Sourdough seeded bread

Naturally leavened seeded bread

This is a naturally leavened seeded bread with so much seeds in there, it reminds me of crackers. Deliciously good and nutty! The depth of flavor is delivered by a large heap of seeds: sunflower and sesame seeds and flaxseeds. (I added a small amount of pumpkin seeds as I ran out of sunflower seeds.) What’s the key in bringing out the nuttiness? Roasting the sunflower and sesame seeds and soaking the flaxseeds.

This bread is closely related to the whole-wheat multigrain bread I’ve posted recently. Both recipes came from Jeffrey Hamelman’s Bread. I like that he offered variations of similar kinds of bread in the book. You can really explore the differences in the many nuances of bread making. The differences between these two breads are in the ingredients and final proofing.

There are greater varieties of grains and seeds (upward of nine), but slightly lower in percentage (18% of amount of flour) in the multigrain bread. The sourdough seeded bread uses only three seeds (sunflower, sesame and flaxseeds), but with higher concentration (25%). The nuttiness of seeded bread comes through loud and clear. If you love seeds, this bread is for you.

There is no whole wheat flour in the seeded bread, although there is a small amount (8%) of whole rye flour in it.

The sourdough seeded bread was leavened by wild yeast. No commercial yeast was added to the dough. It doesn’t mean you can’t. That will speed up fermentation, but at the expense of flavor. Conversely, this naturally leavened bread requires longer proofing time which allows fuller flavor to develop. The tangy flavor of sourdough adds more oomph to this bread. Naturally leavened at full throttle vs. adding some instant yeast. Time vs. flavor. You have the control dial in your hand. The choice is yours between these two recipes. Or try them both!

I divided the dough in two and shaped them in two rectangular baking pans, lined with parchment paper for easy transfer into the final baking vessels. After the final rise, I transferred the first loaf into a similar size preheated cast iron rectangular pan. It went into the oven with a lid on. The other loaf had to be transferred into a slightly bigger oval preheated cast iron dutch oven. The dough flattened out somewhat in the middle, following the contour of the oval pan. Did not invert or score the dough this time. Sometimes you just want to leave the loaf to do its own thing. There you have it after 40 minutes of baking: two beautifully toasty brown seeded loaves.

Paired with some good extra-virgin olive oil, the flavor of this sourdough seeded bread really shines.