flax and chia seed sourdough bread

slices of homemade flax and chia sourdough

flax and chia seed sourdough bread

recipe for 2 loaves (~1000 kg each) of chia flaxseed sourdough, a naturally leavened bread with no commercial yeast. 3 to 4 hours of bulk proofing followed by a 1 -2 hour final or a 12 hour overnight cold proof

Course Bread

Cuisine American

Cook Time 45

Total Time 45

Servings slices

Calories 420kcal

Author Marie

Ingredients

For the levain build:

20 grams Ripe starter
120 grams Water
120 grams All purpose flour

For the dough:

200 grams Levain build up to 250 g in cold climates
800 grams Water divided, 750 g + 50 g
600 grams Bread flour
300 grams All purpose flour
100 grams White whole wheat flour
20 grams Fine sea salt

For the seed mixture:

80 grams Chia seeds
80 grams Flax seeds
160 grams Water

Final dough baker's percents:

Bread flour 60%
All purpose flour 30%
Whole wheat flour 10%
Chia and flax seeds 16%
Water 96% (80% plus 16% for the seeds)
Levain 20%
Salt 2%

Instructions

To build the levain:

Add 20 g of ripe starter to 120 g of water, combine, and then add the flour
cover the mixture and place in a warm area of the kitchen
Let sit for 4 to 12 hours, until it has risen and a small portions passes the float test (take a teaspoon of the mixture and drop it into a glass of water. If it floats, it's ready to use - save this, don't discard it.)
Depending on how vigorous your starter is, it should be ready within 4 to 8 hours.
If you'd like to prepare this the night before, add a shake or two of salt to slow down this process so it will be ready at about 12 hours or so
The levain begins to lose its power when it falls back from its peak rise

To make the dough

Add 200 to 250 g of the risen levain to a large bowl or deep container along with 750 grams of water. Mix and then add the flours.
Combine until you get a shaggy mass, cover, and let it sit in a warm place for about 30 min (autolyse)
after 30 minutes has passed, combine the salt with the remaining 50 grams of water and add it to the dough
Mix the dough well with your hands, cover, and let stand for 30 minutes
In the meantime, add the seeds to a separate bowl with 180 grams of water and let sit for 20 to 30 minutes. The seeds will absorb all of the water
about 30 minutes after you added the salt and extra water, stretch and fold the dough - you will do this every 30 minutes for the next 3 to 4 hours (ie, bulk rise)
Before doing the second set of stretch and folds, add the seeds.
The dough is ready to be divided when it has risen and appears to be bubbly; the dough will release nicely from the container

To shape the loaves

Pour the dough out onto a clean work surface, divide the dough into 2 equally sized pieces, and gently pre-form the pieces into desired shape (ie, round or oval, etc)
Let the dough rest for about 20 minutes.
if the edge of the dough has flattened after 20 minutes, the dough didn't proof enough - you may preshape again with the goal of strengthening the gluten.
Form the final loaves using your preferred shaping method
Place dough in lined or floured bannetons and allow to rise for 1 to 1.5 hours at room temperature or overnight in the refrigerator

To bake

Preheat oven to 500 degrees with baking steel or stone in center of oven
Gently remove dough from bannetons and place on parchment paper or in combo cooker and score top with lame
Load the loaves into the oven and cover if using combo cooker or steam if not
Reduce oven to 475 degrees and bake for 20 minutes
After 20 minutes, remove steam (or cover to pot) and bake for an additional 20 minutes or until the loaves are ready

Nutrition