Wholegrain Chia Seed Sourdough

Wholegrain Chia Seed Sourdough.

The bread of my childhood still remains my favourite.  Wholegrain sourdough is not only incredibly healthy, it’s good for your gut and sustaining.

Robust, earthy grains such as rye work incredibly well with classic Scandinavian food, for example smoked meat, cured or pickled fish and vegetables.  Although white bread has become more popular in Scandinavia in recent years, smørbrød or open sandwiches require a sturdy, wholesome bread base for generous toppings such as gravadlax, prawns with sliced egg or beetroot salad with meatballs.  This is why it remains the most favoured loaf.

This bread keeps incredibly well. Wrap it in a cotton tea-towel and then a wax wrap, it’ll stay fresh for 3-4 days, if it lasts that long. I should mention that it’s well worth taking your time to coat the tin with the chia seeds, this will provide a delicious crunchy crust.

Haven’t got a sourdough starter, you can find a recipe here

I use a dark rye starter in this loaf that’s 100% hydrated , meaning it has equal quantities of flour to water. 

Print Recipe

Wholegrain Chia Seed Sourdough

Cuisine: Scandinavian

Servings: 1 loaf

Equipment

• 450g Loaf tin

Ingredients

DAY 1 – PRE-FERMENT

• 75 g active dark rye starter (fed 4-6 hours before making the pre-ferment)
• 100 g organic dark rye flour Wholegrain
• 130 g water

Day 2

• pre-ferment as above
• 100 g organic strong wholemeal flour
• 80 g organic dark Rye flour, wholegrain
• 130 g water
• 6 g fine sea salt
• 20 g black treacle

Soaking the seeds

• 35 g chia seeds
• 60 g water
• Extra chia seeds for lining the tin and sprinkling on top of the bread

Instructions

DAY 1 - For the pre-ferment

• Mix the starter and water together in a bowl. Add the flour and bring together to form a nice loose mixture.
• Cover and leave at room temperature for 8-12hours.

DAY 2

• Lightly oil the loaf tin and line the base with baking paper. Sprinkle chia seeds on the base and sides of the tin.
• Add the water to the chia seeds and soak for 10-15 minutes, the seeds will absorb the water quickly and have a gel like consistency.
• Uncover the pre-ferment. It should have lots of air bubbles and have a pleasant, slightly alcoholic aroma.
• Add all of the ingredients to the bowl with the pre-ferment. With a rubber spoon, bring the mixture together and continue mixing for a couple of minutes or until fully combined.
• Pour the wet dough in the tin and sprinkle the surface of the loaf with more chia seeds.
• Leave to rise for 2-3 hours, the proving time depends on the temperature in your kitchen. It should rise to just above the line of the tin.
• Pre-heat the oven to 230°C/°fan *See notes. Place the loaf in the oven and spritz all around the oven chamber with a water spray if you have one. Alternatively place a shallow tin of water at the bottom of the oven 10 minutes before you put the bread in to bake.
• Bake for 45 minutes turning once.
• Take the bread out of the oven and remove it from the tin immediately. Allow to cool for a least 3 hours before you slice and eat.

Notes

*The ideal temperature for this bread to be baked at is 230°C/fan, if you're oven only goes up to 220°C/fan I suggest adding 5 minutes to the baking time.

Tips:

• This recipe works very well if you double it, use a 900g tin.
• Add caraway or fennel seeds for extra Nordic flavour.
• You can convert a white starter to rye. Just take a tablespoon of your white starter and feed with 100g each of rye flour and water. Discard half at the next feed and add 100g each of rye flour and water.  You now have a rye starter.