Sunflower Seed and Date Bread

Lately I've been making fairly simple breads and so got the urge to get a little more complex. While doing the weekly shopping both dates and sunflower seed caught my eye and there was a lady demonstrating some locally made maple syrup, unusual for Iowa, which of course I had to try.

So I pulled starter out of the fridge added a small amount to white WW and AP flour along with some water. Ground some course (at least as course as my mill will go) Red Fife and Turkey Red wheat and added water and salt for an overnight soaker. After about four hours added some more of the flours and water to the leaven and let it sit out overnight also.

Next morning added water and the soaker to the leaven and broke everything up then added some multigrain sprouted flour and some AP. Autolysed then added salt and some of the maple syrup. With the first S&F added the chopped dates and the sunflower seeds. Did three more S&Fs and let bulk ferment for three hours or so, shaped and put in a brotform. The dough was proofed in the oven with a light on because it is chilly in the house. It hardly got above 0 degrees F outside today. Two hours before baking the dough was put in the fridge to help firm it up and make it easier to handle. It was baked on a cast iron pan with a pyrex bowl as a cover for 18 minutes then uncovered and baked till done.

It is a tasty bread with a moist crumb. The only disappointing thing was you couldn't recognize the maple syrup.

Oh by the way, dobie if you read this the bread was made without measuring or weighing anything as you suggested in a post and it wasn't that difficult. The difficulty would be in trying to repeat.

Stu