When our friend Craig came over for dinner recently, he brought a stunning loaf of whole wheat and walnut sourdough with him. It was so good that I was keen to try something similar.
I’d recently purchased wholemeal spelt flour from Weston Milling and decided to make a hybrid dough with walnuts. The finished bread was very moreish – Pete and I ate half a loaf standing up in the kitchen, slice after slice – it was that delicious. Spelt flour has a nutty flavour which complements the walnuts particularly well.
Here’s the formula…
- 300g active sourdough starter (166%, fed at a ratio of 1 cup flour to 1 cup water)
- 600g water
- 500g bakers/bread flour
- 500g wholemeal spelt flour
- 200g walnuts
- 18g fine sea salt
The finished dough is at 70.5% hydration. If you’re using a 100% starter, increasing the water to 660g should do the trick. I wrote a little about dough hydration here.
These quantities made one 900g and two 600g loaves…
It was a great opportunity to try out the new, smaller bannetons I’d recently bought from Chefs’ Warehouse…
I hadn’t tried the Weston Milling spelt before, and was very chuffed with how well it baked up. I bought it at Southern Cross Supplies in Marrickville – from memory, the 10kg sack cost me $28, which is much cheaper than spelt flour has been in previous years. I might need to buy some more, as I can see this becoming a regular loaf at our place!
. . . . .
Edit: Since starting this post, I’ve made the walnut loaves again…
…as well as a batch of sourdough rolls, made to the same recipe minus the walnuts, and shaped using our easy fold and cut method shown here…
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Celia, your loaves look magnificent.
By the way, I am planning a weekend in Sydney to visit Chefs’ Warehouse. I have a long list of things I want from reading your posts – especially those bannetons.
Glenda, thank you! Make sure it’s a long weekend, as Chefs’ Warehouse are only open Monday to Fridays! Lots of bannetons there, all very reasonably priced.
Can I live in your kitchen?? I’m chuffed too!! I laughed when you said you’d eaten it standing up.. that’s when you know a recipe is just perfect! You’re such an incredible bread maker!! These look so professional. I love spelt and agree it is the nuttiness that makes it so perfect in baking! xo Smidge
Smidge, you’re very kind, thank you. We’ve grown so accustomed to our bread that it’s nice when we chance upon a combination that blows us away! Interestingly, this particular loaf was really well matched with our olive, fig and anchovy tapenade – the flavours seemed to complement each other really well. You can probably guess what I had for lunch today.. :)
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2011/10/26/olive-anchovy-and-fig-tapenade/
Gorgeous loaves, my sourdough never looks like that! and i am very envious of those bannetons, i must start searching for some over here, but mercy it is the busy enbd of the season out here on the farm at the mo.. how is your autumn looking? do you still have food in the garden? c
Celi, I wish I could send you some, but the postage exceeds the cost of the baskets themselves! Autumn has been hot, not surprisingly, given that summer was wet and cool…arrgh…the poor plants are SO confused! :)
Still have kale, leeks and squash in the garden – broccoli and more kohlrabi on its way. Must get the peas in soon!
Another bread recipe I need to try! They all look so yummy :)
Thanks Tandy! Hope you like it!
I have tried to like spelt and I don’t very much, so rarely bake with it these days. Your loaves look great though!
Jo, I wonder if our spelt is different from yours? I’ve noticed the protein levels in the flour vary enormously from one batch and mill to another. I’ve think I’ve been very lucky with it so far – apart from one lower protein bag early on, the rest seem to have all be reasonably high.
I never tried spelt, must get some next time I visit the health food store. Your bread are gorgeous, I especially like the ones with the bannetons design..
Norma, thank you! The bannetons are a relatively recent addition to my baking life, and I feel quite sophisticated using them, even though they actually make things easier! :)
I wrote a bit about them here:
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2011/05/22/bannetons/
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2011/05/26/first-banneton-loaves/
Wonderful, Celia! I absolutely adore spelt – it works incredibly well in bread… SO tasty!
