Seeded Sourdough – Let’s Have Some Fun And Go nuts!

Incorporate your favorite nuts or seeds and make this sourdough unique

I love seeded bread. From the nutritional aspect to the sense of smell and mouthfeel, those magic seeds and nuts have so much to offer in sourdough. And it can be playful. Add your favorite seeds/ nuts to your sourdough and indulge yourself with one-of-a-kind sourdough loaf.

My sourdough bread is generally not sour, except for the seeded ones. I quite enjoy the sourness alongside the earthy nutty seeds/nuts in every bite. There are several factors involved in the level of sourness in bread, which include the choice of flour used in the starter, mature (older) starter, temperature, length of fermentation, and amount of starter used in the recipe. For me, the simplest way to achieve the tanginess is prolonging the fermentation, especially during cold proofing. In a word, the longer the proofing is, the sourer the bread becomes.

Aiming for that tangy flavor, I leave the shaped dough in the fridge for 36 hours before baking. Because of such a long proofing period, I reduce the starter quantity in this recipe to avoid overproofing.

If you enjoy a good tangy seeded loaf as I do, definitely give it a go. This linseed sourdough bread had an explosion of flavor that you will not stop eating until you finish the entire loaf!

Seeded sourdough recipe

weight	ingredients	baker’s percentage
480g	baker’s flour (12.5 protein)	80%
120g	wholemeal plain flour (12.1% protein)	20%
480g	water	80%
120g	starter (100% hydration)	20%
12g	salt	2%
30g	linseed (flaxseed)	5%
total 1250g

Workflow

Day 1
10:00	Feed Starter (1:1:1) Use it when it doubles or reach its peak.
10:15	Autolyse: using a paddle attachment, mix both flour and 90% of water together in a mixing bowl until a dough is formed. Cover with a tea towel and leave it in the fridge* during autolyse.
14:15	After a couple of hours, the gluten is shown in the dough. Add in active starter to the dough and mix until the dough is smooth. Add in salt and remaining water. Continue mixing until the dough doesn’t stick to the side of the mixing bowl. Gradually add in seeds*, and mix for a minute. Transfer the dough to a container.
14:30	Bulk Ferment starts. (total 6 hours) Perform 3 sets of coil fold with 30-minute intervals at the first 1.5 hours.
20:45	Divide and pre-shape the dough into balls: 650g*2 (or 430g*3 for mini ones) Bench rest for 30 minutes.
21:25	Final shape: batards (oval) or boules (round) Bench rest for 15 minutes.
21:55	Cold proof in the fridge for 36 hours*.
Day 3
9:00	Pre heat oven and baking steel to max temperature setting.
10:00	Prepare boiling water for steam. Score the bread and bake. 250 degrees, 20 minutes, with steam 230 degrees, 20-23 minutes, without steam.
10:50	Cool down for at least 1 hour before cutting.

Notes

* As mentioned above, the amount of starter in this recipe is 20%. I suggest applying 18-20% of the starter. Longer proofing time also affects the oven spring. Expect less oven spring if the dough is left in the fridge for a longer period of time.

* I didn’t pre-soak the seed this time. One reason is that seeds/ nuts absorb different amounts of water due to different water temperatures, soaking time and etc. I slightly increase dough hydration so even if the seeds absorb water from the dough, it is still in a high hydration state. I would try going 2% higher hydration next time to see the outcome.

* Apply autolyse for at least 1 hour for better gluten development. Due to the hot weather at the time I made the bread, I moved the dough (in a mixing bowl) to the fridge during autolyse. Also to prevent overheating the dough later when mixing in the rest of the ingredients. The downside of doing so is that the final dough temperature will be lower causing slightly slower fermentation. By all means, leave the dough on the benchtop if the weather conditions permit. It is no problem at all.

* This is a high-hydration dough recipe (80%). The application of autolyse and bassinage helps the gluten network. Learn more at introduction to bssinage and what is autolyse.

* Seeds can be added after salt (mixed in the mixing bowl) or sprinkled on the dough during coil folds.

* Cold proof in the fridge can vary from merely 8 hours to 72 hours (or longer if you wish). The longer the cold retard is, the sourer the bread will be. For longer proof go with less starter. When experimenting, take hydration and starter quantity into account as well.

* I always take pictures and videos while making bread. I put everything together and made a video. Please enjoy. (sound on)

At the end

Making sourdough is not only fun but soothing learning progress for me. I discovered how I like my bread and how I can make it better. I hope you enjoy today’s seeded bread recipe and let me know what is your favorite seeds/nuts to add to your bread.