Flax Seed Wheat Bread

flax seed wheat bread

I finally got my copy of Dan Lepard's The Handmade Loaf, a book that the Brits on this site have been recommending to me for a while. Occasionally imported copies will show up on Amazon for a reasonable price, but I found it cheaper to order a copy from a bookseller in Ipswich via Abebooks. It is a splendid book, with great photos, easy to follow instructions, and excellent recipes; well worth the cost of admission for a baking fanatic. His website is also worth checking out.

Of the recipes I've baked so far, the Linseed and Wheat Bread has been my favorite. The first loaf I baked we ate in under an hour. I was forced to bake it again the next day. The horror.

The recipe I'm posting below is based on his Linseed and Wheat Bread. I modified it some to match the ingredients I had on hand and my personal taste.

Flax Seed Wheat Bread
makes 1 one pound loaf

200g bread flour
50g whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
100g flax seeds
2 teaspoons malt powder
150 grams water
1 teaspoon instant yeast

Combine the flours, salt, seeds, malt, and yeast in a bowl. Stir in the water and mix until thoroughly combined. This dough is not a terribly moist one: it should be slightly tacky but not sticky. When shaped into a ball it should easily hold its shape.

The seed and bran from the whole wheat prevent a high level of gluten development in this dough, so extensive kneading is not necessary.

Once all of the ingredients are thoroughly combined, place the ball of dough in a greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and leave to rise for an hour to an hour and a half.

Shape the dough into 1 large or two small loaves, cover the loaves with plastic, and give them another hour to rise. In the meantime, preheat the oven and baking stone to 425 degrees.

Brush the top of the loaves with water, score the loaves, and place them in the oven. Bake them at 425 for 20 minutes, rotate them 180 degrees, then bake them another 20 to 25 minutes. When done, they will be nicely browned on the outside, make a hollow sound when tapped upon, and register approximately 205 degrees in the center when measured with an instant read thermometer.

flax seed wheat bread

These loaves remind me of yams.

flax seed wheat bread

Related Recipe: Five Seed French Bread

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Nice

I thought this was initally a nice starter dough. Good job. I am suprised that a straight dough can be this nice.

Ryan

beautiful loaf!

Is the malt powder essential? I live in Luxembourg and that isn't available here. If it is, what could I substitute for it?

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Subbing for malt

No, the malt powder isn't essential. You could substitute in any sweetener... brown sugar, white sugar, molasses, honey, whatever you have in the house.

Malt powder

Could I use plain Ovaltine ?

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Ovaltine

I have no idea. Certainly worth a try!

Homemade Malt

A friend of mine who is a good baker used to make his own malt I think, by sprouting wheat berries, toating these and then grinding them up!

 

malt powder

Have you tried Horlicks the contents in order of largest is wheat flour, malted barley. dried whey, malt powder and sugar

I sometimes add it to my bread mixes for a different flavour /texture
really I am still experimenting with it so would be interested to hear if anyone has tried it

Ovaltine

Hmm. The Ovaltine is sugar, maltrodextrin, toasted defatted soy
flour, barley malt extract, whey, caramel color, beet extract,
whole milk, non-fat milk, salt, molasses, mono & diglycerides,
natural caramel flavor, vanillan and vitamins & minerals :
tricalcium phosphate, Vitamin C,A,B3,D,B6,B1,B2 & iron.
I dunno..I guess it couldn't hurt to try it.

Ovaltine Ingredients

I'd give it a shot: it has malt extract in it already, plus complex sugars (maltodextrin) like you'd find in a malt extract. Nathan Sanborn

flax seed wheat bread

Floydm-
Could you please convert grams to laymans terms or measurements of flours/flaxseed and water.
Thanks, Catherine

Ingredient Conversion Website

Hi Catherine!

