This post is sponsored by Doves Farm Organic Flour

I have been writing about food, and specifically baking, for 10 years now and if I am correct I don’t think I have ever published a recipe for a muffin. It’s not that I don’t like them, I think they can be wonderful. Truth be told I have no idea, no excuse, no reason why but here we are, 10 years in, and this is the first muffin recipe I have posted. Thankfully it was worth the wait, these spelt rhubarb muffins are incredibly easy but also jam packed with flavour. 

What is Spelt Flour

This is another recipe in my series on baking with ‘Ancient Grains’ with Doves Farm Organic Flour and in this recipe I am using their ‘Stoneground Wholemeal Spelt Flour’. Now spelt is maybe one of the easiest grains to use when you want to swap out regular wheat flour and because of this and its flavour it has become an incredibly popular ancient grain. When we talk about ‘ancient grains’ it is easy to think this means we’ve been using it for hundreds of years but the truth is much more impressive. It is said that spelt has been cultivated since around 5,000/6,000 BC. Over the years, wheat flour became the dominant grain which we bake with and spelt was, for many years, relegated to animal feed. Since the 1970s ancient grains have been re-introduced to UK soils however and thankfully now it is among one of the more popular ancient grains. Milling historic, heritage grains since 1978, Doves Farm has led the way in this and was the first in the UK to grow and produce flour from spelt 

There is, however, a lot of confusion about what spelt actually is. Many think of it as a gluten free option, or that it has less gluten, or less ‘bad’ gluten and strictly speaking none of these are accurate. Rather than less gluten it actually has a different formation of gluten, which for those who suffer gluten intolerances (not coeliac or allergic reactions) can be an easier form to digest. Without getting into too much technical detail, gluten is made up of two proteins and one of these gives stretchiness and the other gives strength and structure. Wheat flour is viewed as having the perfect balance between the two proteins and is why it became the most commonly used grain for baking. The gluten in spelt has more of the stretchy type of gluten which means breads with lots of spelt tends to rise less and spread more and it also means you should avoid kneading spelt doughs too much as it can cause crumbly breads, in fact when you work with spelt bread doughs you’ll find they become incredibly stretchy much quicker than when made with regular wheat. Flavour wise, I like to compare the grain to wholemeal flour, but sweeter - no real bitterness is present, it’s a great taste that suits a wide variety of flavours. As it is also a soft flour, it makes for particularly tender recipes.

How To Use Spelt Flour

For many recipes spelt can be used as a straight swap for regular wheat flour. When making breads it tends to spread out, more than rise up, so I personally like to use it as a portion of the flour if baking a free form loaf or if I want a higher percentage of spelt in the bread. Baking it in a tin ensures the bread holds it shape. When substituting regular wheat flour for spelt flour I happily start by replacing 50% of the flour, in cakes and breads, and for things like biscuits and pastry, recipes that don’t rely on the gluten for structure, you can use a higher percentage of the grain. If you’re not following a recipe that was specifically designed for an alternative grain then when making flour substitutions it is always a good idea to start by subbing out smaller percentages so you can see how the recipe reacts to the alternative grain. With spelt the benefit is you can generally start this at a relatively high level. With a lot of recipes you’ll find using spelt as the sole flour is absolutely possible and absolutely delicious. The one thing to note about using spelt is that it has a higher rate of absorption so it’s often advisable to reduce the amount of liquid called for. I find this particularly true when making spelt breads, and find a 10-20% reduction is advisable.

Muffins

Because of the type of gluten in spelt these muffins tend to rise flatter than is normal but it’s a really good way to start baking with spelt as the muffin cases ensure structure as the batter clings to the paper cases rather than spread out. So if you’re not ready to try breads, this is a great recipe to test the waters. For the muffins I wanted something easy and really packed full of flavour. The base of the recipe is a courgette cake which is similar to carrot cake but the courgette gives less of a flavour which means it’s a great option if you want to use flavours that pair less well with carrots. For its main flavour I added rhubarb, because it’s in season and I will never not be excited to use it in more recipes, and topped the muffins with a little white chocolate because it tastes so good with the rhubarb. I also included some complimentary spices - cinnamon for a background flavour that really bring outs the flavour of the spelt, cardamom which is dream with rhubarb, and finally a little pepper which really gives everything a boost and a bit of liveliness. 

The recipes makes between 12 and 15 depending on the type of muffin case you use. If you use tulip muffin cases then it’ll make 12 large muffins but if you use regular muffins it’ll make 15. With the spelt, but also just because you’re making muffins and we don’t want to work the gluten too much, make sure to fold the batter just until the flour disappears.

Doves Farm Organic Stoneground Wholemeal Spelt Flour is available from ASDA, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsburys and Tesco. You can also buy direct from Doves Farm

Rhubarb and White Chocolate Courgette Spelt Muffins

Makes 12-15
200g courgette, coarsely grated
175g rhubarb, sliced lengthwise and diced
175g caster sugar
75g unsalted butter
250g Doves Farm Organic Stoneground Wholemeal Spelt Flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
3 large eggs
275g natural yoghurt
75g white chocolate, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 180ºC (160ºC). If you are using regular muffin cases line two muffin tins with 15 cases, if you are using tulip cases line one muffin tin with 12 cases. 

Place the courgette onto a clean kitchen towel and use to squeeze as much liquid out of the courgette as possible. The courgette has a much higher level of moisture than carrot so to make it behave in the same way we need to get rid as much water as possible. 

Take about 50g of the rhubarb and place it into a small bowl with about 1 tsp of the sugar. Stir it together to coat evenly then set aside for the moment. Place the remaining sugar and rhubarb into a large bowl and similarly mix together. Place the butter into a small pan and heat over low heat just until melted. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool slightly. 

Place the Doves Farm Wholemeal Spelt Flour into a large bowl with the baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt, whisk together so everything is evenly distributed. Add the eggs and yoghurt to the bowl with the majority of the rhubarb and mix together until everything is thoroughly mixed. Make a well in the dry goods and pour in the liquid goods and add the courgette. Gently fold together just until the flour has just about been absorbed, a few spots of flour is fine. The key thing with muffins is mixing as little as possible, you don’t want a tough muffin. 

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared muffin cases, you should be filling the cases about 2/3-3/4 of the way. Sprinkle over the reserved rhubarb and the white chocolate. Bake in the preheated oven for about 18-20 minutes or until the top of the muffin springs back to a light touch. Remove from the oven and allow to set for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Kept sealed the muffins will keep for about 2-3 days.