Spelt - Right For Your Type

Want a quick and easy way to begin eating Right 4 Your Type? Simply replace wheat bread with spelt bread. Before being introduced to The Blood Type Diet, you probably weren't familiar with spelt. You were used to going to the grocery store and picking up a loaf of white bread, or for those trying to make a "healthier" choice, a loaf of whole grain. Below, you'll learn all about this ancient grain and perhaps pick up a few cooking tips too!

Spelt—all You Knead?

Spelt is a wonderful, ancient grain that invites questions like; "What is it?" "How do I cook with it?" "Do you have any recipes?" Fortunately, we are here to answer your questions and hopefully inspire you to get out your baking pans!

Spelt is a flowering grass. Its fruit is an ancient cereal grain. Spelt belongs to the same family of plants that include bamboo, rice, sugarcane and modern wheat. Native to southern Europe, where it's been used for millenniums, spelt is easily digestible and has slightly higher protein content than does wheat. Often, it can be tolerated by those with wheat allergies. Spelt has a mellow nutty flavor and can be substituted for wheat flour in baked goods. Spelt flour contains less gluten than normal wheat flour but it is not gluten-free.

Kristin Jasperse (Type B), one of our Blood Type Diet Bloggers, discussed her self professed "Love Affair With Spelt" in one of her recent blogs: "When I started on the Blood Type Diet several years ago, one of the first foods I eliminated was wheat, in particular, whole wheat and wheat germ. I like to bake and I was in the habit of using whole wheat flour and adding wheat germ to EVERYTHING: cookies, muffins, breads, and pancakes in particular. Since spelt flour is similar to wheat flour, I decided to give it a try and printed some spelt recipes off the internet. I was so impressed with the results that I began substituting spelt in all my recipes." Baking with spelt is a bit different than using white flour so, she suggests, "Since spelt does not absorb as much liquid as wheat, a little more spelt flour is needed when substituting for wheat. This produces a finer crumb in cakes and muffins. I use about 1/3 cup extra flour for every 3 cups in a recipe. I have also noticed that I am more satisfied with my results when I use a heavy liquid ingredient, such as butter and buttermilk, banana, winter or summer squash, carrots. Cookies made with spelt flour are often dry so I couple spelt with another grain such as oats which hold more moisture."

If you'd like recipes that use spelt, order a copy of Cook Right for Your Type or one of the Personalized Living Using the Blood Type Diet e-Cookbooks (one for each blood type O, A, AB, B) which contain delicious and easy-to-follow recipes for breads, sauces, and main dishes and desserts that are completely right for your type.

Blueberry Cranberry Spelt Muffins	Pumpkin Nut Spelt Muffins
INGREDIENTS: 4 eggs, beaten 1 cup olive oil 1 cup honey 4 teaspoons lime juice 1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries, rinsed 1 1/2 cups frozen cranberries, chopped 1 teaspoon vanilla, if desired 3 cups spelt flour 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda HOW TO MAKE IT: Mix wet ingredients in one bowl, dry in another. Combine dry ingredients into wet and mix well. Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full. Bake @ 350 Fahrenheit for 25 minutes. Yields about 24 muffins.	INGREDIENTS: 4 eggs, beaten 1 cup olive oil 1 cup honey 4 teaspoons lime juice 2 cups pumpkin puree (B Secretor use sweet potato) 1-1/2 cups nuts, chopped (as compliant) 1 teaspoon vanilla, if desired 3 cups spelt flour 2 teaspoons cinnamon (as compliant) 1 teaspoon ginger (as compliant) 1/2 teaspoon cloves (as compliant) 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda HOW TO MAKE IT: Mix wet ingredients in one bowl, dry in another. Combine dry ingredients into wet and mix well. Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full. Bake @ 350 Fahrenheit for 25 minutes. Yields about 24 muffins.