HB in Five – Olive Spelt and Carrot Bread

This week our HB in Five Bread Challenge included two great recipes: Olive Spelt Bread and Carrot Bread.

The first bread I tackled was the Olive Spelt, which I made into buns. This recipe calls for twice the amount of spelt to unbleached all purpose flour. If you are not familiar with spelt flour, it’s an ancient grain – one of the original seven grains mentioned in the Bible. Spelt contains more protein than wheat and the protein it’s easier to digest. It makes a great crust and crumb!

Olive Spelt Buns

In addition to the spelt flour, chopped olives dot this sourdough-like bread. The sour taste comes from adding yogurt. I love our homemade yogurt and what better place than in these buns. The recipe called for green olives, but I used a combination of olives we had in the refrigerator. The white on the top of the buns is the dusting of flour that is given to the buns before popping them into the oven. These buns are our favorite so far!

Olive Spelt Buns close up

Then I was on to the next recipe – Carrot Bread. If you like carrot cake, this tastes nothing like that. But it’s still good! This bread includes carrots, dried fruit (I used last year’s dried apples), shredded coconut, and walnuts. It also includes brown sugar and cinnamon. We are pretty particular on our spices and when it comes to cinnamon, there is a big difference. We have four different varieties, but the one I chose for this bread was Vietnamese Cassia. Dave thinks it tastes like red hots. I just love it’s strong flavor. For this one loaf, the recipe only calls for one teaspoon. Since Vietnamese Cassia is strong I didn’t add more, but probably would add more next time.

If you’ve always wanted to make homemade bread, Healthy Breads in Five Minutes is the way to go. I’ve made bread for a long time and was skeptical about being able to make good bread without kneading. It is so simple. You mix the ingredients together – in either a bowl or the mixer (Mixer is easier on my wrists) and then put the dough in a container for storage.

All of the ingredients mixed up

The next step is to cover the dough and let it set on the counter for two hours. After that it can be used or stored in the refrigerator for use later. The mix keeps in the refrigerator for a week, but can also be frozen. When ready to bake, take the dough out of the refrigerator and cut off the amount needed. Since I only make half of the recipe, I use the whole amount. Form the dough and place it either on a baking stone or in a pan.  For the carrot cake I placed the dough in a greased pan, covered with plastic wrap, and set it aside to rest for an hour and 45 minutes.

Carrot Bread dough resting

When the time was up, the carrot bread is brushed with egg white and sprinkled with raw sugar. Yum! It was baked at 375 degrees for 50 minutes. What a beautiful bread!

Carrot Bread just out of the oven
Carrot Cake with last year's dried apples

Dave and I made ricotta cheese the other day so, we decided to try it on this bread. Yum!

Homemade cheese on carrot bread

I sure have enjoyed baking these breads. Dave and I decided at the beginning of the year that we would not buy any bread. We’ve enjoyed baking our own.  I know some of these in the HB in Five I’ll never bake again, but some have become favorites.

If you’d like more information on joining the challenge or checking out what the other bakers are doing, click here.