Spelt Bread with Walnuts, Fennel, and Dried Apricots

Here's how:

• 1

  Crumble the yeast into a bowl or stand mixer, add salt and water at 25 °C, and stir until the yeast has dissolved. Add the walnuts, apricots, fennel, and flour, a little at a time.

• 2

  Knead into a smooth dough for about 5 minutes, or 10 minutes by hand. Let rise under a kitchen towel for about 40 minutes.

• 3

  Place the dough on a floured work surface and knead out any air bubbles. Divide the dough into 2 equal parts and roll them into long loaves. 

• 4

  Preheat the oven to 200 °C. Line 2 loaf pans (approx. 9×27 cm) with parchment paper. Place the dough in the pans and let rise for about 20 minutes, covered with a kitchen towel. 

• 5

  Brush with water and press in coarsely chopped walnuts and dried apricots. Press them firmly into the dough; otherwise, they’ll easily stick out above the surface of the bread while baking, and there’s a risk they’ll burn.

• 6

  Sprinkle with flaked salt and a little flour. Bake on the lower rack of the oven for about 40–45 minutes; the recommended internal temperature is 96–98 °C. Let cool on a wire rack covered with a baking cloth.