Nothing beats the taste and smell of homemade bread! Today, I thought I would share another easy, no fuss recipe for a loaf you can bake at home. It takes a minute to get the dough together, requires no kneading and tastes much better than shop-bought bread, for a fraction of the price. Pumpkin and sunflower seeds enhance the flavour of the bread and work well with savoury dishes, covered in jam or chocolate spread as a sweet treat.
My friend Cé is really into healthy food so when I gave her the recipe for the wholemeal alternative to my crusty white bread over a year ago, she much preferred that one.
She is the kind of person who cooks with what she has in her cupboards, adapts recipes and it always turns out tasting delicious! When the children and I had lunch with her not long ago, she had made the healthy loaf with half wholemeal flour and half white as she had ran out of wheat germ. It was perfect!
This post was prompted by a series of Twitter conversations with bubbly Sophie who blogs at Franglaise Cooking. She was a fan of the Crusty Bread and when I mentioned a healthier alternative, she tried, adopted and adapted it pretty much straight away. She then tried various combinations, and I suggested she try making a seeded loaf. I had mentioned it in one of the recipes, but Sophie had not seen it.
I might have gone for an information overload in my previous bread posts. My conversations with Sophie made me realise that it would probably be better to have a different post for each type of bread. It makes it much simpler to find the recipe you are looking for on the blog.
To go back to the bread, the dough normally takes 8 to 12 hours to rise but I have waited up to 24 hours before baking it and it has always been great. I normally keep it on my kitchen counter as it tends to be warm there. I find that 20 degrees Celsius is the ideal temperature as the dough rises nicely without becoming runny.
Without further ado, here is the recipe for our favourite seeded loaf.
Our Favourite Seeded Loaf
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup plain flour 225g
- 1 ½ cup strong wholemeal bread flour 240g
- ½ teaspoon ‘easy bake’ / ‘fast action’ yeast 1g
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt 10g
- 2 tablespoons sunflower seeds 30g
- 2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds 30g
- 1 ½ cup water 350 ml
Instructions
- Mix the dry ingredients in a 2L bowl with a tablespoon.
- Add the water and mix with the spoon until all combined (approximately one minute).
- Cover your bowl with cling film and leave to rise in a warm (not hot) place for 12 to 24 hours.
- When you are ready to cook your bread, preheat your oven to gas mark 8 (230 degrees Celsius / 450 degrees Fahrenheit).
- Using your hands or a spatula, drop the sticky dough on a heavily floured work surface. For minimal mess, you can do it on a sheet of baking paper that can be thrown away afterwards.
- Shape the dough in a ball and roll it in the flour so it gets covered all around. It will spread and that is fine as long as there is enough flour on your work surface.
- Place your loaf tin in the oven to warm for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, put a bit of flour in the bottom of your dish so the bread does not stick to it. You do not need any grease. Make sure the dough is nicely covered in flour all around and drop it in your loaf tin.
- Cover with foil and cook for 30 minutes, then uncover it and bake it for a further 15 minutes.
- Transfer to a cooling rack.
- Enjoy your homemade bread!
Recipe Notes
The loaf can be kept in foil for about four days and it makes lovely toast.
If you want more information and tips to make your own bread easily, head over to my Crusty Bread post, and for a healthier alternative, why not try my Healthy Loaf?
Sounds delicious!
Thanks ALex, it is!
Mel, your seeded loaf looks brilliant. I agree homemade bread is most definitely the best. x
As I was linking, hubby asked for more bread for tomorrow (he bought cheese, yummy!) and it took me less than three minutes to put it together! Easier than buying a loaf in the supermarket!
Looks fab hon! I’ve been making your bread for my 5yo recently, she loves it #recipeoftheweek
Oh that means a lot, lovely! Hubby suggested making a vlog. I might ask Crevette if he fancies doing it with the recipe of the easy crusty bread. If he does, your 5yo could follow my 6yo’s instructions and make it herself! Something to think about… Too many ideas, too little time!
