Sunflower Seed Bread (Super Easy No knead Sunflower Bread)

Sunflower seed bread is one of the most delicious of healthy breads.

In this sunflower seed bread recipe, we used sunflower seeds, flax seeds, whole wheat flour and plain flour to make this bread.The addition of seeds and whole grain raised the nutritional quotient of this sunflower seed bread.

This Nutrition packed sunflower seed bread is super delicious, even with some honey and butter.My family especially my boys love this bread and usually the whole bread will get finished in a few minutes!

I think this is one of the most delicious of the healthy seed breads.

I tried making this bread, both in loaf pan and open bake.If you prefer a sunflower sandwich loaf, you can make it in a loaf pan or if you like a rustic crust, then bake it open or using a dutch oven.

Personally I like the open bake bread, made like sunflower bloomer bread which has crispy crust and soft and creamy crumb inside with lots of sunflower seeds in between.And when we bake we bake it open, it requires slightly less baking time than that we need when we bake seed bread in a loaf pan.

What you will love about this sunflower seed bread recipe

• This sunflower seed bread recipe helps you make the best sunflower seed bread in about 2 hours (125 minutes; from the dough making till the bread is baked)
• We can mix and make the bread dough in less than 3 minutes!
• In this sunflower seed bread recipe, you don’t need to knead the dough and so it is super easy to make.No kneading,No mess, less waiting time than regular bread recipes.
• We don’t need to use a stand mixer or any other special equipments.
• The resulting seed bread is so delicious and the crumb is soft and fluffy.This sunflower bread remains soft longer, than a regular bread.

Ingredients Needed for making Sunflower Bread

1. Bread Flour/Plain Flour : 290 g or 2 1/4 cup(loosely packed)
2. Whole wheat flour :57 g or 1/2 cup (loosely packed)(you can substitute the same with plain flour)
3. Warm water: 260 ml or 1 cup + 4 tsp
4. Instant yeast: 1 tsp or 3 g (Active dry yeast 1 and 1/4 tsp)
5. Salt : 1 tsp or 5.9 g
6. Honey/Sugar : 20 g or 1 tbsp or more according to your preference
7. Sunflower seeds :100 g(85g to the dough and 15g for sprinkling on top) or 3/4 cup
8. Flax seeds :10 g or 1 tbsp

How to make Sunflower seed bread

We can make this Easy no knead Sunflower Bread in five simple steps

1.Prepare the dough

Into a bowl, add in the lukewarm water, honey/sugar, salt, yeast and stir to dissolve the ingredients in water.

Water should be slightly warm and not hot.Preferably 95 F or warm as that pf a baby food.

If we use hot water, it will kill the yeast cells and if the water is cold, the yeast cells will not be active and it may take long time for the dough to rise.

Add in the sunflower seeds, the flax seeds and whole wheat flour.

Adding whole wheat flour can make the bread denser.

Whole wheat flour contain more bran particle and so it may decrease the ability of bread dough to rise to fullest.So if you want you can use same amount of plain flour instead of whole wheat flour.

Stir and combine.Add the plain flour into this.

Make sure there are no dry patches left behind.

If you happen to use volume measurements instead of weighing the ingredients, the consistency of dough may slightly differ.

In that case just make sure there are no dry patches left behind and it form a coherent mass.

We need to combine everything together to form a shaggy mass of dough.

If you are a fan of no knead bread recipes, then you will love these Easy to make No knead Bread recipes.

Light and Airy Ciabatta Bread recipe

Soft and delicious No knead dinner rolls 

No knead Rustic Dutch oven bread

2.First Proofing

Wrap the bowl with a plastic film and let the dough stand rise in a warm environment for 30 minutes.

This proofing time may vary according to the ambient temperature.

If the room temperature is cold, it may take around 45 minutes.

If you want to skip double proofing, you might love these Easy Faster One Rise Bread Recipes

Quick and Easy Dinner rolls recipe

Delicious One Rise Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

3.Shape the dough

After 30 minutes of rising, our dough has risen slightly.

