Emmer flour is an ancient grain flour with a strong, nutty taste. Not only can you use it to bake bread and rolls, you can also use it in other areas. We present you with various ideas.
Emmer is one of the oldest ancient grains and is considered the forerunner of today’s wheat. After higher-yield types of grain had long supplanted the emmer, today it is once again being appreciated. On the one hand, this is due to its aromatic taste, on the other hand, emmer flour contains numerous healthy nutrients. In particular, it is very rich in protein and provides important minerals such as zinc, iron and magnesium.
In the kitchen you can use the flavor characteristics of emmer in many ways – not only for baking bread, but also for cakes or pasta, for example. We give you an overview of the possible uses of emmer flour and present a simple recipe for emmer spelled bread.
Whether wheat, spelt or emmer: Flour is best bought in organic quality and from regional suppliers. Organic flour comes from ecologically sustainable agriculture and is therefore not treated with chemical-synthetic pesticides. If you use regionally produced products for cooking and baking, you also save on unnecessary transport routes and know exactly where your food comes from.
Incidentally, because emmer is less productive than other varieties when cultivated, conventional emmer flour is rare. That’s why most of the flour comes from organic farming anyway. To be on the safe side, look out for an organic seal.
Emmer Flour: Nutty basis for breads
Emmer flour provides a good basis for bread or rolls with a hearty, spicy taste. You can either use pure emmer flour for baking bread or combine it with other types of flour to form a mixed dough. In terms of taste, emmer flour and spelled flour go particularly well together.
Mixtures have the advantage that the ingredients bind better to form a dough – pure emmer flour does not stick as well as, for example, wheat flour. Doughs made from pure emmer flour therefore have a slightly softer consistency, but can still be processed.
In most wheat or spelled-based bread recipes, you can simply substitute the same amount of emmer flour for the amount of wheat or spelled flour. In this case, however, it is best to add water or milk carefully and gradually: If you change the type of flour, you may need a little more or less liquid than in the original recipe. Depending on the consistency of the resulting dough.
Recipe: mixed bread with spelled and emmer flour
Ingredients:
300 g emmer flour
250 g spelled flour (type 630)
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt
2 teaspoons bread spice
20 g fresh yeast
200 ml lukewarm water
130 ml cow’s milk or plant milk
flour for sprinkling
Directions:
In a large bowl, mix the emmer and spelled flour with the sugar, salt, and bread spices.
Make a well in the middle of the mixture and crumble in the yeast. Then add the water and milk to the well and stir in the yeast until dissolved.
Knead all ingredients with the dough hook of the hand mixer to a smooth dough. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let the dough rise for an hour.
Sprinkle a work surface with some flour and knead the dough well again with your hands. Then shape it into a ball.
Line a baking sheet with baking paper (or a sustainable baking paper substitute). Place the ball of dough on the baking sheet and cover with a kitchen towel. Let the dough rise again for an hour.
Cut the emmer spelled bread in a diamond shape and brush generously with water. Then bake it at 200 degrees for about 45 minutes.
Emmer flour: not only suitable for bread
You can not only use emmer flour for baking bread. Its nutty taste also lends an interesting note to sweet baked goods and goes well with spices such as cinnamon, anise or fennel seeds. This means that emmer flour is also suitable, for example, as a basis for Christmas cakes.
The strong emmer aroma goes particularly well with apples. In apple pie recipes, it is therefore worth replacing part of the flour with emmer flour. As with baking bread, you can usually do this in a 1:1 ratio. For example, try the following recipes with emmer flour for a change:
Apple pie with shortcrust pastry
Covered apple pie from the tin
Vegan apple pie
You can also make pasta dough partially or completely with emmer flour. Because emmer grains are a bit firmer than wheat grains, the pasta gets not only a strong wholemeal flavor but also an additional bite when you prepare it al dente.