That would be amazing 🙂 keep me posted won’t you!totally with you on too many ideas not enough time…
Added to my list of things to do! It might not be for a while, but I will probably give it a go. x
I bet it does make lovely toast! I love a seeded loaf, but the kneading is hard work, this sounds lovely 🙂
Thanks Jenny. Although I love cooking, kneading is not my thing. This recipe is perfect for busy families.
I love homemade bread, but never made my own seeded loaf. Looks very tasty
You should give it a go. It is easy, quick and yummy!
Mel, that loaf looks beautiful. And just as well it doesn’t take long to make, as you must totally have your hands full. This reminds me of Irish soda bread that my mum and I used to make. It required hardly any fuss at all and took no time. I haven’t made any in ages, but must do soon! I also managed to put together some pizza dough this weekend which does require a lot of kneading. Hope you’re well xx
Bread is the one thing I keep making even when I have no time… because it takes no time at all! You should write a post with your mum’s soda bread recipe; I would love to give it a go! x
I probably will. I keep toying with the idea of starting a linky around one ingredient. Like ‘ingredient of the week’… (I have no idea if someone has done this already). The reason being that I get so hooked on one particular thing, I want to make stuff with it all of the time. At the moment, I can’t get enough of spinach. I’ve been sautéing it with garlic, cashews and lemon juice, I’ve topped it onto pizza, curried with it, eaten it raw. Anyway, I seem to have digressed. Next time I make soda bread, I will blog it especially for you! x
Oh my goodness Fiona, I had a similar idea but I am not sure whether my little blog is ready for a Linky. We are on the same wavelength, lovely!
Mel – great minds and all that! You should do it. Do you run any linkies already? I’m terrible at committing to blogging, so me running a linky would be a bit crazy! I’m having a rare evening of reading through blogs tonight x
No, but it is definitely something to think about!
This looks gorgeous. I never have any luck with bread. I will give this a go though
This really is fool proof; it works every time! If you want a recipe with less ingredients, you can go for my ‘easy crusty bread’ and use plain flour only in a loaf tin. It is my first ever post and you can find it at the bottom of the ‘Home’ page. Let me know how you get on.
I make virtually all our bread (except when we get the urge to eat a baguette) and this sounds lovely … although trying to track down wholemeal bread flour in France is nigh on impossible. Thank goodness for UK supplies!
I love my bread but I think I could not help having baguettes everyday if I lived in France, Rosie!
LOL
I love homemade bread, I love the whole process of making bread. This loaf looks lovely, I often look what I can throw into a loaf and sunflower seeds are a favourite. Your looks lovely x #TastyTuesdays
Thanks Kirsty, let me know if you try this recipe!
I haven’t had much success with bread but this looks fab, it’s definitely on my baking bucket list to make a good loaf this year! Yum
It really is easy peasy, Sian! If you would rather start with a plain, white loaf with only 3 ingredients, check out my easy crusty bread. x
Yum, I love making bread. In fact we’re out of bread at home, so I must get baking! Your recipe looks yummy #recipeoftheweek
Let me know if you try making this bread!
I love home made bread and if it’s got seeds/fruit in it even better. I was chatting bread on twitter a while back and was told that the longer you leave bread to rise etc the better it is. I should make some effort to find out myself 🙂
Do try this recipe and if you fancy something ever easier, have a look at my crusty bread. Let me know if you do!
I absolutely love your bread recipes and make them ALL the time – you are a genius!!!
Thanks lovely!
This looks amazing, you need your own book deal lady! Thanks for linking up to #tastytuesdays
As if! You are too kind, lovely!
That crust looks perfect! Thanks so much for linking up with #recipeoftheweek. Sorry I was particularly slow getting over for this one. I’ve pinned it to my food board and a tweet will go out shortly 🙂
No worries, Emily! We love that bread here.
Looks wonderful