homemade: Good Seed Bread

The art of bread making has seemed a bit elusive to me. I’m always hunting for the perfect bread: high in fiber, sourdough, or even sprouted grain if possible- why not all three? Well I’ve gone back and forth about eating bread at all for health reasons, and yet, there is just nothing like a warm buttered knock of bread to go beside a bowl of soup on a winter’s day. After living in Portland, Oregon for a few years I became a huge fan of Dave’s Killer Bread, especially the sprouted variety. I found it set well in my stomach, and was oh so satisfying. To my astonishment, Dave’s has been such a success they now carry it in the local Juneau Fred Meyer and even sometimes at Costco. Unfortunately it typically runs for about $5 per loaf and has been frozen and shipped for who knows how long before it becomes my tuna melt. And so, I began to experiment with bread making in hopes of achieving a fresh, hearty rendition of my own. I call it Theresa’s Good Seed Bread. Since I haven’t yet attempted to sprout and grind my own grain, it is still a work in progress, but I’d say I’m off to a decent start.

proofed sour dough sponge

I should also note, I’ve been experimenting with sourdough for a few months now, but have not been very successful. The proofing of the starter (waking up the starter by feeding it and leaving it on a warm counter until nicely bubbly) seems to be working, and yet, it never has the leavening power to cause the dough to rise once worked in with the flour. I recently inherited a starter from a friend who got it from a friend, who got it from a friend who… is long since deceased. Apparently it’s good stuff, and yet not wanting to waste another 5-6 cups of flour etc, I have opted for the yeast- sourdough combo. Call it cheating, insurance, what have you, but it secures the power of rising and makes a darn good loaf. I’ve combined a sourdough recipe, with a tastey honey-wheat-oat recipe, and then added a bunch of seeds for more texture. Here is the recipe, which can be readily adapted to your liking:

Ingredients:

3 C boiling water

1 ½ C rolled oats & /or oat groats

½ C seed mixture (flax, sesame, poppy, sunflower, pumpkin, etc.)

½ C lukewarm water

1 C sourdough starter that’s been proofed

3 pkgs. dry yeast (or 2 1/2 Tbs)

¾ C honey

6 tbsp. oil

3 tsp. salt

½ C wheat bran

5 C whole-wheat flour

3 C white flour

A few hours before you want to make bread, prepare the sourdough start. Check out this site to make your own start and for details on proofing. Meanwhile, cook oat groats until slightly tender. Remove from burner and stir in rolled oats. Let this mixture set until luke-warm. (The ratio of groats to oats can be adjusted, but avoid over cooking to maintain textural integrity.)

Dissolve yeast in ½ C warm water; let stand 5 minutes (it should bubble nicely.) Add dissolved yeast, honey, oil, and sourdough starter to oatmeal mixture. (Don't forget to place remaining starter in a clean jar in your fridge.) In a separate bowl, combine flours, salt, seeds, and wheat bran, holding out about 1 C flour to work in while kneading, and saving a tablespoon of seeds for the tops of the loaves. Add dry ingredients to oatmeal mixture and combine thoroughly to form a soft dough. Turn out onto lightly floured surface and knead 5 to 10 minutes adding remaining flour as needed. Form into a ball and place in a greased bowl.