I don't have a kitchen scale yet either ;) I want to make this bread as well, so I just found a great website that allows you to enter specific ingredients and specify what amount and measurement types you want to convert to and from. I always round off the results to the most convenient measures, so these are my *approximate* interpretations of the required amounts for the above recipe. You can check out the website link below if you want mls or more exact measurements :)

Gourmet Sleuth

*APPROXIMATE* equivalents
Bread flour 200g = 1 1/2 cups
Whole wheat flour 50g = 1/2 cup
Flax seeds 100g = 3/4 cup
Water (1 gram of water is always 1 ml) = 2/3 cup

I am going to try to make the bread using these measurements now, so I will see how it works :)

rising qn

hi,

I'm attempting to make this at the moment, but I have a question! is the dough supposed to double in size during the 1 and 1/2 hour rise (as per usual)? My dough doesn't seem to have risen at all... I followed the recipe except that I used 2 tsp of sugar instead of malt, since I didn't have any.

ta!
Chrissy

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rising flax

It may not quite double, but it certainly should rise noticeably.

ok... It wasn't rising so I

ok... It wasn't rising so I stretched it and folded it a few times, then put it back in the bowl and left it for 2 more hours, and it rose much better. :)

Hopefully they still turn out ok!

definitely didn't turn out

definitely didn't turn out looking like the one in your picture! a lot smaller and didn't have any oven spring at all. maybe I should have let the shaped bread rise for longer (I got a bit impatient)...

I made it into 2 small bread sticks... nice and crunchy! i really liked the taste of it too :)

Will definitely experiment with this recipe again (I will need to make more bread tomorrow coz this lot all got eaten :P)

Chrissy

Flax Seed Bread Recipe

Very new to bread baking. Ventured out today with this recipe. First 2 tries were whole wheat rolls, edible, but heavy and bland. This recipe is a hit! Used the converted measurements posted and added some sunflower seeds with the flax to make 3/4 cup. Used sugar. Crust was crunchy, flavor excellent. Thanks for the recipe. Great website! Jen

flax seed

To get the nutritional benefits of the flax seed, such as the Omega 3 fatty acids, the experts say they have to be ground up or they pass right through you.  But of course then you won't have the aesthetic appeal of the seeds.  Perhaps the solution is to grind most of them and leave some whole for the visual effect.

 

Flax Seed Tricks

I grind small amounts of flax seed in my coffee/spice mill just before ready to add to a batter or dough. It's quick, very fresh, and sooo easy.  Usually only need small amounts anyway as you dont want to weigh down the dough or go too heavy on the flax meal.  I also grind up about a half a cup at a time to have on hand for adding to cereals and desserts.  Keep in the fridge.

Ovaltine for malt powder?

galabaker: Can you use ovaltine for malt powder? 

 New student of bread baking--

I'm a 63 year old grandmother and a new student to bread making.  I am trying to capture a memory of sitting at my grandmothers tiny table in her even tinier kitchen.  At four years old, I sat at her table two feet from the oven where the smell of fresh yeast biscuits--baking-- filled the kitchen, the house and down the block.  Everyone could smell those fresh yeast, brides biscuits, in the oven.  The next smell that overwhelmed me was the honey suckle vine growing up a trellis outside the screened back door of the kitchen.  Remembering that gift in my head so long ago, has driven me to seek out countless recipes to find one that would begin to match the love and care baked into her hands creations. Expect to see my on line name from time to time. I hang on every word of wisdom I can get from your experiences.  Bread baking is very much hands on.....galabaker

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I doubt that ovaltine

would be all that beneficial. Carnation makes a malted drink that's loaded with malt powder; it would probably be better. Others, more knowledgeable than I, can tell you about malt products from healt food stores. I haven't used any malt in my breads.

 

Larry

Making malt powder.

I've sprouted wheat berries, then toasted/dried them in a very low oven, and ground them in a spice or coffee grinder.  They smell just like Ovaltine and Horlick's.  I add it to baguette dough for a darker crust.

What a great idea

I'm definitely going to try that.  I'm always a bit disappointed with the slightly anaemic look of my loaves.  This sounds like a good way around that problem without having to add honey.  How much do you let the wheat berries sprout- ie how much of a tail do you let them grow?  Also, how long do you leave them in the oven for?  How much do you add to your dough?

