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Baking with spelt flour is a little different than baking with other flours. Each one has its own quirks, but spelt is one that I rarely work with, so there was a little learning curve to get to these gorgeous, fluffy, whole grain vegan spelt rolls.
What is spelt flour?
First off, spelt flour is not gluten free. It's a type of wheat but does contain a little less gluten than wheat flour. If you're interested, you can read more about that here.
There are also different types of spelt flour. For this recipe, be sure that you buy "whole" spelt flour and not white spelt flour. I haven't tested with anything other than whole spelt flour.
I do think other specific types of flours will work as a substitute for the whole spelt, but since I haven't personally tested it yet, I don't want to say for certain that they will work. Once I test, I will update!
To come up with this recipe, I went back to my vegan hot cross buns recipe, stripped it of all its sweetness, spices, and add-ins and ended up with a bare bones roll recipe to experiment with.
How is baking with spelt flour different from baking with wheat flour?
When it comes to using spelt flour in baked goods, there are a few things you need to take into account to make sure your recipe will work.
First, spelt flour absorbs less liquid than wheat flour, so I had to cut back on the liquids in the original recipe to make this one work.
I also found that spelt dough does not need as much time to rise as wheat flour. So I also cut back on the rise time. This is what the dough for the spelt buns looked like after the second rise, just before putting them in the oven:
On my first try, I left them to rise for the same amount of time as I did with my wheat flour hot cross buns and they turned out well, texture-wise, but taste-wise? Nope.
They tasted very "yeasty" which is something that will happen if you leave your dough to rise for too long. Back to the drawing board.
The second time around, I cut back on the first rise by 15 minutes and that did the trick. The resulting spelt buns were amazing!
As mentioned above, if you've never tasted spelt buns, you need to treat yourself and make a batch for yourself. Whole grain spelt flour will give you fluffy spelt rolls that are hearty, dense, filling, and nutty flavoured (These aren't the airy white dinner rolls you may be used to!).
There's also a touch of sweetness, which is nice.
I like to brush the tops with a little oil for presentation (and they look nice in the photos, don't they?), but that's totally up to you and your preferences.
You can enjoy your spelt rolls any way you like! They're perfect to have as dinner rolls, or you can use them for sandwiches. Or you can just have them as a snack with whatever spread you like.
They're great with this easy strawberry chia seed refrigerator jam, my chickpea salad, and of course, they go perfectly with vegan butter or margarine.
I hope you enjoy these fluffy vegan spelt rolls, if you like this recipe, I think you may also like these:
- Apple Raisin Cinnamon Rolls
- Coconut Raisin Vegan Scones
- Vegan Hot Cross Buns
- Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Zucchini Bread
- Vegan Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
How to Make Whole Grain Vegan Spelt Rolls
Whole Grain Vegan Spelt Rolls
Ingredients:
- 2 ¼ teaspoons yeast
- 1 teaspoon sugar (pure maple syrup can be used as a substitute)
- ½ cup lukewarm water
- ½ cup room temperature/lukewarm unsweetened non-dairy milk
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 2 tablespoons sugar (pure maple syrup can be used as a substitute)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 - 3 ½ cups whole spelt flour
- oil or vegan butter for brushing tops (optional)
Instructions:
- In your stand mixer bowl, add the yeast, 1 teaspoon of sugar, and lukewarm water. Let stand for a few minutes.
- When the yeast has foamed up, add the room temperature/lukewarm milk, oil, sugar, salt, and 2 cups of whole spelt flour. Mix with a spoon to combine. Mixture will look like a batter.
- Put stand mixer bowl in place, add 1 more cup of flour and using the dough hook, set the mixer to knead.
- After the mixture has formed a dough, you will know it is good when it does not stick to the sides. If it is still too sticky, add flour, a little at a time.
- Let mixer knead dough for about 3 minutes and until it is no longer sticky.
- Lightly oil the inside of a medium-sized bowl.
- Remove dough from mixer bowl and place into the oiled bowl. Cover the bowl with a towel and let it sit in a warm spot until it has doubled in size, about 45 minutes.
- Lightly grease a 9" cast iron pan, 9" cake pan or a 8x8 baking dish, set aside. (parchment paper can also be used instead of greasing)
- After the 45 minutes have passed, punch the dough down and knead for a few seconds to get rid of any air pockets.
