A healthy load of bread that is great for sandwiches, PB&Js, grilled cheese and just a nice piece of buttered toast with jam.
Because of its two rise times, allow at least 3 hours from start to finish to make this bread; however, if you live above 5000 ft in elevation, allow about 4 hours. (See Kitchen Notes)
"*" See Kitchen Notes for more information or links to special ingredients.
Add the salt, spelt flour, whole wheat flour, rye flour, 1/4 cup sunflower seeds and 1 cup of the unbleached flour . Stir to combine into a soft dough.
Dump the dough onto the flour, sprinkle the top of the dough with a little more flour. Put a little flour on your hands and knead the dough for about 10 minutes, adding additional flour, about 1 Tbsp. at a time, until you have a somewhat tacky and stiff dough (one that holds its shape and doesn’t want to constantly stick to your palms or the kneading surface).
Transfer the kneaded dough to a large, lightly oiled bowl. Roll around to coat the bread with oil.
With a lightly flour hand, punch down and dump onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for about 1 minute.
Butter one bread pan with a thin layer of butter.
Shape into a log shaped dough that fits into the bread pan.
Transfer dough to the pan, cover and let the bread rise about 1” above the top of the bread pan. Before the bread finishes rising, preheat the oven to 400°F (for 5000 ft baking) or 375°F (for sea level baking). (This second rise takes 30 minutes to an hour.)
When done, remove the bread to a rack and let rest at least 5 minutes before removing it from the pan.
Run a knife around the sides of the pan to loosen the bread. Using two hot pads, one in each hand, dump the bread out of the pan and transfer to a cooling rack.
The Grains – I’ve played with different grains and proportions but have found the ones listed in the recipe to yield the best results. This recipe is easy to switch up the grains to your liking, so don't hesitate to play around to get the flavors you want.
Sugar and Yeast – Yeast feeds on simple sugar, fructose, and glucose; therefore, adding a sugar component to the warm water with the yeast helps to activate it. It’s fun to see this. Just for fun, add some yeast to warm water and let it rest for a couple of minutes then sprinkle some sugar on top. You’ll see an immediately activation of the yeast.
Salt and Yeast – Salt actually has the opposite effect on yeast as sugar does. As yeast activates, it releases moisture. Salt absorbs this moisture, slowing down yeast fermentation. If too much salt is used, it could prevent a good rise. Therefore, it is best to add the salt after yeast activation. If you choose to bypass the initial step of activating the yeast in warm water, then don’t add the salt until after the first rise. You can knead it into the bread before the second rise.
The Seeds – You can substitute the sunflower seeds with pumpkin seeds or use a mix of both. Other seeds like sesame seeds could also be used. Toasting them first would also add another depth of flavor to the bread.
High Altitude Bread Baking – If you live at a high altitude (I’m right at a mile high), I would highly recommend the high altitude baking book Pie In the Sky. One of the most significant things I learned from this book about bread baking at high altitude is, when it comes to the rise – patience my friend – patience. I have always made the mistake of forcing a fast rise by using the proofing temperature on the oven or placing the bread above a heater vent, but have learned that, at higher altitudes, slower rises yield the best results. My breads used to have holes and uneven densities from top to bottom, but not anymore. Therefore, if you live above 5000 ft, do allow the 3.5 or even 4 hours to make this bread. The first rise usually takes 1 ½ to 2 hours and the second rise – an hour. Putting the bread in a HOT oven, greatly reduces the amount of oven rise, yielding a denser bread throughout.
Recipe author: MJ of MJ's Kitchen