Fiona

malted barley flour

Great internet response page!   I am interested in healthy recipes and this has sparked a new adventure!  Everyone's responses are greatly appreciated. Thanks for all the new knowledge and I plan to make the Flax Seed Bread soon. Look forward to more inputs.

Water temp

Hello,  What is the recommended water temperature for the flaxseed wheat bread? 

 Also, is there any need to toast the flaxseed?  Or does the baking process do that?  Thanks.  K

Flax Seed Wheat Bread

Flax seed meal is easy to mix into things like yogurt and cereal, and it can be added in small amounts to almost any recipe for breads, cakes, cookies, or pancakes. I've had good results with using flax seed meal to replace bread crumbs in meatloaf or meatballs and adding flax seed meal to cookies.

__________________

Randall Flynn

 

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Excellent

We tried this the other day - and used honey instead of malt powder. This was a very hearty bread with an incredibly crunchy crust.

I've been lurking a while and wanted to say "thank you" as I've used a few recipes and hints so far and am getting progressively better thanks to all of the comments I find here!

how can I convert grams to

how can I convert grams to cups?

Thankyou so much for posting

Thankyou so much for posting this recipe. Made it yesterday. A lovely bread with amazing crust!

Flax nutrition

While flax is a wonderfully nutritious addition to any food, keep in mind that the full nutritional value of flax can only be enjoyed in it's raw state (and the oil only if it's cold pressed).

I've made this bread many times, my boyfriend loves it (even the first time I made it and it came out like a brick - he still enjoyed it! Thankfully I've come into baking a bit more, and it turns out much better these days). Thanks for the wonderful recipe!

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Flax Seed Wheat Bread

Hi I'am New here, and I would love to have this recipe for Flax Seed Wheat Bread, in U.S. Weights & Measures.

dried Fruit / cake

years ago my mother made a delicious fruit cake which was ultimately wrapped in a towel soaked with sweet wine  anyone have any idea's   Mlowen6701@comcast.net

Fruit Cake recipe for mlowen

HI, I realize you posted this in March, but this recipe is one of my Grandmother's and everyone who eats it , loves it. I thought you might like to try it. I sent the recipe to your addy (Mlowen6701 at comcast dot net)

Deonia

Can I please have that fruit cake recipe?

My email address is cutedevil1_x@live.com.

thanks.  Cathy

Ground Flax doesn't work

I tried to substitute ground flax seeds for flax seeds.  It was a disaster.   I had to increase the water just to get a dough ball.  Then there was no rise at all.

I am guessing that the ground flax absorbed most of my water since it was powder like.  I just pulled a solid brick out of my oven.

I'll give it another shot if I ever buy regular flax seed.

hahaha *s* love this site and these emails/threads

Nice to hear that all y'all aren't pro bakers out there. *s* 

I think my problem is over-proofing... 

Does humidity have an affect on bread baking? 

Cathy P. in Miami

water content

I just mixed this up and found it needed a fair bit more water.

I mixed a double batch of the recipe, with the following changes:

 * 20g gluten flour per 200g plain flour

 * raw sugar instead of malt powder

 * ground linseeds instead of whole (linseed == flax seed)

I found I had to add an extra 50-75ml to the recipe, ie 100-150ml total, and even then it seemed like it could have taken more; I kneaded it a few minutes and as I went it absorbed the moisture, starting out sticky but just fine by the end. The dough was workable but still quite 'solid'. Anyway, it's rising now. We'll see what happens.

water content - followup

To follow up - turned out very nicely.

I made it into one large loaf, which rose nicely but not spectacularly. When I slashed it, it seemed quite solid and I was in dread that I'd 'bricked' this recipe. Baked in hot (250+C) oven with steam, turned it down to 200C after the first 10min, then turned it at 20min. Pulled it out 15min later.

It smelled pretty good - we had to leave the house on an errand  to keep from tearing into it right away. When we returned It seemed to have deflated a little but it tastes great and is not heavy at all.

I took a picture of the result:

flaxseed bread, double recipe in one loaf

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