We are a bread family. I usually stick to an artisan bread loaf that I throw together, knead, and place in a Dutch Oven to bake to an outer crispy and inner doughy perfection. This Seeded Bread from Paul Hollywood's cookbook was my effort to branch out from quick loaves and our artisan staple.
My personal challenge: baking my way through "How to Bake". This post is my experience baking and learning new skills from tackling each recipe in Paul Hollywood's, "How to Bake". I will also document any recipe changes that I made - mainly as a result of not having the ingredients on hand (i.e., we never have regular sugar in the house) - and how the recipe fared. I will not be providing the recipes that are in his book.
For this recipe, I decided to try another bread recipe from the guru himself, Paul Hollywood. My go-to bread recipe is incredibly simple. I usually stick to an artisan yeast bread that requires little effort and thought. I throw some water, flour, yeast, and salt in a bowl; mix it together until combined; cover with a damp dishtowel; and wait until it doubles in size and bake in a dutch oven. If I am feeling extra fancy, I will chop up some garlic and rosemary, and carefully fold into the dough after the first rise.
For me, after years of baking this basic artisan bread, it is as easy as whipping up a signature chocolate chip cookie recipe. So with that in mind, I read each bread recipe carefully in the "How to Bake" cookbook, and came across this seeded bread, which also required little effort, and wait for what sounded like a hearty, delicious bread. After a few adjustments (based on what I had in the pantry), and 4 hours of prep and baking time combined, we had a new bread loaf to accompany our dinners. The end result was what I hoped - an incredibly flavorful loaf packed with nutrition from all of the seeds.
While the prep was very similar to the artisan bread I usually make throughout the week, the baking was a bit different. As a result of different oven temperatures and slight variability to baking times, the dark rye flour truly tested my hand at knowing when the loaf was complete, and not burnt. I felt like I was in the technical challenge during "The Great British Baking Show" series. To be honest, I may have just over baked the loaf, but other than a really tough crust, the bread turned out great, and sans char flavor.
I have a little extra dark rye flour in our pantry and at a loss with how to use it up. If you have a dark rye flour bread recipe, I would love to try it. Please leave a link in the comments below!
Here are some of the lessons that I learned from Paul Hollywood's Seeded Bread:
The Health Benefits of Seeds: I was faced with the challenge to slightly adjust the ratio of seeds in the bread because I was missing a few vital seeds (millet seed, being one) in our pantry, so I decided to search the internet for similar substitutes. In doing so, I also came across several articles about the amazing health benefits of seeds. Seeds provide an excellent source of protein and healthy fats, are a gut-friendly fuel, and boost immune, hormonal and cardiovascular health in everyone. Pretty amazing, right? ** Below was sourced from: 88 Acres
Flax Seeds: Flax seeds contain gut-strengthening fiber with omega-3 fatty acids. In order to truly absorb the amazing benefits of flax seeds, you have to freshly grind the flax seeds to access the nutritious center.The fibers in flax contain a unique type of plant chemical called lignans, which recent research shows may play a role in the prevention of certain types of cancers and are effective at reducing bad, LDL cholesterol in the blood. Flax seeds also contain a very high amount of omega-3 fatty acids, which help reduce overall inflammation that has been linked to asthma, heart disease, alzheimer's and many other chronic diseases.
Flax seeds contain omega-3 at a ratio compared to omega-6 that provides maximum benefits to our health.
Pumpkin Seeds: Green in color, pepitas (the kernels of the seeds inside the orange-fleshed pumpkin) contain vitamin K, iron, magnesium, phosphorus and manganese. Pumpkin seeds stand out for providing a great dose of iron. Similar to dark leafy greens, the vitamin K in pumpkin seeds helps promote optimal bone strength and healthy blood clotting. Pepitas are a complete protein, providing all nine essential amino acids along with a rich dose of heart-healthy, inflammation-fighting unsaturated fats.
Sesame Seeds (black and white): Contains the antioxidant sesamol, which reduces radiation of cells for gentle aging; thiamin for reducing anxiety and stress and oleic acid to reduce bad cholesterol.
Sunflower Seeds: Sunflower seeds contain a high amount of Vitamin E. This vitamin serves as an antioxidant in our bodies, and is important for maintaining the strength and integrity of cellular membranes. One thing to note, the body cannot absorb Vitamin E without fat, so the oil in the sunflower seed helps the body absorb Vitamin E.
Sunflower seeds also pack in thiamin and Vitamin B-6, which are both essential for healthy metabolism. Like pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds are also a great way to get magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, copper and selenium. Magnesium, when combined with Vitamin B-6, may help to reduce symptoms of PMS. Along with maintaining strong bones, proper muscle contraction and low blood pressure, keeping enough magnesium in our diets may also help keep us calm, cool and collected by staving off symptoms of anxiety.
How to Know When the Bread is Done? As I mentioned above, I may have slightly over-baked this bread loaf, but I still thought I would share a few tips and tricks for checking when a loaf is complete. I used all the tricks on this one - to cover all the bases -but my favorite, if I have never followed the recipe before, is temperature.
Tap the Base of the Bread. Most bread recipes that I have come across swear by this method, and often mention a bake time for the bread, followed by an additional option to tap on the base of the bread. If thoroughly baked, the bread base should sound hollow. While this is indeed true, I have not quite developed the callouses one may need in order to be immune to bread that just came out of a 400F degree oven, and by the time that I gather all the oven mitts I need, I either leave the oven open too long, or I just miss the opportunity to decide.
Check the Temperature. I find this one to be the easiest, and safest method to check if the bread is completely baked. I like this method if I have never baked the bread before, and I am unsure how it should look (my bread intuition is not as strong). A fully cooked loaf should reach an internal temperature of 190F.
Another note: Since I am a vegan/vegetarian, I also use a thermometer in the kitchen often to check the various temperatures of fish, poultry and red meats, so I know without a doubt it is cooked and ready to eat. Our kitchen thermometer has turned into a very handy tool in the kitchen (it is not just for candy making).
Insert a Skewer. I am sure you have heard of this trick before. If you insert a bamboo skewer into a baked good, and it comes out clean, the center is thoroughly cooked. I like this method, again, for those recipes that I have never made before, but sometimes it fails me when I am making brownies, for example and may want a gooey center. Of course, for cakes and breads, I am sure it is a good option. With this one though, I can never know for how much longer I should keep the bread in the oven.
Leave in the Oven. And, for the last resort, if you are just not quite sure and the bread has baked for the suggested time, you can turn the oven off and let the bread sit in the oven until cool. I have done this for a few breads, and while it works for some, it depends on the starting oven temperature, and just how baked the bread is before turning the oven off. I guess, as a warning, you can slightly over-bake your bread, and it can become a little too crispy or dry out, if you follow this as a last resort.
Honestly, as with all baking, it comes down to your intuition, and trusting yourself. Each recipe is a learning lesson, even if you can bake a loaf of bread with your eyes closed as anything can happen. On that note, I hope that you find a recipe book you enjoy, or this one, that I am currently baking my way through. Either way, enjoy baking and nourishing yourself and your family.
xx,
Jordan
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