Hearty Whole Grain Whole Wheat Bread with Pumpkin and Sunflower Seeds

For step by Step Pictorial Directions Please Visit http://sourdoughusa.com/?p=1634

Ingredients

• 4 cups water – 110–115 degrees
• 2 Tbsp instant yeast
• ½ cup whole grain buckwheat flour
• ½ cup whole grain barley flour
• 1 cup whole grain rye flour
• 4–5 cups whole wheat flour
• 3/4 tsp salt
• canola oil spray - as needed
• 1 cup flax seeds – ground
• ½ cup sunflower seeds
• ½ cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
• ¾ cup whole rolled oats
• ½ cup wheat bran

Directions

Pour the water into the bowl of a stand mixer. Float your yeast on top of the  water.

Whisk to combine.

Let sit until the yeast starts to activate and starts to foam. This is completely unnecessary with instant yeast but I let it sit while I was prepping some of the other ingredients.

Add your flax, sunflower, pepita seeds, oats and wheat bran.

Combine using your dough paddle.

Add your buckwheat, rye and barley flours 1/2 a cup at a time fully combining after each addition.

Add your wheat flour 1 cup at a time until your dough comes together and is less sticky than tacky.

Oil your dough hook attachment and knead on medium low speed for approximately 10 minutes adding flour as needed to make sure the dough comes out tacky and not sticky.

The dough will not form into a nice smooth dough as a white bread might. You can also knead this by hand if you prefer.

Place into a well greased bowl and let rise for 30 minutes in a warm draft free location. What I do is turn my oven on to 170 while I am mixing my ingredients. As soon as it heats to 170 I turn it off. Once the dough is ready I place a towel rinsed in hot water over the bowl and place in the oven to rest.

Remove from the oven and punch the dough down. Remove from bowl and knead a couple of times.

Using a sharp knife split the dough in 2.

Using your spray oil grease 2 loaf pans well.

Place in your pans and press down to get it as even and smooth as possible.

Cover with a damp towel and let rise on the stovetop while your oven preheats to 300 degrees. My oven vents onto the stovetop so this is an ideal location for my bread to rise for the second time. If yours does not then you want a place where your bread will be warm and draft free.

Let rise for another 3o minutes. You will notice that the bread has risen pretty well. You can eliminate this step for a more dense bread.

Cook for 45-60 minutes. Make sure that the internal temperature of the bread is approximately 190 degrees. Yes, test the internal temperature of your bread to determine when it is cooked.

Slice your bread and serve with a little bit of butter or maybe a nice hearty soup or chili.