SEVEN SEED SOURDOUGH BREAD

This seven seed sourdough bread is filled with wonderful, nutritious seeds.  It has steel cut oats, bulghur wheat, sesame, flax, chia, sunflower and pumpkin seeds so it has texture and a delicious nutiness to the bread.

This bread is great as a side or an appetizer, especially when it can be dipped in a garlic herb oil dipping sauce.

The chia seeds retains moisture so the bread is moist and doesn't dry out as quickly as regular sourdough bread.  This means that the crusty crust softens over time due to the high moisture content.

Tips for making seven seed sourdough bread

Due to the hydration of the seeds, the dough of this seven seed sourdough bread tends to be softer than regular sourdough bread.

Additional dry seeds can also be added to the outside of the bread as a topping, if desired.

Seeds.

When making this seven seed sourdough bread, it is important that the seeds are completely hydrated.  Allowing the seeds to rehydrate overnight maximizes the moisture content in the seeds rather than adding more liquid to the dough.  If the seed mixture has too much liquid, it will make the dough very soft and difficult to work with.

Just before the seeds are added to the flour mixture, add the salt to the seed mixture to allow the salt to dissolve throughout the seed mixture.  I have found that if you add the salt too early to the seed mixture, the salt inhibits the seeds from fully absorbing the water, resulting in a softer dough.

The seed mixture, when rehydrated should be so stiff that a spoon can stand straight up.

Oats and bulghur wheat.

Steel cut oats are the seeds of an oat plant that are cut into tiny pieces.  Unlike the rolled oats, this cut of oats does require a longer time to rehydrate.  Bulghur wheat is cracked whole-grain kernels of wheat.  It is usually used in mediterranean dishes and is very nutritious. 

The bulghur wheat comes in various coarse sizes.  I prefer the medium grind as it provides just enough mouth feel without being too large.  This too requires time to rehydrate.

Proofing the bread

There are many ways of proofing bread.  Based on my sourdough research and understanding of how sourdough works, I prefer the long proof method.  See Proof your sourdough. By using the long proof method, the chilled dough is easier to transfer into the castiron dutch oven and score.

Baking the bread

After proofing the sourdough bread, the dough should be firmer than after bulk fermentation.  If the surface of the bread is sticky, sprinkle the dough with a thin layer of flour or use parchment paper to avoid the bread from sticking to base of the castiron dutch oven.