Delicious multigrain seed bread
Mmm, there's nothing quite like the smell of bread baking in the oven. Yesterday I made delicious and healthy multigrain seed bread. The seeds are sunflower and flax, two of my favourites. I always use ground flax seed, as I've read that the system absorbs it better than whole flax seeds.
The result is a very chewy, dense-but-not-too-dense, and moderately moist bread that is great freshly baked (of course!), but is also nice toasted or warmed up briefly in the microwave the day after. It's good with just a bit of butter. My son even eats it plain.
We go through homemade bread very quickly in our house, so I made two loaves. One goes with dinner and perhaps lunches for the next day or two, and the other goes in the bread box or the freezer. (I never refrigerate bread; I find it dries it out very quickly.)
Note: These instructions are for traditional bread-making, by hand, but I'm sure they can be adapted for a breadmaker. I'm guessing that half the recipe, i.e., 1 loaf, can be made in the machine as a 'basic' bread type at around 1.5 lbs. But I'm no bread machine connoisseur, so you probably know better.
Ingredients (makes 2 loaves)
Directions
The result is a very chewy, dense-but-not-too-dense, and moderately moist bread that is great freshly baked (of course!), but is also nice toasted or warmed up briefly in the microwave the day after. It's good with just a bit of butter. My son even eats it plain.
We go through homemade bread very quickly in our house, so I made two loaves. One goes with dinner and perhaps lunches for the next day or two, and the other goes in the bread box or the freezer. (I never refrigerate bread; I find it dries it out very quickly.)
Note: These instructions are for traditional bread-making, by hand, but I'm sure they can be adapted for a breadmaker. I'm guessing that half the recipe, i.e., 1 loaf, can be made in the machine as a 'basic' bread type at around 1.5 lbs. But I'm no bread machine connoisseur, so you probably know better.
Multigrain seed bread
Ingredients (makes 2 loaves)
- 2 cups warm water
- 2.5 tsp active dry yeast
- 1/4 cup and 2 tbsp honey
- 3 cups mulitigrain bread flour
- 2 1/3 cups whole wheat flour
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 cup ground flax seeds
- 1 cup raw shelled sunflower seeds
- 1/4 cup canola oil
Directions
- Mix the water, yeast, and honey in a medium bowl. Stir to dissolve the yeast and let it proof for 15 minutes.
- While yeast proofs, place the flours, salt, and seeds in a large bowl. Stir to combine.
- After the 15 minutes have passed, add the oil and yeast mixture to the dry ingredients and mix well to combine. Once the dough is no longer sticky (add more flour if needed), put it on a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes. Add water and flour as needed.
- Place the dough in an oiled bowl. Let it rise for an hour in a warm area. In the meantime, grease two loaf pans (about 9" x 3" or so).
Note: I always let my dough rise in the oven, with a bowl of just-boiled water below it to provide warmth and moisture.
- Punch down the dough, divide it into two equal portions, and place them into the pans. Shape them as needed, and let them rise again for an hour.
- Bake the bread for 30 minutes at 375 F. The bread is done when it sounds hollow when you rap on it.
- Cool the loaves on wire racks for about 15 minutes and then remove carefully from the pans. Cut with a serrated knife.
