Seeded Malthouse Loaf
A healthy, everyday bread with nutty flavour thanks to the inclusion of malted flour plus a generous amount of nutritious seeds. Great for sandwiches and toast or eaten with soups and salads.
Make as an easy no-knead, overnight bread baked in a lidded pot/Dutch oven or 900 ml/2 lb loaf tin. See Recipe Notes below for a same-day kneaded loaf.
For the best results use metric measurements and read the accompanying blog post before starting.
Ingredients
- 650 g malthouse bread flour (See Recipe Notes including variations for lighter and wholemeal versions)
- 100 g mixed seeds e.g. pumpkin, sunflower, flax, sesame, poppy
- 15 g (2½ tsp) salt
- 7 g (1½ tsp) instant dried yeast (i.e. the type that does not need activating before adding to the rest of the ingredients)
- 350 - 500 g/ml water (see instructions for guidance)
Instructions
The day before baking
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Put the flour, seeds, salt and instant yeast in a large bowl and stir.
Pour in approximately 250 ml of water and stir to start bringing the ingredients together.
Gradually add more water, stirring as you go, until a dough has formed: you may not need all the water or you may need a little more. There should be no dry flour visible, but the dough should be firm and not sloppy: see image in blog post for how the dough should look.
Cover the dough or place the bowl in a large reusable polythene bag and leave to ferment at room temperature overnight.
Tip: If the room is warm, or if you'd like a longer rise for convenience or to allow more flavour to develop, you can put the dough in the fridge for up to 24 hours. Bring the dough back up to room temperature before proceeding with the recipe.
On the day of baking
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The dough should have risen, spread out and be bubbly underneath. If not, leave a little longer. If it's been in the fridge, allow to come to room temperature before proceeding.
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Lightly flour a work surface, ideally covered with a silicone mat, and scrape the dough onto it.
Fold the dough over itself several times until smooth. Try not to add much more flour, only just enough to prevent sticking to the work surface.
If baking in a lidded pot/Dutch oven
- Fold and shape the dough to fit a lined and floured banneton or other proving vessel.
- Place the dough into the banneton with the rounded side facing DOWN.
If baking in a loaf tin
- Grease a 900ml / 2lb loaf tin with butter then sprinkle with flour.
- Fold and shape the dough to fit the tin and place it inside with the rounded side facing UP.
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Cover or place back in the polythene bag. Set aside somewhere warm until doubled in size (approx. 40 - 50 minutes). Complete the next step while this is happening.
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While the dough is proving
Preheat the oven with shelf in the middle.
- For pot/Dutch oven: 240°C / 220° Fan / Gas 9 / 475° F with the pot (lid on) on the middle shelf.
- For loaf tin: 220°C / 200°Fan /Gas 7 / 425°F. Optional: put a deep METAL roasting tin on the bottom shelf. This will later be filled with cold water to create steam and help the bread rise. DO NOT USE GLASS or it could shatter.
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Check that the dough is ready to bake
If, when a finger is gently poked into the dough, it slowly springs back but leaves a slight indentation then it is ready to bake.
If the dough springs back quickly then it's not yet fully proofed: leave another 5 -10 minutes and check again.
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Bake the bread
Pot/Dutch oven
- Remove the pot from the oven and take off the lid. Carefully flip the dough into the pot so the rounded side is now facing UP.
- Use a baker's blade or sharp knife to slash the dough, put the lid back on and place in the oven. Bake for 35 minutes.
- After 35 minutes, reduce the heat to 220° C / 200° Fan / Gas 7 / 425°F.
Remove the pot from the oven, tip the bread out of it, then return the loaf to sit directly on the oven shelf.
Bake for a further 10 - 12 minutes or until the bread sounds hollow when tapped underneath.
Loaf tin
- Place the loaf tin on the middle shelf and straight away pour cold water from a jug into the hot roasting tin on the bottom shelf. Immediately close the door. Bake for 30 minutes without opening the door.
- After 35 minutes carefully open the oven door (caution: lots of hot steam may billow out so keep your face, hands etc. out of the way) and remove the tin of water.
Take the loaf out of its tin and place back in the oven directly on the middle shelf. Cook for another 10 - 15 minutes or until the bread sounds hollow when tapped underneath.
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Place on a wire rack until completely cold before slicing.
Best eaten within 3 days or frozen.
Tip: slice before freezing so you can take out just as much as you need without waste.
Recipe Notes
Malthouse or malted flour. This is flour which has malt added to it and gives a lovely flavoured bread with a golden colour. Various malthouse bread flour blends are available to buy: read more in the blog post including ones I recommend.
- Seeded Malthouse Loaf is made with all malthouse bread flour.
- For a Light Malthouse Loaf, replace half the malthouse flour with white bread flour.
- For a Wholemeal Malthouse Loaf, replace half the malthouse flour with wholemeal bread flour.
Same-day kneaded loaf. The instructions and blog post give instructions for making the bread as an overnight, no-kneaded loaf. However, if you'd prefer a same-day kneaded loaf then follow steps 1 - 3 of the instructions for Simple Wholemeal Bread. Use the same ingredients as for Seeded Malthouse Loaf plus add 1 tsp sugar with the salt and yeast and use warm water. Note that you should add less water or the dough will be too wet to knead. This loaf can also be baked in either a lidded pot/Dutch oven or a tin.