Thanks Nick! My Pete is the same – he adores anything made in spelt!
I wish I could smell the fresh baked bread – ha!
Thank you! Actually the spelt has a very distinct aroma as it bakes – I find it very appealing…
Beautiful loaves, Celia! We like bread with spelt, and when I find it at the supermarket I always buy a bag or two. I can image that walnuts and spelt go well together. Lovely. :)
Misk, thank you – I was surprised how well they worked together. I wonder if it would work as well with other types of nuts…
Delicious! Love those bannetons… I’ve been baking with walnuts lately myself. Love them!
Lizzy, I took a loaf to my Hungarian neighbour June – she ADORES walnuts! Apparently they’re used a lot in Hungarian cooking?
Indeed they are, please see my latest post on a Walnut Torte. I have a link to your kifli, too. xoxo
Thanks for the linky, Lizzy! :)
That is a great looking bread and I love nutty breads. I can just imagine you standing in your kitchen and not being able to stop at one slice. Fresh homemade bread! Is there anything better! xx
Charlie, thank you! After the third slice each, Pete and I looked at each other and said, “Maybe we should stop now..” :D
magnifique celia..standing up in the kitchen hopping into a newly baked loaf of bread is one of life’s pleasures..bon appetite.. :)
Jane, it was a great joy, thank you for understanding! :)
Beautiful loaves!
Thanks Greg! :)
Oh my goodness Celia I bet these taste amazing. I really think you could start up your own little neighbourhood bakery. I love that I’m not the only one who gets into my baked goodies standing up in the kitchen as soon as they’re ready!
Claire, thank you! I’d never survive commercial baking – I like experimenting too much! :) Wasn’t there an old saying that food eaten standing up had no calories? ;-)
Beautiful loaves and rolls!
You are such a creative and prolific baker- thanks for sharing your photos and recipes.
Heidi, thank you! I bake a lot of bread once a week – as you know, it can take surprisingly little actual hands-on time! The most recent doughs were mixed and given a brief knead in the morning, and then left alone for six hours, then shaped quickly, risen again, then baked! I reckon all up it was about half an hour hands on time in total – for four loaves and a dozen rolls! :)
We’re eating my first loaf of spelt sourdough at the moment. I love the idea of combining it with walnuts. Can imagine the combination. And I love the look of those rolls!
Linda, thank you, hope you’re enjoying the spelt as much as we do! I wonder if it would combine well with your maccies?
Oh my! I adore bread with walnuts in. You’re SUCH an accomplished baker!!
SK, you’re very kind – I don’t know about accomplished, but after five years of baking all the bread we eat, I certainly feel well practiced! :)
All your bread looks delicious and very very edible *rumble of tummy*
Sue, wish I could share some with you! :)
Beautiful spelt loaves, Celia. From the open crumb you’ve achieved, I’d say that you’ve found a good spelt bread flour. I’m going to check out my local supplier and see if he has it at that price. After 15 dozen sourdough hot cross bun, it’s about time I make something else and your loaf looks like a winner.
Liz, I know spelt can be a hit and miss option sometimes, but this one seems to have been a good one! I think I paid nearly double that price for spelt in previous years! It’s a white flour flecked with bran, rather than a universally grey flour like our previous wholemeal spelt.
15 dozen! You’re a star! We haven’t made any, but our lovely neighbour brought over half a dozen vegan HXBs today – they’re amazingly good!
I just bought some spelt flour – great idea to bake half and half and with walnuts. Ooooh off to the kitchen….
Sally, hope you have fun with it! Spelt flour can be very varied in terms of protein content, so I tend to mix it with bakers flour – tends to even things out a bit and give a more consistent loaf!
A fabulous spot of bulk bread making there, our Celia.
I find spelt rather difficult to manage. Do you think the higher hydration helps with this particular flour?
I’m a 100% girl.
