Humpastry Day!

Sunflower Bread

I thought this bread turned out great!  It had a nice crunchy crust that wasn't too hard, and the inside was nice and soft.  I originally made this bread to go with some soup, but it was so yummy that we decided to eat the rest for breakfast this morning alongside a fruit salad.  We popped it in the toaster and topped it with some yummy stuff.  I thought it was really good with peanut butter and honey, but my two boys and husband loved it with Nutella!  Yum, yum, yum!  :)

Ingredients:
Makes 1 large loaf

*  1 1/4C plain soy milk
*  3Tbl. maple syrup
*  2Tbl. olive oil
*  1tsp. salt
*  3C whole wheat pastry flour
*  2Tbl. gluten
*  1/2C sunflower seeds
*  1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4tsp.)


Directions:
Note:  I used the dough cycle on my bread maker to make the dough before baking it in the oven, but if you don't have a bread maker it's still super easy to do.  I'm going to post the directions for making it with and without a bread maker.

*Without a bread maker:
1.  In a medium saucepan combine soy milk, maple syrup, oil, and salt.  Heat over low heat until lukewarm.  Remove from heat, stir in yeast, and set aside.
2.  In a large bowl combine flour and sunflower seeds.  Add the yeast mixture and mix well to combine.  Put the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes.
3.  Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, turning dough to coat with oil.  Cover with plastic wrap/clean dish towel/cheese cloth and let rise for 1 hour.  Test dough by poking it with your finger.  If the indentation from your finger remains, you're good to go!

*With a bread maker:
(I absolutely love my bread maker!)
1.  Place the ingredients into your bread maker according to its directions.  Usually, you put the wet ingredients in first, followed by the salt, then the flour/sunflower seed mixture.  Make a small well in the flour and pour in the yeast.
2.  Set your bread maker to the dough cycle, press start, and let it do the work for you!

*At this point, the directions are the same for with/without a bread maker.
1.  Spread some cornmeal onto a baking sheet (I used my baking stone).  Take the dough, punch it down, and form it into a loaf.  Put the loaf onto the baking stone.
2.  Cover with plastic wrap/towel/cheese cloth and let rise again for 1 hour.  Note:  I ran out of time and only let it rise for about 40min.  It turned out great, but I think it really needs to rise the full hour!

3.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
4.  Uncover the loaf and bake until golden brown, about 40minutes.  During the last 20 minutes of baking, cover the bread loosely with foil.
5.  When it's done baking, move the loaf onto a wire rack to cool before slicing.
Enjoy! :)