I was first introduced to Sonnenblumenkernbrot when I was in high school German class. We had a little end-of-quarter celebration and could bring in food to share, as long as they were German recipes. I can't lie, I had one criteria for the recipe I picked - I had to be able to translate it without my German-English dictionary. I came across this and was easily able to figure out that this was Sun (sonnen) Flower (blumen) Seed (kern) Bread (brot) and was determined to make it for the class. Now, the recipe says that the cumin is optional, and it is, but it is also ENCOURAGED! Don't be scared, the cumin really brings out an earthy, fall flavor to this bread without being overpowering.
Ingredients
- 1 package of instant yeast
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 1/2 cups warm water
- 1 3/4 cups plus 2 TBSP unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp ground cumin (optional)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp salt
- approx 3/4 cup raw sunflower seeds
Tools
- Bowls
- measuring cups and spoons
- stand mixer with dough hook (or your hands if you don't have one)
- Dutch Oven or stone loaf pan
- Linen towel
- Plastic wrap
- Pan
Steps
- Toast your sunflower seeds in a pan without any oil and let cool.
- Stir yeast and honey into the water and let stand for a couple of minutes.
- In a bowl mix the flours with salt and (optional) cumin. Add salt, oil, and yeast water and knead the dough for about 3 to 4 minutes - if you use a mixer with a dough hook, use a low speed like two.
- Add most of the sunflower seeds and knead to incorporate them into the dough for about 4 more minutes.
- Keeping the dough in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rest for about 45 minutes - it should have doubled in size. Make sure this happens in a warm spot in the kitchen! (Cold kitchen hack: use a heating pad or a microwave that has been prepped by boiling a few cups of water in it)
- After the dough has rested and doubled, punch your fist into the center of the dough and fold the outside edges inward and press down. This is called "knocking" or "punching" the dough and the goal is to remove any air pockets that may have been created while rising. You really should only do this once, maybe twice, but not too much. Shape it into a loaf and let the dough rise for another 30 minutes. You can do this in a proofing basket (thanks to the "sourdough" craze during COVID these are more common in kitchens now) or you can also line a bowl with a clean linen towel that you have dusted with flour.
- Heat your oven, with your dutch oven or loaf pan in it, to 450 degrees.
- Use a knife to "score" the dough and then put the remaining seeds on the top of the loaf
- Place into your dutch oven or loaf pan and bake for about 50-60 minutes like this:
- 10 min at 450 degrees (lid on if using one)
- 25 min as temp reduces to 420 degrees (lid on if using one)
- 15 to 20 min (lid off) until bread is a golden brown
Be sure to let the bread cool down before slicing into it! The crunchy, crusty outside and soft inside is great for serving with some of my favorite cozy weather recipes - especially the winter stew!