Gill, as I was saying to Jo, I wonder if our spelt flour is slightly different here. I’d read that spelt is often slightly lower protein, but most of the bags I’ve had here have been quite good for breadmaking.
From memory, spelt actually prefers a drier dough rather than a wetter one. I find mixing spelt with bakers flour works the best for me – there’s enough protein in the bakers to give the loaf lift and the spelt contributes greatly to the flavour, regardless of its protein content…
Hi Celia, your bread looks beautiful. thanks for sharing the method and your sources for spelt flour. I forgot how much i have missed spelt loaves in recent months and you have inspired me to make a return to baking with spelt. Cheers, Craig
Craig, thank you again for the inspiration! Remind me to spot you some spelt when I see you next – I’ve got heaps (as I bought a 10kg bag!) :) x
I still haven’t played with spelt flour. On my list of things to play with though. They do look lovely.
Brydie, I’m not a huge fan of whole wheat (wholemeal) flour, so I’ll often use the wholemeal spelt in its place. It tends to work well as a substitute! :)
Celia, this is looking too good to pass – the bit about eating half the loaf standing up is the best advertisement in the world, although the photos already did a great job ;-)
I want to make it this weekend – can you tell me how long it took for the first rise before shaping? Do you go through more than two stretch and fold cycles?
if I miss some link to the detailed recipe, sorry – feel free to point me to it and forgive my lack of attention ;-)
Sally, you know how imprecise my breadmaking is – I just threw the dough together, ignored it for a few hours, then came back and shaped it. So apologies for these rough instructions:
My starter was very bubbly – I mixed it together the starter, water and walnuts, then added in the flours and salt. The shaggy mess was left in the bowl for about half an hour, covered, and then I gave it a quick knead in the bowl, covered it again and ignored it until the dough was well proved and puffy. From memory that was about six hours, but note that my starter is very robust – the dough can go 12 – 14 hours and still recover after being knocked back.
The dough was shaped on a rye dusted bench and then proved in the rye floured bannetons for about an hour before slashing and baking on preheated stones at 220C with fan for 20 minutes, and then 175C with fan for a further 20 – 25 minutes.
They look stunning Celia. I really enjoy working with wholemeal spelt – it seems to have a more subtle flavour than normal wholemeal flour and seems somehow softer and more yielding. But this may just be the brands that I have worked with I guess. Love the spring on your loaves :)
C, thanks! Spelt is such a nice flour to work with. I use it a bit in my sweet baking as well..
Celia, thanks for the write up – it’s good to know the dough will stand a longer rising period if necessary – I’ll come up with something that fits my schedule, but if all goes ok, I’ll give it a try on Saturday
will let you know
(by the way, I finally got an “In My Kitchen” ready – should be live tonight at midnight… ;-)
Sally, look forward to seeing what’s in your kitchen! I have to point out that I think the long prove is contingent on the starter you use. I’m using the San Francisco or Northwest starter from Teresa at NW Sourdough (it’s been so many years now that I can’t remember which one it was!), which is just superb in terms of resilience. In the past though, I’ve tried her Alaskan starter, and it fell over after the first few hours and the resultant loaf would be dense and heavy..
The feeling of bread so good that you stand there in the kitchen eating it is a familiar ritual. And I really must get a hold of some of those bannetons. Every time I see your breads I want them all over again! Happy Easter to you, Pete and The Clones! x
It looks so yummy! I wish I could eat spelt, but alas it’s not to be! I bet I could fill up on the wonderful smell alone though, yummo!
Oh that looks so delicious. As you know I’m a fan of spelt, though I haven’t made spelt sourdough yet.
[…] this post over at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial made all the 11 bread recipes on my “to make soon list” […]
Thank you for this very easy recipe, just tried it out and it came out delicious! I used a whole wheat sourdough, probably 100% (since I feed it equal weight of whole wheat and water).
Thanks so much for letting me know! I’m glad you enjoyed it! I made another batch just last weekend.. :)