Flaxseed Raisin Bread and the Super Bowl

I have never seen a football game, that is, not until yesterday. I watched Super Bowl 45 with the Steelers and the Packers.

Afriend of mine was over, telling me what was going on. I had a lot of fun watching and rooting for the team I picked, which was the Steelers. They did not win, but it sure was fun to watch. It would have been so nice if they had made a touchdown when they had the ball last, but it was fun anyway.

You know me, I was baking bread as I watched the game. I baked up some Flaxseed Raisin Sourdough Bread.

Warm buttered raisin bread with a glass of wine, made a terrific snack during the game. Ha ha, then I had a piece of dark chocolate……….dang it was a nice day!!

Flaxseed Raisin Bread

In a large mixing bowl, mix together:

  • Whole Wheat Starter @ 100% hydration – 9 oz/255g
  • White Starter @ 100% hydration – 9 oz/255g
  • Freshly ground flax seed – 2 oz/56g
  • Whole Flax seed- 2 oz/ 56g
  • Water – 15 oz/425g
  • Malt Syrup- 1 oz/28g
  • Bread Flour- 12 oz/340g

After mixing, allow the mixture to set for 20 minutes. Then add:

  • Salt- .6 oz/17g
  • Whole Wheat flour- 12 oz/340g

Allow the dough to ferment at room temperature for 3 hours, folding twice during that time, then refrigerate overnight in a covered bowl. Next morning take the dough out, uncover it and allow it to warm up for two hours. Spray your work surface with some spray oil and then divide the dough into three pieces.

Add 4 oz/113g of raisins to your dough piece(each dough piece weighing about 1lb 4 oz gets to have 4 oz of raisins added), knead in the raisins. Once the raisins are well distributed, let the dough piece rest for 15 minutes and then do a final shaping. Stagger your next two loaves far enough apart so you can bake them one at a time.

Place your shaped dough into a pan, banneton or couche and allow it to final proof. This took four hours for my loaves. The flaxseed in the dough makes the crumb soft and the raisins weigh down the dough, so it takes some time.

Preheat your oven and stone for one hour to 450 F. Place the roasting lid in the oven to preheat about 5 minutes before you bake.

Once the dough is ready to bake, slash very shallow, as the gluten structure is compromised by the flax and the dough will spread too much (that happened to me with the first loaf). You can also not slash at all. Spray the loaf all over with water and then place a roasting pan lid over the dough.

Bake at 450F for 20 minutes. Then take off the roasting lid and allow the bread to brown. Bake 10 minutes more. Place your bread on a cooling rack and place the roasting lid back in to preheat for the next loaf. Bake the rest of the loaves the same way.

This recipe makes 3 lbs 14.6 oz and is at 71 % hydration, but don’t let that scare you, it is a fairly firm dough, as the whole wheat and flax seed soak up a lot of water.

The crumb is soft and tasty, with a wonderful aroma. The crust is only slightly crisp. This bread is great warm, or served cold with cream cheese next morning along with a cup of java.

Next time you watch the Super Bowl, think about baking some fresh sourdough…. yummmm!  And send a loaf home with your friend whose team did win! Congratulations Packers!

Sending this post to Yeastspotting, Susan’s blog….check it out!

northwestsourdough

Teresa L Greenway - Sourdough bread baker, author, teacher, entrepreneur. Join my baking classes at: https://tinyurl.com/nbe3ejd

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