Buttermilk Seed Bread

recipe found on www.allrecipes.com

2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast (I used quick rise)
1 tsp white sugar
3/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
2 Tbsp butter, melted
3 Tbsp honey
2 tsp salt
1/3 cup wheat germ
2 Tbsp sesame seeds
2 Tbsp flax seeds (used ground flax seeds)
2 Tbsp poppy seeds (didn't have any of these)
2 Tbsp sunflower seeds
2 cups whole wheat flour
3-4 cups bread flour
1 egg + extra seeds for on top

1. In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

2. Combine buttermilk, butter, honey and the yeast mixture in a large bowl. Add the salt, wheat germ, all of the seeds and the whole wheat flour. Stir to combine.

3. Add the bread flour, 1/2 cup at a time (did this in my stand mixer). When the dough has formed a ball, dump it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 6 minutes.

4. Lightly oil a large mixing bowl with olive oil, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with the oil. Cover with a damp cloth and put in a warm place to rise until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

5. Punch down the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into two equal pieces and form into loaves by flattening into two rectangles and rolling up from the short end. Pinch ends to seal.

6. Place the loaves into greased loaf pans. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes.

7. Beat an egg and brush on tops of loaves. Sprinkle with sesame seeds (or whatever other seeds you want on top).

8. Preheat oven to 375*F and bake for about 30 minutes or until the tops are brown and the bottom of a loaf sounds hollow when tapped.


This bread is AMAZING! Buttermilk apparently makes everything better. The middle is very dense with all the seeds and wheat ingredients but still so moist and doughy (some wheat bread I've made has been too dry and crumbly...this is not) It also has a nice crust because of the egg and seeds on top. I will most definitely make this again. It may even become our new favorite sandwich bread and replace our multigrain bread that I've been making for more than a year now!

I enjoyed this bread at lunch today with my usual melted cheese and turkey and hummus, but my favorite topping would have to be FIG PRESERVES. Those of you who have read our Blessed Endurance blog for awhile now may remember my obsession with figs that developed last summer because of the fig tree right outside my office. Last summer, I ate myself sick a few times because of too many trips to this tree during the day! (just FYI: figs = good laxative...) Despite a few days of discomfort because of overindulgence, I loved picking these delicious treats and making them into preserves. Our maintenance people tried to make this an impossibility this year since they decided to cut off every reachable branch last fall (not that I'm bitter...); however, they somewhat redeemed themselves last week by bringing me and my fig-picking buddy, Dr. Joe Martin, a 10-ft ladder to reach the top branches where all the figs are now. Last Thursday morning, he filled two gallon jugs with figs while I held the ladder. I went home at lunch that day and made granola bars with figs in them, and then I got to chopping the rest of the figs on Friday to make preserves. They were every bit as good as I remembered, and they made a perfect spread for my bread when it came out of the oven yesterday. Hopefully, we'll be able to get that ladder again to pick another batch in the next few weeks!

Yummy figs...


Chopped and in the pot...


Turning into figgy mush...


Almost two jars of figgy goodness!