People who have been doing ancient grain sourdough bread for a little while, you may be like me, wondering what new recipe you could try that would be delicious with ancient grain and/or sourdough? So may be you have been making sourdough cake(s), sourdough sandwich bread, sourdough pizza dough, sourdough crêpes or pancakes, einkorn sourdough biscuits ! 

For me the next step is usually trying another grain I don’t know much. But this time, I wanted to add seeds to my bread, and it turned out wonderful! So I decided to share my recipe. Enjoy the delicious crunch of this delicious, nutty tasting bread!

Seeds bread

Boost your bread’s nutrition

Seeds are a wonderful addition to your bread They are not only healthy, they also add a precious commodity to your recipe: healthy fats, often omega 3 fatty acids. most people aren’t consuming enough omega 3 on a daily basis. Omega 3 are critical for brain health and hormone balance. It is all the more important for pregnant and breastfeeding women, or women wanting to conceive and men’s hormonal health, fertility and brain balance. ( see article on Real foods for fertility here).

Extracting seeds nutrition

However, despite the large amount of fats, these are difficult for our body to assimilate because seeds are very tiny, and it is hard to chew them. This is the reason why you find flax in a ground form – flax meal. I avoid commercial flax meal because fats oxidizes faster in their ground form. The best way to get them ground, is to grind them yourselves, and their fat won’t be oxidized. Also, cold pressed oils less likely oxidize, if they are less than two years old. 

Soaking seeds is also a means of easing assimilation of their fats, because it makes them it easier to chew. It also starts the germination process, which multiplies many nutrients and lower the amount of phytic acid, which slows down assimilation.

By adding seeds to bread, you soak them, which arguably starts the germination process and facilitates nutrients extraction by your body. It also adds fats to your bread, thereby lowering its glycemic index. Taste wise, it also adds a crunch, which I really like in my bread.

Seeds nutrition:

Seeds are well known to be rich in healthy fats

Among them, omega 3 (EPA, the plant version of omega 3), omega 6 (Alpha Linolenic Acid or ALA), and omega 9 (Oleic Acid). But they also are extremely right in trace minerals  such as magnesium, zinc and iron. They are high i fibers, which means they have a very low glycemic index, especially flax seeds. 

Richest in omega 3 is flax, with the best ratio of omega 3 to omega 6 ( over almost 4:1) followed by sunflowers ( although the ratio or 2:1 is not as good) . Be aware that plant omega 3 is very important, but requires our body to transform it to be assimilated, whereas animal Omega 3 ( DHA) is directly usable by our bodies. You can find animal omega 3 in eggs and fish!

Count on seeds to provide a wealth of trace minerals

Magnesium, important for stress resilience, is highest in flax and pumpkin seeds. Zinc, important for fertility, skin health, a strong immune system, is highest in pumpkin. Iron, important for strength and sleep – among many other things! – is highest in flax, then pumpkin seeds.  Be aware however, that plant minerals are not taken up to the same degree in plant and animal foods. So don’t underestimate the importance of animal sources of trace minerals for a balanced diet. For a review of the impact of trace minerals on female fertility, see this study. ¹ For this reason, you can find a way to regulate your cycle with cycle-minded consumption of certain seeds ( seed cycling).

Ingredients

​1. Freshly ground Einkorn flour

Or course, I am a fan of einkorn, a macro species of “the original wheat”. Einkorn is a variety of ancient wheat that was not crossed with any other grain or grass. Einkorn exists locally in different micro species that adapt to their environment and soil. That sometimes gives them a different color!  

Grind it yourself!

To make sure my einkorn is as nutrient dense as I can keep it, I grind it myself fresh with my Komo grinder. You’ll need about 600-700 g per loaf. I used to use a kitchen aid attachment and decided to upgrade, and I must say the difference of the texture of my flour is mind blowing. Having a real grinder is a game changer. Besides, I can use them to grind fine many other grains like corn, and rice, seeds like quinoa, or beans to my great satisfaction ! It may be too early to say after 8 months, but I may never buy any flour again ! I am so happy I decided to become an affiliate for their U.S. retailer, Pleasant Hill Grain, just because of this grinder. Stay tuned and when it comes through, you will get a discount link from me.

All purpose Einkorn flour

My Einkorn wheat freshly ground into flour. However, I sometimes make my bread with half whole grain flour, and half all purpose flour from einkorn from Jovial Foods. All purpose einkorn flour is sifted, therefore it has no bran nor germ, which means it is nutritionally not as interesting. 

Still, it is better than modern wheat, since it is organic, has a lower gluten content, is more nutritious. You can learn more about einkorn vs modern wheat in this post.

2. Active sourdough starter which you refreshed a few hours before ( usually 5 hours in my home).

An einkorn starter starts fermentation. The fermentation process allows for good bacteria to digest your flour, which makes your food easier to digest. Besides, bacteria feed on gluten, so your bread is even lower in gluten content.

3. Seeds: Prefer raw, possibly organic flax, pumpkin and sunflower seeds. I want to try with sesame too! 

4. Grey sea salt

5. Warm Water, 100*F

My electric kettle actually has a function to heat to 105F which I find particularly convenient for bread making! I just add a bit or cold water to the mix, and I don’t have to waste water to get it to the right temperature. 

Equipment

I have a special page for equipment that includes bread making. You can go here to read about the equiment I recommend if you want to bake bread regularly and are a beginner! 

