100% Whole Wheat Nut & Seed Bread

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100% Whole Wheat Nut & Seed Bread

star rating (34) rate this recipe »
Published prior to 2008

Your search for the perfect loaf of 100% whole wheat sandwich bread is over. Here's our favorite.

1 1/3 cups (10 5/8 ounces) lukewarm water
3 tablespoons (1 1/4 ounces) olive oil
5 tablespoons (3 3/4 ounces) honey, molasses or maple syrup
4 cups (16 ounces) King Arthur Premium Whole Wheat Flour or 100% White Whole Wheat flour
1 tablespoon King Arthur Whole-Grain Bread Improver, optional
1/4 cup (1 1/4 ounces) sunflower seeds, chopped*
1/4 cup (1 ounce) walnuts, chopped*
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast

*A quick whirl in the food processor does the job nicely.

To prepare the dough: Combine all of the ingredients, and mix them till you have a shaggy dough. Let the dough rest, covered, for 20 minutes, then knead till fairly smooth. Allow the dough to rise, covered, for about 2 hours, or until it's puffy and nearly doubled in bulk.

Gently deflate the dough, shape it into a log, and place it in a lightly greased 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" bread pan. Cover the pan with lightly greased plastic wrap (or a clear shower cap), and allow it to rise for about 2 hours, till it's crowned about 1" to 2" over the rim of the pan.

Bake the bread in a preheated 350°F oven for 40 to 45 minutes, tenting it lightly with aluminum foil for the final 20 minutes of baking. Yield: 1 loaf.

Reviews

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  • star rating 04/08/2012
  • greenmountain from KAF Community
  • We love this ww bread. It's become our daily bread. After a visit to the dentist restricted nuts for a while, I made the loaves without the nuts and it was still delicious. Thank you K.A.F.
  • star rating 04/02/2012
  • ny lady from KAF Community
  • I didn't have sunflower seeds. so I toasted and grounded black sesame seeds instead. somehow, my dough raised significantly after resting for 20 minutes. after the first proofing, my dough was very wet. I continuted to follow the recipe and shaped the dough in the pan. after the 2nd proofing, there's a big crack on the top. why? and how to fix it? otherwise, the crust is crispy and the bread inside is very moist (unlike the no knead bread that I tried). it's perfect with butter and/or jam. my kids love them. I will continue baking this but maybe use some different ingredents.
    Your bread may have rose too fast. You may want to cut back on the yeast by just a tad.
  • star rating 03/23/2012
  • garyzee from KAF Community
  • I followed this recipe 98%, but added flaxseeds and sesame seeds, also. The bread was bland. I thought with the 5 Tbls. of sweetner, that it would be sweeter-I used 3 T Brown Sugar, 1 T Maple Syrup, and 1 T Honey. I think it needs at least 2-3 t of salt.
  • star rating 01/31/2012
  • Janwein11@aol.com from KAF Community
  • This is delicious. It is my very first loaf of bread I ever made. I did have to call the 1-800 number twice. They were extremely helpful. Thank You. I did use a 10 x 5 pan based on prior review. But the smaller pan in recipe would give a larger slice I think. I think it is on the dry side too. I guess a smaller pan would fix that too. I used agave nectar so not it wasn't too sweet. I mixed and kneaded in my Kitchen Aid which made it very easy. I can't wait to try another recipe.
  • star rating 10/06/2011
  • sbdombro from KAF Community
  • This bread is terrific - and it looks like it will be our daily bread from now on. While the nuts and seeds added a nice background flavor and texture, it was subtle. I did put the dough in the frig for the first rise, and reduced the sweetener (I used about 3 Tbl maple syrup). My one mistake was using my long covered baker. The loaf itself is very nice, but the size of the slices too small. Next time I'll either use a 9" bread pan or mix up 1.5 volume of dough for the lidded baker.
  • star rating 10/04/2011
  • bilejones from KAF Community
  • I've been playing around with this recipe for months, all sorts of alternative grain mixes etc. It's now the house bread- "Bird seed bread" and once in a while I get to take my sour-dough starter out for a walk, that used to be the default.
  • star rating 08/09/2011
  • Suner377 from KAF Community
  • This bread is fantastic and my bread machine had no problems with the volume. I followed the recipe but added about 2 T of Milled Flax Seed with the nuts and seeds. I would love to add more or maybe different grains? Oats maybe? Would love more fiber without adding fat. I would give this 6 stars if I could! Thanks Diann
    Sure, oats would be a great addition. How about wheat germ, oat bran or hi maize fiber, item 4765? Glad you enjoy this recipe! Elisabeth Elisabeth
  • star rating 07/06/2011
  • cherokee5623 from KAF Community
  • I make this recipe with and without the nuts, varying them for variety. My entire extended family raves about it. It slices beautifully, and the texture and taste are the best I have found. Publix artisan bread eat your lil heart out! I use an 8 qt earthenware bowl for the risings; I steam up the microwave, then place the bowl inside. This recipe seems to be failproof!
  • star rating 06/10/2011
  • pammyowl from KAF Community
  • I need to make this again to see what all the fuss is about! My loaf looked great, but was tasteless. Well, I shouldn't say tasteless, it tasted of WW flour, and that's about it!
    I am sorry you were disappointed in your results. Bread develops the most flavor from a long proofing time. Perhaps a longer, slower proof overnight in the refrigerator would enhance the flavors for you. With all of the nuts and seeds, this should be quite flavorful. I hope this helps. Please feel free to call us on the baker's hotline if you have any questions. ~Amy
  • star rating 01/20/2011
  • tishlmc from KAF Community
  • This recipe was phenomenal! I actually used a bread maker for the whole process, though I only did 3/4 of the recipe because I read that it really rises, and I used vital gluten instead of Bread Improver, nixed the walnuts, added 2 heaping tsp of ground flaxseed, and added whole sunflower seeds. It wasn't quite as sweet as I was expecting, but the measurements weren't exact. Otherwise, it was soft, moist, and nutty, and a hit with the in-laws. I think I have room in my breadmaker for a full loaf, which I'll be testing soon.
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