Do I need to Spelt it out??

In a previous post, I need to Spelt it out, I mentioned the awesome food buying club I am a part of The Food For All Collective   and my purchase of 10 lbs of spelt flour. Since the blueberry pancakes featured in "I need to Spelt it out", I haven't really touched the stuff. Then I was flipping through my cookbooks and found in Babycakes a recipe for Raspberry Scones ... having blueberries in the freezer I knew exactly what I was going to have for breakfast.

A note about Spelt : So, I've recently gotten a new position at Wholefoods as the "Healthy Eating Specialist". It's a pretty rad position, I basically read a whole bunch, get a couple of certifications, then teach the Wholefoods team members and customers about healthy eating alternatives, and focus on a plant based, whole foods diet! Not too shabby. Not too shabby. As you can imagine, I'm being bombarded with information right now, so why not share that with my loyal readers, I mean who doesn't want to know about the food they are putting in their body??

Spelt, an ancient cousin of wheat that originated in the Middle East at least 6,000 years ago has a great nutty, sweet flavor and contains more protein than typical wheat flour. Being related to wheat it does indeed contain gluten, however, it has proportionally less gliadin, (gluten is made up of two proteins gliadin and glutenin - both responsible for different properties) which prohibits the develop of air pockets to capture gases created by the leavening agents ... this is also the component that appears to be responsible for adverse reactions to gluten, making it a great substitute for people who have trouble digesting gluten or have a gluten intolerance (remember, this is only the case for some people, if you have severe reactions to gluten or are gluton intolerant, always consult a doctor before having spelt).  Spelt is also more water-soluble leading some people to believe this aids in the digestibility and makes nutrients more easily absorbed in the body. However, because of this, if you are substituting spelt flour for a typical wheat flour it may be a good idea to reduce the liquid, Margaret Wittenberg author of New Good Food, suggests reducing the liquid by 25%, and then going from there to obtain the consistency that's necessary for the recipe/batter you're working with.

Well, there's your cliff notes on spelt. If anyone wants further info about gliadin and glutenin just ask. Im happy to ramble on about this stuff all day.

Wait ... wasn't I going to share a recipe with you! Ahhh yes, the beautiful spelt scone I made!

Blueberry Spelt Scones
by Erin McKenna

-2 cups whole spelt flour
-1 tbsp. baking powder
-1/2 tsp. salt
-1/3 cup coconut oil - + a little more for brushing
-1/3 cup agave nectar - + a little more for brushing
-1 tbsp. pure vanilla extract
-1/4 cup hot water
-1 cup fresh raspberries or in my case, frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking pow, and salt.
Add the oil, agave, and vanilla and stir together until thick, slightly dry batter is formed.
Pour the hot water into batter and mix.
Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the berries until they are marbled throughout.
For each scone, scoop 1/3 cup batter onto the prepared baking sheet. Space the scoops 1 inch apart to allow them to spread. Lightly brush the tops with oil (something I forgot to do, and same with agave, still came out great ... )
Bake the scones on center rack for 14 mns, rotating the sheet 180 degrees after 7 minutes.
The finished scones will be golden and slightly firm. Remove from oven and brush with agave.
Let scones stand on sheet for 15 minutes. Carefully slide a spatula under each and transfer it to a wire rack and cool completely.
Store in airtight container at room temp for up to 2 days.

ENJOY!