Sunflower and Flaxseed Bread

I make a lot of homemade bread! Before having kids I had never tried making a loaf of bread, much less baking a loaf or more a week. Now that I have two very active and growing boys we go through a lot of bread, so both to save money and for the taste (not to mention the health aspects), I bake all my own bread. I always thought that baking homemade bread would be very difficult. Don't get me wrong, I went through a number of bread recipes that didn't rise and I had to throw away or start over from scratch. After learning what recipes work and how to modify recipes to my needs I have found that making bread from scratch can be both relaxing and enjoyable. One of my favorite ingredients to add to bread are seeds. They are a great way to add protein and nutrients to bread and best of all they are great in toast. About a year ago I started using flaxseeds in my bread. Flaxseeds are full of essential fats and fiber and create a delicious nutty flavor to breads. The following is my recipe for Sunflower and Flaxseed and Bread.

• 1 1/4 cups Water
• 2 Tbsp. Honey
• 2 Tbsp. Canola Oil
• 2 cups Bread Flour
• 1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. Salt
• 1/3 cup Flaxseed
• 2 Tbsp. Sunflower Seeds
• 2 tsp. Active Dry Yeast

Combine water, honey and canola oil. Stir yeast into flours and then add flour and remaining ingredients to water mixture. Either using a mixer with a dough hook or by hand knead the bread for 6-8 minutes. Grease a large bowl and add dough, turning to coat, cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled (approximately one hour). Punch dough down either roll out into a rectangle, roll up jelly roll style and pinch seems or form into a loaf and place into a greased loaf pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until one inch above the top of the pan. Place dough into a preheated 350 degree oven for approximately 35-40 minutes. Check after 25 minutes and if browning too quickly tent with foil. To ensure the bread is fully done temp to 200 degrees in the center. Let cool on a wire rack.

That's it! Flaxseeds are great in bread and everyone in my house loves this bread toasted. It's great with jam or melted butter.


Adapted from a recipe on the back of the Bob's Red Mill Flaxseed package.