I smeared some olive oil in my hands.

Now degas the dough by pressing the dough with hands.

I pulled the dough from sides of bowl and folded it into the center and simultaneously deflate the dough.

I turned the dough upside down, so that the smooth side is now up.

Let us rest the dough for another 8-10 minutes covered.

After 8 minutes,I placed the dough on to a lightly floured work surface.

Sprinkle some more flour on top so that it will not stick.

Using a rolling pin, flatten the dough

Now fold and roll the dough sheet, like we roll a jelly roll.Pinch the ends and place it on to a parchment lined baking sheet.

If you want to make a sunflower sandwich loaf, then place the dough into a greased loaf pan.

Now it’s ready for the next step.So cover it with a cling film or a large bowl.

Let it sit and rise in a warm environment.

4.Final rising

Let the dough sit and rise in warm environment for 45 – 50 minutes.

So after 45 minutes, spray the surface with some water.

Sprinkle the top with some sunflower seeds.

Score the bread dough (almost 1 cm deep slash), with a sharp knife.

What is scoring a bread means

Scoring is slashing the shaped bread dough with a sharp knife or razor blade to allow it to expand during baking.

Why do we need to score the bread

The purpose of scoring is primarly to control the direction in which the bread will expand during “oven spring”

By scoring a bread,we are intentionally creating a weak spot on the surface of the loaf preventing the loaf from bursting at any other weak spots created during shaping.

Thus scoring the bread dough will help the bread to expand beautifully and helps the bread to not to crack open at undesirable spots.

When should you score the bread.

Scoring is generally performed just before loading the loaves in the oven

How to score bread effectively

• Use a very sharp knife or razor blade or bread lame to quickly score the surface of the loaf.
• I found smearing some oil on the knife will prevent the dough from sticking into the knife
• Use a firm,smooth and rapid motion while scoring bread.Make deep and slightly angled slash(The depth of the cut should be shallow-about 1/4inch)

Why does my bread collapse when I slash it

If the bread dough is over proofed(if the second proofing took longer time than the recipe states),then the bread can collapse.

5.Bake the Healthy Seed Bread

Place the baking tray into the 425 F or 220 C preheated oven.

Bake for about 25-30 minutes.

The presence of steam inside the oven during the initial few minutes of baking helps to create that rustic crispy crust to our seed bread.

To create steam inside the oven,

• (1)Using a spray bottle, spritz the sides of the oven with water a few times and close the door.Wait about 30 seconds and spritz again.Wait another 30 seconds and do it one final time and then bake.
• (2)When you put your bread in the oven, Add one cup of hot boiling water to a shallow baking dish and set it on the lower rack of your oven. The water will create steam which will help keep the bread crusty on the outside as it bakes.

The result is a very delicious, crusty sunflower bloomer bread with soft and airy crumb!

Spray the inside of oven with some water

How to bake sunflower seed loaf in a bread pan

If you are baking this bread in a loaf pan, you can place the shaped dough into a loaf pan.

And then wait for the final rise (45-50 minutes)

Bake the seed bread at 350 F preheated oven for 34-35 minutes.Reduce the baking temperature to 325 F and bake for another 4-5 minutes

The top of the sunflower seed loaf will start browning at around 25 minutes of baking.It doesn’t mean our seed loaf is done.

At this point if we take it out, the center of the sunflower seed bread will have a doughy texture and it will smell very “yeasty”

So wait for until the seed bread is baked properly.

What to eat with sunflower seed bread

You can enjoy this sunflower loaf with some plain butter and honey.

This bread made with sunflower seeds, also pairs well with sharp cheddar cheese, hummus, roasted turkey, peanut butter, fruit jam and jelly.

It is also delicious to have this with any of your favorite soups or salads.

Watch the video to see how easy it is to make Homemade Sunflower seed bread.