Seeded Sourdough Sandwich Bread

I’ve lived most of my life as a plain white sourdough bread enthusiast. The classic. But my loving husband appreciates a good hearty seeded loaf, and you know what, he’s converting me. This little recipe has come to serve us well and topped with a smothering of marmite, I confess, a seeded sourdough sandwich bread is pretty darn good.

Ingredients

Seed mix

  • 40g each flaxseed (also known as linseed), sesame seeds and sunflower seeds
  • 130g boiling water

Bread mix

  • 100g active bubbly sourdough starter
  • 340g water
  • 400g high grade bread flour
  • 80g semolina flour
  • 40g whole wheat flour
  • 10g salt

Method and Timing

  1. Mix together 40g flaxseed and 40g sesame seed, and pour over 130g of boiling water. Leave to soak.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the 100g active starter and 340g water.
  3. Add 400g bread flour, 80g semolina, 40g whole wheat flour and 10g salt, and mix well.
  4. Rest the dough for half an hour.
  5. By this time the seed mix should have absorbed the initial water, add 40g sunflower seeds to the seed mix and combine.
  6. Spread the seed mix across the surface of your dough inside the bowl.
  7. Perform your first “fold”
    • Wet your hands slightly, reach down the side of dough ball.
    • Grab to stretch out the dough vertically and pull it across the top of itself (the “stretch and fold”).
    • Rotate the bowl and repeat.
    • Do this all the way around the ball (approximately 4-5 stretches and folds in total) then leave to rest for another half hour.
  8. Repeat the stretch and fold sequence 4 times over 2 hours, this will slowly incorporate the seed mix evenly throughout the dough.
  9. Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel and set aside to rise at warm room temperature until increased in size by 50% (approx. 6 to 12 hrs).
  1. Once the dough has increased in size by 50%, line a loaf pan with baking paper or grease thoroughly.
  2. Drizzle dough with a few tablespoons of olive oil and rub your hands with a little bit of oil too. Use your hand to scrape the dough from the sides of the vessel out onto a bench, being careful to retain as much air in the dough as possible. 
  1. Fold the dough in three, (like a letter going into an envelope) and then roughly shape into a rectangle.
  2. Transfer the dough, seam-side down to your prepared loaf pan and gently stretch to fill the shape. (If timing is an issue, you can transfer the dough to the fridge. To do this rub the surface of the dough with oil and cover with a damp tea towel before transferring to the fridge overnight.)
  3. Leave the dough untouched in the loaf pan until dough begins reaching the rim of the pan (approx. 5-6 hrs).
  4. Preheat oven to 220’C. Transfer loaf to the oven and bake for about 20 minutes.
  5. Reduce heat to 190’C and bake for a further 20 to 25 minutes or until golden all around.
  6. Remove pan from oven and turn bread out onto a cooling rack. Allow to cool at least 30 minutes before slicing to ensure the crumb is set and not sticky.

Serving Suggestions

This is my absolute favourite bread to toast for marmite or vegemite, it’s hearty and supports the flavour well. Also makes an excellent base for avocado or tomato on toast, or a satisfying ploughman’s sandwich with pickle and deli meat.

Like this?

Maybe you’ll also like our plain sourdough sandwich bread, sourdough foccacia or sourdough pita pockets!

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