- Separate the dough into 8 equal sized pieces.
- Roll each piece into a ball and place each into the pan or baking dish. It's OK if they are close together.
- Cover with a towel and place in a warm spot. Let rise for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Bake for 18 minutes or until they are golden brown.
- Remove from oven and let cool in the cast iron pan. If you have used a cake pan or a baking dish, let cool for a few minutes and then remove rolls and place on a cooling rack.
Recipe Notes:
- I use my stand mixer to knead the dough, if you don't have a stand mixer, knead by hand.
- When putting the dough to rest and rise, I like to put it into my oven with the light on. This created a warm environment for the dough to do its thing.
- Store any uneaten rolls in an airtight container. Rolls will keep for about 2-3 days before going stale.
- I have not made this recipe with any other flour other than whole grain spelt, so if you make it with any flour other than the one I use, your results may not be the same as mine.
- Nutrition info is based on the recipe as it is written and is to be used only as a rough guide. Click here to learn how nutrition info is calculated on this website.
Nutrition Info:
Sean says
Made these a little while ago with white spelt flour,perfect!! Light,fluffy,a little sweet,really close to a brioche bun!
Delicious!
Gwen Leron says
Very happy to know you like them, Sean! Enjoy the rest!
Cecile Roberson says
Fluffy as you mentioned but kinda dry unless you cut them in half and add butter. How can I make them moist? They seem to be a winner recipe for our family otherwise ☺️
Gwen Leron says
Hi Cecile, I'm glad to hear that the recipe is a good fit for your family, but sorry to hear that they turned out dry for you. They shouldn't, though. There are a few things that could cause dry rolls, the number one issue is too much flour. Just a little bit extra would through the dough off and cause dry rolls. A few other things that could cause this is the yeast not being fresh or was not activated properly, the dough wasn't kneaded enough, etc. I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions 🙂
Mpishi says
Turned out wonderfully as 4" sandwich rolls. I divided the dough into 112g portions and put them into 4" tart rings that had been sprayed with baking spray. Perfect! Thanks again.
Gwen Leron says
You're welcome! I'm so glad they turned out as larger sandwich rolls for you. Thanks for circling back and letting me know how it all went 🙂
Shannon says
Making these now. I’m trying for the larger size for sandwiches, how much longer on the baking time ?
Gwen Leron says
Hi Shannon, you don't need to add much more time if you are making them slightly bigger, I would give them another 3 minutes or so. Let me know how they turn out!
Mpishi says
Thanks. I'm going to try them as I've made other hamburger buns - in four-inch tart rings. That should make for a nice sandwich roll as long as they don't fall apart. I'm only just starting to work with spelt and a recipe I tried for a full loaf of bread was delicious, but slices of it just about had to be eaten with a knife and fork since they were too tender to pick up without breaking up.
I'll try them in another day or two and let you know how they turn out.
Gwen Leron says
Yes, please come back and let me know how things went. Looking forward to hearing about it!
Vincent Phelan says
Hi Gwen I made spelt flour rolls using your recipe for Easter dinner yesterday. They turned out great! Thanks so much for this easy recipe! Vince
Gwen Leron says
Honoured that this recipe made it to your Easter table, Vince. Thank you for giving it a try and I'm very happy you liked the rolls! 🙂
Heather says
Hello. Are these buns good after they have been frozen and thawed? I would like to make them ahead of time for a family member who is visiting soon.
Gwen Leron says
Hi Heather! Yes, you can freeze them. Once ready, thaw at room temperature and they'll be ready to serve. I hope your family member loves them 🙂
Dina says
I made these and they were very good. I made them a little bigger to use as sandwich rolls. They make a nice change from regular sandwich bread. Will make again.
Gwen @ Delightful Adventures says
So glad you like the recipe, Dina! 🙂
Mpishi says
How well did these work as sandwich rolls? In the picture where they are buttered, they don't look sturdy enough not to crumble/fall apart when used for sandwiches.
Gwen Leron says
Hi there, they would work just fine as sandwich rolls. They are a little more tender than wheat rolls, but not so much that they won't hold up for a sandwich. Let me know if you have any other questions.