After weeks of indulging in quite the array of decadent desserts, I decided to set aside chocolate for a bit and work on a new seeded sourdough bread recipe. I’ve been meaning to do this for a while, but I kept getting distracted by chocolate cakes and caramel tarts (as one does)… This week though, I settled in to some sourdough baking and have developed a seeded sourdough loaf.

I’m not actually sure if folding in a mixture of seeds makes this bread any healthier than your average loaf, but it certainly feels healthier, and that’s good enough for me.

You can use any combination of seeds you fancy, but I’ve gone with poppy, sesame, sunflower and fennel. The fennel is slightly random I admit, but it gives a rather lovely flavor to the bread so if you like fennel then give it a try.  You could also use pumpkin seeds, chopped nuts, flax seeds etc.  Really, whatever you have on hand!

Things to keep in mind:

1. An active starter: Make sure to feed your starter the evening before you want to make the bread dough. Your starter should be fairly active in the morning with visible bubbles.
2. Give the dough time to prove: Depending on how cold your kitchen is you may need to let your dough prove for more or less time than I do during the bulk proving stage.  The goal is for the dough to have a few visible bubbles on the surface before you go to shape it.
3. Dutch oven:I start by baking it with the lid on for 20 minutes, and then remove the lid and let the loaf finish baking uncovered. You can use a baking stone and a tray of hot water in the oven to achieve similar results, but I think that the Dutch Oven is the easiest method.

How to make this seeded sourdough bread:

Step 1: Make the levain (Day 1 – 8 AM)

The morning of Day 1 stir together 15 g of your starter with 15 g of rye, 15 g of bread flour and 30 g of water.  Cover the container loosely and let it rest in a warm spot for 4-5 hours.

Step 2: Soak the seeds (Day 1 – 8:15 am)

Pour 30 g of hot water over the poppy seeds, sesame seeds and fennel seeds and let them soak. Feel free to adjust the seeds used depending on your preferences. Maybe you want a seeded sourdough loaf with 12 types of seeds – if so, be my guest!

Step 3: Autolyse (Day 1 – Noon)

Around noon stir together the flour and 190 g of water until the flour is all hydrated.  You may need to use your hands to knead the last bits of dry flour into the dough. Cover the bowl with a damp towel or loosely with a lid and leave for an hour.

Step 4: Make the dough (Day 1 – 1 pm)

Add the levain, the salt and 10 g of water to the autolysed flour.  Use your fingers to press the additions into the dough and then stretch and fold it a few times in order to combine the ingredients.  The dough won’t be smooth at this point, but that’s fine.

Tip the soaked seeds and the sunflower seeds onto the top of the dough and cover the bowl again.

Step 5: Stretch and fold (Day 1 – 1:10 – 3:10 pm)

Stretch and fold the dough every half an hour for two hours (4 sets of stretches).  This process will strengthen the dough and incorporate the seeds into it.  You may find that it takes a bit of work to incorporate the seeds into the dough during the first set of stretches.

Step 6: Bulk prove the dough (Day 1 – 3:10 – 6:10 pm)

After the final set of stretches cover the bowl loosely and let it prove for 2–3 hours somewhere warm.  The dough is ready when you see small bubbles of air along the edges of the bowl.  If it still doesn’t show any activity after the 3 hours, leave it for another half an hour to an hour.

Step 7: Shape the dough (Day 1 – 6:10 pm)

Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and loosely shape the dough into a round.  Let it rest for ten minutes and then shape it into a loaf or boule depending on the type of loaf you want.  If you’ve never done this then my small batch sourdough recipe has more detailed instructions, or you can look for video demonstrations on YouTube which are probably more helpful!

If you’d like to coat the top of the loaf in seeds then simply sprinkle a mixture of seeds on a clean kitchen cloth, wet the top of the loaf lightly, and then flip the dough onto the seed mixture.  At this point you can either transfer it to a banneton or wrap the cloth around the dough and transfer it (with the cloth) into a loaf pan or bowl which will act as a proving basket.

Let it sit on the counter for half an hour (unless it’s particularly warm in your kitchen, in which case you can put it straight in the fridge) and then move it to the fridge.

Step 8: Bake the seeded sourdough (Day 2 – 9 am)

Place your dutch oven in the oven and then preheat it 475 F for 40 minutes.  Once the oven is almost ready remove the dough from the fridge and flip it onto a piece of parchment paper.  Score the dough quickly and then transfer it to the dutch oven. Reduce the temperature to 450 F and bake, covered for 20 minutes.  After 20 minutes remove the lid and bake for another 15 minutes until the crust is nicely browned.  Remove from the oven and allow the loaf to cool for at least an hour before slicing.

 

Ingredients

Levain:

• 15 g ripe starter
• 15 g rye flour
• 15 g bread flour
• 30 g water

Seed Soaker:

• ½ tsp fennel seed
• 2 tsp poppy seeds
• 2 tsp sesame seeds
• 30 g hot water
• Any other combination of seeds you like

Autolyse:

• 250 g white bread flour
• 50 g whole wheat flour
• 190 g warm water

Additional dough ingredients

• 1 tsp salt
• 10 g water
• 1 tbsp sunflower seeds

Additional ingredients

• Seeds to top to the loaf with optional

Instructions

Day 1:

• 8:00 am: Mix together the levain ingredients, cover loosely and let sit for 5 hours.
• 8:10 am: Combine seed soaker ingredients in a small bowl and let sit until needed.
• Noon: Combine the autolyse ingredients. Mix thoroughly until no dry flour reminas.
• 1:00 pm: Add the salt, 10 g water and levain to the autolyse and mix by hand to combine thoroughly. Pour the seed soaker and sunflower seeds over the dough and cover the bowl for half an hour.
• 1:10 – 3:10 pm: Every half hour (4 sets) stretch and fold the dough to mix in the seeds and strengthen the dough. Cover the bowl between sets.
• 3:10 – 6:10 pm: Leave the covered dough to prove for 2 to 3 hours somewhere warm.
• 6:10 pm: Shape the dough. Start by loosely shaping in a round, leave for 10 minutes then shape into a batard or a boule. Dampen the top of the dough and top with more seeds if you want. Place the dough (seam side up, smooth side down) in a proving basket, leave at room temperature for half an hour and then place in the fridge overnight.

Day 2:

• Place the dutch oven in the oven and preheat to 475 for 40 minutes. Invert the dough onto a piece of parchment paper and score the dough. Bake covered in the dutch oven for 20 minutes and then lower the temperature to 450 and bake uncovered for a further 10 – 15 minutes. Let cool for an hour.