a different loaf

I make bread religiously at least once a week, often twice. I usually give away as much as we consume. And I always make the same Oatmeal Bread recipe.* Always. Sometimes I think about trying something new but I am afraid I will waste my bread making effort on an inferior loaf.

Sunday I was in the bread making mood but didn't have all the ingredients I needed for our regular recipe (and had no desire to go buy ingredients) so I dared to not only attempt something new, but to adapt a recipe I had never tried, since I didn't have all those ingredients either. The loaves were totally different than the Oatmeal bread but delicious nonetheless.

Three-Flour Sunflower Seed Bread

4 1/2 t. yeast (or 2 packages)
2 cups warm water
1/4 cup molasses
2 T honey or sugar
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup rye flour
2 1/2 t. salt
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 1/2 to 2 cups unbleached flour

Combine the first four ingredients in a bowl and mix until combined. Stir in the whole wheat flour, then the rye flour, salt and seeds. Gradually mix in the white flour. Let the dough rest for about 10 minutes (it will be kind of sticky), then knead for 3-5 minutes. (I choose to do this in a Kitchenaid mixer with a bread hook. I am not the romantic sort who loves to get my hands in the dough. I was born to multitask during the 3-5 minutes the Kitchenaid is kneading for me.)

Form the kneaded bread into a ball and let rise in the mixing bowl, covered with a kitchen towel, for 2-3 hours, until doubled in size. Punch dough down, form into two loaves and put in greased bread pans. Cover with towel and let rise another hour or so. Bake the loaves at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes.

This hearty bread is really good warm from the oven with soup. It also makes great toast the next day.

*Since I posted the Oatmeal Bread recipe over two years ago, I have adapted it slightly. I have upped the salt by a teaspoon and now use 1 cup whole wheat flour and 4 cups unbleached all-purpose after everything else is combined. The sunflower seed bread is really good - good enough to deserve a blog post - but the oatmeal bread is still the very best.