RSS

Tag Archives: Towel

Flax Seed Sourdough Bread

This has become my favourite bread. The recipe originally Dr. Ed Wood’s second book, “Classic Sourdoughs : A Home Baker’s Handbook“, but is reprinted on the Sourdough Home.

4 – 5 cups white, unbleached flour 2 cups sourdough starter 2 tbsp sunflower seeds ¼ cup flax seeds 1 tbsp poppy seeds ½ cup flax meal 1¼ cups cold water ½ tbsp salt ¼ cup olive oil ¼ cup honey

In a dry warm skillet, toast the sunflower, flax, and poppy seeds until fragrant.
Mix the starter, water, oil and honey together before stirring in the seeds. Add the flax meal and salt, mixing well.
Add the flour one cup at a time until the dough is too thick to stir.
Pour the dough onto a floured work surface and knead until the dough is resilient. The dough is a rather sticky dough, but it’s important not to over-flour the dough.
Once the dough is well kneaded, rest it over night in an oiled bowl, covered with a moist tea towel.
In the morning, deflate the dough, knead briefly, cut and shape into rough loaves or rolls.
Let the dough rest, covered by a moist tea towel, for 30 minutes. Shape into final loaves or rolls.
Let rise, covered, until doubled. This may take up to 18 hours.
Preheat the oven to 190°C. Bake 30 to 45 minutes.

This dough takes time to proof and rest to get good rise. Dont rush the proofing process or you will end up with a heavy flat bread.
As we like the heaviness and texture of wholemeal, I use one cup of wholemeal flour in before adding the white flour.
Careful not to burn the seeds. If you do scorch them, discard them and start again. Don’t use them or they will taint your dish.
Diabetic Note: One or two slices of this doesn’t seem to upset my blood glucose levels too much. The danger for me is to dig in when its hot and super awesome!
Ethical Note: Choose quality organic flour for quality bread results. Good for you, and good for the earth.