Spelt flour as a substitute for whole wheat pasty flour
My recipe calls for WW pastry flour. Can I substitute Spelt flour 1 for 1? I was concerned about the fact that it specifically calls for pastry flour which tends to produce a more tender result.
Recommended by Food52
8 Comments
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Also, the majority of our recipes have been adapted originally written for barley flour ( substituting spelt 1:1), and we typically quadruple the recipes. I know this was alot, thank you if anyone can help.
Still, would love to know what the recipe is for, as one must consider these questions in context. ;o)
[W]e have to realize that gluten isn't the enemy of our dough. (If it were, we'd have all switched to a gluten-free recipe by now.) To paraphrase an old friend, my ally is gluten, and a powerful ally it is. It's the force that gives pastry its power, that binds a crust together. It strengthens dough so that we can wield it with confidence, knowing it won't fall apart in our hands." http://www.seriouseats.com/2016/06/how-to-make-a-beautifully-flaky-pie-crust.html
Lesson here: If you want to use spelt in a pie or galette crust, for flavor or whatever other reason, use some AP flour, too, to strengthen it. ;o)
Also, it stands to reason that spelt would work just fine, given that pastry flour is generally a low gluten flour, while spelt, from what I have read, has gluten that is weaker than wheat flour, i.e., it does not create strong, stretchy strands, meaning spelt is likely to produce a more tender baked good. The WW flour will have a different flavor, but it's certainly worth trying the spelt!
I'll be interested to see others' answers to this. ;o)