Seeded Bread

This recipe makes a wonderful Seeded Bread with a real depth of flavour and texture; healthy and delicious it goes particularly well with soup or as toast spread with butter and jam or my favourite, an orange marmalade. People who enjoy eating seeded bread are sometimes put off by the number of seeds in the bread, and would like a seeded loaf with fewer ‘bits’, or they often struggle to find a loaf that’s right for them, with the seeds they like.

By making your own seeded bread, to this simple recipe, which makes a really tasty loaf, you can make your own favourite edible seed blend to add to the bread dough, from sunflower seeds to pumpkin seeds etc., or reduce the number of seeds, you can even mix in some oatmeal for a great textured bread.

The secret to great tasting bread: Make the pre-fermented dough up quickly the night before (it takes minutes) and put it covered in the fridge overnight – or make it up 6 hours before you need it, left somewhere warm. Making bread this way (with a pre-fermented dough starter) is professional and it will get you the best results. It will give you a bread that is slightly darker looking, with a lovely depth of flavour, and a rustic artisan bakery feel to it.

Seeded Bread Recipe

Recipe Ingredients:

Makes 2 loaves of bread in 2 x 800g loaf tins

Pre-Fermented Dough (made the day before)

• 5g fresh live yeast – or 5g dried active yeast
• 250g strong white bread flour
• 5g ground sea salt
• 175ml warm water

For the Seeded Bread

Note: You can replace the rye and cornmeal flour with just extra wholemeal flour, but these two added flours really deepen and enhance the lovely rustic flavour of the bread.

• 300g of fermented dough *from above*
• 500g strong white bread flour
• 70g cornmeal (maize flour)
• 30g rye flour
• 100g wholemeal bread flour
• 180g of your own edible seed blend (pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds etc.)
• 20g soft brown sugar (Muscovado)
• 10g sea salt
• 15g fresh live yeast – or 10g dried active yeast
• 500g warm water
• extra white flour for dusting
• optional: some added rolled oats (20g)
• optional: some extra seeds (20g)

Recipe Method:

Making the fermented dough starter the night before:

In a mixing bowl rub the yeast into the flour using your finger-tips, mix in the ground sea salt, so that it does not interfere with the yeast, then add in the warm water. Mix it well until the dough begins to come together.

Turn it out onto a lightly floured work space and work the dough. Use a plastic bread scraper to scrape out all the dough from the bowl and then quickly and lightly flour the bowl to use later. Try to clean the mixing bowl out as much as possible with the scraper before flouring it.

Work or Knead the dough: Hold one end of the dough with one hand and then with the palm of your other hand gently push the dough away from you, stretching it out slightly in front of you. Once stretched (without breaking the dough) pull the dough back in and over with your fingers into a bigger lump once more.

Give the dough a quarter turn then repeat. Giving the dough a quarter turn before stretching it back out works all of the dough and gently stretches the gluten out in different directions.

If sticking to the work surface or the dough is a little wet sprinkle over a little extra flour, it will probably need a few casts of extra flour, but do not over do it as too much extra flour will make the bread tough. It is far better to try and work the dough without adding in any extra flour – it will come together.

When ready (about 5 minutes) it will become satiny and elastic, (people often describe it as a silky, smooth, lively dough). Form the dough into a ball and return the dough to the lightly floured mixing bowl, cover with a clean cloth and leave to rest at room temperature for 6 hours or leave it overnight (up to 48 hours) in the fridge, until it has doubled in volume.

Making The Seeded Bread:

In a large mixing bowl sift in the flours, mix in the sea salt, sugar and seeds. Sprinkle in yeast and add the warm water. Mix it well until the dough begins to come together.

Turn it out onto a lightly floured work space and work the dough. Use a plastic bread scraper to scrape out all the dough from the bowl and then quickly and lightly flour the bowl to use later. Try to clean the mixing bowl out as much as possible with the scraper before flouring it.

Into this dough add your pre-fermented dough you made earlier (or the day before).

Work or Knead the dough: Hold one end of the dough with one hand and then with the palm of your other hand gently push the dough away from you, stretching it out slightly in front of you. Once stretched (without breaking the dough) pull the dough back in and over with your fingers into a bigger lump once more.

Give the dough a quarter turn then repeat. Giving the dough a quarter turn before stretching it back out works all of the dough and gently stretches the gluten out in different directions.

If sticking to the work surface or the dough is a little wet sprinkle over a little extra flour, it will probably need a few casts of extra flour, but do not over do it as too much extra flour will make the bread tough. It is far better to try and work the dough without adding in any extra flour – it will come together.

When ready (about 7 to 10 minutes) it will become satiny and elastic, (people often describe it as a silky, smooth, lively dough). Form the dough into a ball and return the dough to the lightly floured mixing bowl, cover with a clean cloth and leave to rest for an hour.

Note: The next stage of ‘folding’ is a much gentler process than the other bread making method of ‘knocking it back’.

Folding The Dough: After an hour we need to ‘fold’ the dough: onto a lightly floured work space place the rested dough from the mixing bowl smooth side down. Then fold each ‘edge’ into the centre of the dough, from the outside in. With each fold press down well with your fingers and rotate the ball a quarter turn as you go. Do this for a few minutes then finally turn the whole ball over and stretch and tuck the edges underneath to form a smooth ball.

Place the smooth ball of dough back into the mixing bowl, cover and leave somewhere warm to rest for another hour.

Lightly grease 2 x 800g loaf tins

After an hour divide the dough from the bowl into 2 equal pieces – shape them into loaves and if you want roll the tops lightly in some extra seeds or rolled oats. Put the shaped dough into the greased loaf tins, cover over with a cloth and leave for the final time somewhere warm for 2 hours.

How to shape the dough into loaves: Flatten the dough out on a work surface into a rough oval / rectangle shape – think of the dough as being in 4 quarters, and each ‘edge’ needs to be folded into the centre, like a piece of paper – fold the left side of the dough into the middle of the dough, pressing it down in the centre. Bring the right side of the dough over to the middle, pressing down this edge into the centre. Fold over the edge nearest to you into the centre, then fold in the edge furthest away from you into the centre. Fold the spine of this dough in ‘half’ – one half on top of the other half making a loaf shape – then press down to seal the edges and make a seam. Place the dough in the greased loaf tins seam side down.

Preheat the oven to 250C

After 2 hours of being left to prove open the preheated oven door (if you have a water spray or mister bottle, as in something used to spray plants, quickly mist the inside of the oven to introduce some moisture) and put the loaves in.

After 5 minutes turn the heat of the oven down to 220C and bake for 30 to 35 minutes. After 30 minutes carefully remove the loaves from the tins using oven gloves and tap the base of the baked bread. If they do not sound hollow pop them back in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes more.

When baked turn out onto wire racks to cool. Eat within 36 hours and keep the bread covered or in a bread tin.