Pumpkin Seed Rye Bread

Another wheat free bread, not only for people allergic to wheat. I just prefer rye breads, I find them a lot tastier. Also contains a good amount of spelt flour and of course - given the name - pumpkin seeds.

Sourdough 

• 150g whole grain rye flour
• 150ml water
• 15g rye sourdough starter

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir until smooth. Cover and let rest at room temperature for 16-18 hours.

Soaker 

• 130g pumpkin seeds
• 130ml boiling water
• 2 tsp salt

I had raw seeds left over from a previous bread I just used those; you can probably buy unsalted roasted pumpkin seeds, if you are using those, just skip the roasting part. Roast seeds in pan without oil over medium heat. Transfer to a bowl, add salt and pour over the boiling water. Cover and let sit for 15 to 18 hours.

Main Dough

• Sourdough
• Soaker
• 190g light rye flour (I use whole grain in my sourdough, if you use light rye there I would go for whole grain flour here)
• 190g light spelt flour
• 100ml water
• 2 tsp Active Dry Yeast, 1 tsp of sugar and 50ml of water, mixed and let stand for about 10 minutes (or 13g fresh yeast)
• 1 tsp barley malt powder

Combine all ingredients except for the soaker in mixing bowl and mix for 5 minutes. Add the soaker and mix for another 2-3 minutes. I actually had a little bit of water left in the bowl where I made the soaker. That made mixing a little challenging, you have to make sure the water gets mixed in with the dough. Might be a good idea to leave that water out. Cover with lid or plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes.

Grease a 9" rectangular baking pan with butter.

On a well floured surface, form the dough first into a ball and then into an oval shape. Roll it in pumpkin seeds and place into the baking pan. Make sure to use a lot of flour on your hands and surface, the dough is very sticky. Cover pan with plastic food wrap. The dough pushes up a lot so I usually cover the pan tightly with 2 layers of plastic wrap, once in each direction of the pan. Let the dough rise for 60 to 70 minutes (or until it reaches the top of the pan) at 86-90°F (30-32°C). You can get to that temperature using your oven by just turning on the oven light.

Preheat oven to 465°F (240°C).

Place baking pan on the 2nd level from the bottom and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 360°F (180°C) and bake for another 45 minutes. Take bread out of the pan. For a nice crust, place in oven again for 10 to 15 minutes. Switch to convection if you can or leave oven door open a little bit.

Original recipe on ketex.de.