet; the Irish have sweet baps made with currants. This recipe makes about 5 baps.

CHEF
Rise 12-24 hours
If using cold refrigerated chef (previously left over levain) about a half a day before baking your next loaf, allow it to come to room temperature. Mix the refrigerated previous chef with ⅓ cup of water and ½ cup of spelt flour. Allow it to sit out on the countertop in a glass jar for 12-24 hours or until it develops fine bubbles. For its rising I keep it in a glass covered jar with a rubber band to mark the beginning of the rising. Once it has fermented (12-24 hours) this becomes your chef for baking today. Adding almond milk to replace water in this recipe makes a softer crust.

Water Choices
Mineral water
Filtered water
Tap water that has been left out overnight to dissipate the chlorine.

Levain
Rise 6-10 hours
Take the entire levain that you have previously mixed and after allowing it to rise 10 – 12 hours, add 1 cup spelt  flour. Stir vigorously. Allow to rise in a covered glass jar for 6 – 10 hours. Use ½  cup of this Levain. Put the remainder aside for another baking day. It will keep in the refrigerator. I store mine in our wine cooler.

Ingredients
½ C. levain or
3 tsp yeast
¼ C. warm almond milk
1 Tbsp Tupelo honey

4 Tbsp coconut oil
2 C. spelt flour
¾ tsp Himalayan Pink Crystal salt

¼ C. warm almond milk
¼ C. warm water

½ C. raisins
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp date sugar

Preparation
Rise 1 hour if using yeast
If using yeast, warm the milk so you can stick a finger into it easily. Dissolve the honey in the water and sprinkle the yeast. Let stand for 5 minutes. In a larger bowl mix together the flour and ¾ teaspoon of salt rub in the oil. Add to the now bubbling yeast, the warm milk, warm water and mix in the flour salt butter mixture with your hands to get a soft dough. Stretch the dough. It should be sticky. Invert the bowl onto the countertop and knead adding more flour if necessary.
Flatten the dough with a rolling pin then add the raisins to the dough. Roll dough to disperse raisins throughout. Then roll dough flat again. Sprinkle with cinnamon and Tupelo honey. Roll into a log so cinnamon is in a spiral throughout the dough.
If additional water is needed add to your hands as you work the dough. Cut into 5 pieces. Cover and let rise until doubled, about an hour.
Rise 1 hour.

Both Methods
Rise 30 minutes
Preheat oven 400º. Turn the dough out onto a floured board and knead until smooth. Cut into 5 pieces and shape each into a ball. Put the balls on a parchment lined pan cover and set them aside to rise for 30 minutes while the oven warms.

Bake 15-30 minutes 400º
Bake in a preheated oven until the baps turn golden brown. Serve hot from the oven. Serve with a pitcher of honey.

Left Over Levain
Earlier you had some left over levain to save for another baking day. Take the left over levain and add to this ⅓ cup of water + ¼ cup of spelt flour; adding the water first. Mix well to aerate, adding fresh oxygen. Allow to rise a bit while you finish baking the bread then place in a cool area or in the refrigerator (I put mine in the wine cooler) for baking another day. This then becomes your new CHEF. Some have tried freezing the chef while they are traveling.

For a sweeter bread, fed the CHEF twice in a 24 hour period just before baking your next loaf. To bake your next loaf, allow CHEF, flour, water, and mixing bowl, all to come to room temperature. The process for making these non-yeasted breads is indeed a long one, but once you experience biting into a savory warm slice of spelt bread, made fresh from your own stone lined oven, you will be handsomely rewarded through your efforts. Serve hot from the oven with a little pitcher of tupelo honey.