If you want to bake bread on a regular basis, here are a few must haves you may want to slowly gather as you go ! In order or importance

• Large mixing bowl – ceramic is advised for fermentation rather than metal.
• Digital scale. 
• Plastic wrap or beeswax wrap, so the dough can rise. I prefer beeswax because I avoid food contact with plastic. Plastic contains hormonal disrupters.
• A dutch oven – about 4.5 qt. I own this one which is very reasonably priced.
• A banneton basket or proofing basket, 9 inches diameter; if you don’t own one, use a clean kitchen towel or linen cloth to wrap the shaped dough, and let it proof in a mixing bowl.
• A Dough scraper
• A grinder to make whole grain einkorn flour fine: this one.
• Tea and tablespoons set

Ancient grain bread recipe

My einkorn bread recipe was inspired from the Einkorn Jovial book’s French boule. I adapted this recipe to my taste over the years and recently decided on my seeds loaf recipe! 

I adapted other recipes to my tastes and cooking style. You can also try my steamed einkorn sourdough sandwich bread ! 

Since The first time I tried making it, it came out more dense than without seeds. I do think it does make sense because of the fat content of the seeds. But may be that will change over time.

As I explained above, the seeds I use in that recipe are: flax seeds, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds.

Steps to the fermentation process

1. Day before baking. 

Refresh your sourdough starter few hours before. Einkorn starter only rises by about 1/3.

2. Once the starter is ready, make a levain. 

The levain can sit 2 hours on the counter before rising in the fridge up to 22 hours, which makes it easier to plan your bread.

3. The day of: Making and rising the dough

• Make the seed bread dough: In a large bowl, prepare your flour and salt. Then add 1/4 water into the seed bowl. Don’t do it earlier, or the flax seeds would become very gooey, which is harder to mix. Mix the levain with water, dosing with your scale. Then pour into the flour and mix flour and levain. Then fold in the seeds.
• Let your einkorn dough rest : einkorn flour is slower at soaking water than other wheats.
• After 15 minutes, get the dough out with your scraper, flour a work surface, and do one set of stretching and folding. Let rest and stretch and fold two more times in 15 minutes intervals.
• Then let your dough rise for 5 hours until it has risen by about 1/3.
• If you want to do long fermentation or started bread at night, let it rise two hours before putting it in the fridge. The following day, you can shape the bread.

4. Shaping the bread

At this stage it shouldn’t need much flour. You can use a bit or rice flour on the surface. Get the dough out of your bowl with a scraper, it should be firm enough for the dough to keep together. Then lay it on a work surface. shape the dough by taking the sides of the dough and bringing them back to the center and sealing them together with the tips of your fingers. Then turn around on seam side and turn the bread around to give it a nice round shape. If you want, you can sprinkle with a handful or more seeds. 

5. Second rise or proofing

Place dough on banneton, cover with a cloth or a soup bowl if you don’t want it to stick ( I use my Corelle daily soup bowl that hardly ever break on wooden floor) for 1-2 hours.

6. After proofing about 1 hour, turn on your oven to 500°F (260°C).

Let it heat up. Once it reaches 500°F/260°C, heat your dutch oven for 30 minutes. Then place the bread into the oven, flatter side at the bottom. Slash the top of the dough, and cover. Place it then oven at 450°F for 40 minutes. Then place on wire rack or wooden cutting board to cool down.

7. Enjoy your einkorn loaf hot or cold ! 

Especially the crunch brought about by the seeds. We love to dip the heels in olive oil and sea salt when still hot! The nutty flavor of einkorn is particularly enjoyable. I hope you enjoy my great recipe!

F.A.Q.: 

1. Do you do Bulk fermentation? i don’t do it with that specific recipe because I usually make only one loaf. But if you have a large enough ceramic bowl, its good ! Be aware of the temperature, because if you want to slow rise, you may have to put your bowl in the fridge in the summer, and it is not always that easy in my home to find space.
2. What work surface do you use to turn your bread? Generally i do it on a wooden cutting board.
3. What equipment did you get when you started? I started with flour and sea salt, and rapidly realized i really needed the dough scraper, digital scale and banneton, and of course the dutch oven; The rest came later ( dough scraper, first grinder, grinder upgrade ) when I knew I would continue Einkorn sourdough bread making in the long run and expand to other grains like Kamut Khorasan, Emmer, even corn, rice and beans !
4. Can I use a modern wheat sourdough starter? Of course, all starters work. It all depends on your sensibility to gluten. Assumedly, you aren’t too sensitive if you already make bread with a modern wheat starter.
5. Can I steam the bread? You can, and I did. However in this case it is a better idea to cut it into four to 6 mini breads, and place them in the steamer basket on some unbleached parchment paper, making sure enough holes are free to steam. Steam bread for 30 minutes, then transfer onto a baking sheet into the oven at 450 for 10 to 20 additional minutes. It tastes great, soft inside and also has a crust!
6. Storage: The bread stores great in airtight container in the fridge for 5 days. However, I usually slice and freeze, then toast it in the morning! Delicious crunchiness!

Now let’s see the full sourdough recipe!

Reference:

1. “In conclusion, based on this comprehensive review of the role of minerals in female fertility, it has become abundantly clear that each mineral examined—zinc, magnesium, calcium, iodine, selenium, iron, copper, and manganese—plays a significant role in the biological processes that underpin reproductive health. The interactions of these minerals with key determinants of fertility such as hormonal regulation, ovarian function, ovulation, oxidative stress, and endometrial implantation are complex and critical (Table 1).)” Kapper C, Oppelt P, Ganhör C, Gyunesh AA, Arbeithuber B, Stelzl P, Rezk-Füreder M. Minerals and the Menstrual Cycle: Impacts on Ovulation and Endometrial Health. Nutrients. 2024 Mar 29;16(7):1008. doi: 10.3390/nu16071008. PMID: 38613041; PMCID: PMC11013220. ↩︎