Spelt: A great wheat alternative

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I cannot eat wheat much. I had a LEAP blood test a few years ago that indicated I had sensitive reactions to wheat.  I did not think much of spelt which I can eat until now.  The #stayhome had me experimenting with spelt and the results have been great. Spelt is a nice alternative to wheat. Yes, spelt still has gluten. As is the case with gluten-containing foods, moderation is key. I have found that switching spelt one for one in recipes work quite well. The end result is a nutty flavor. The product is more brown which looks somewhat like whole wheat. We tried making spelt bread with yeast. I thought it turned out pretty good considering the issue is that our kitchen was too cold for the bread to rise. We will give it another try in the near future. One setback... spelt flour, like with other wheat flour alternatives, is more pricey. We found a great deal in getting bulk from My Spice Sage.

There is something special about eating homemade pasta. After receiving my LEAP test results, I tried to make pasta using other flours that I can eat (rye, buckwheat, quinoa, amaranth, millet) but all failed. I did not think of trying spelt until the #stayhome thing happened. It turned out well. I made a batch of fettuccine to freeze. Last week, I made some bowties. My dear husband was surprised by how much work it required to make those bowties but... it was so worth it. I had the free time to do so.

Here is a list of things I made using spelt flour.

• Yeast bread
• Navajo flatbread
• Pasta
• Crepes (reduce the amount of liquid)
• Cookies
• Quick breads
• Waffles/Pancakes
• Matzah