Grandma's Bread (metric)

There's nothing like coming to your grandmother and the smell of freshly made bread. Here in Norway, we love to eat it just after it's made, preferable with sliced brown goat cheese.

My grandmother got this recipe from her friend and I found it in her cookbook after she passed. My daughter enjoys seeds in the bread, so I have made some adjustments. In addition, I have halved the measures, so it only makes one bread.

You might want to prepare the seeds eight hours before planning to bake, but it is not necessary.

Step 1: Ingredients

Tools:

Scale

Small bowl

Mixing bowl

Small pot

Electric mixer

Spatula

Bread pan

Plastic wrap

Foodstuffs:

50 g flax seeds

50 g sunflower seeds

1 dl water for the seeds

500 g white wheat flour

150 g coarse whole wheat flour

150 g coarse whole rye flour

4 dl milk at between 20°C and 30°C

25 g fresh yeast

1 tablespoon golden syrup

1 teaspoon salt

10 g sunflower seeds for decoration

Step 2: (Optional) Prepare the Seeds

This is an optional step, but it will help the seeds to bind better in the dough.

Soak the flax and sunflower seeds in 1 dl hot water and leave them under plastic wrap.

They should soak at least 30 minutes, or overnight.

Step 3: Liquid and Yeast

The key to making a delicious bread is to treat the yeast with care. Any temperature above 60°C will kill it completely, but even above 40°C will make it reproduce at lower rate. Having it in the electric mixer will rise the temperature, and unless you're in a hurry, it tastes better if it's not too hot and rather have longer time to rise.

Heat the milk in the pan for just a few minutes to between 20° and 30°C.

Pour about half of the milk into the mixing bowl.

Use your hands to crush and blend the yeast into the milk in the mixing bowl.

If you use dry yeast, you blend it into the four first and then add all the milk.

Step 4: Add Most of the Rest

Add all the flours together, then add all to the mixing bowl.

Add the rest of the milk.

Add the syrup.

Add the seeds.

Consult your mixer's manual to see which speeds are recommended for your machine.

Start the mixer at low speed for 1 minutes.

Mix at slightly higher speed for an other 4 minutes.

Add the salt.

Mix for an other 3 minutes.

If you do now have an electric mixer, it is possible to use your hands, though you need to double the amount of time.

Step 5: (Optional) First Rise

Leave your dough under plastic wrap or towel in room temperature for an hour.
If you're in a hurry, you can skip this step or shorten the amount of time down to 30 minutes.

Step 6: Second Rise

Oil the bread pan.

Take the dough out on the counter and shape it.

Stroke some water on it and spread sunflower seeds on top for decoration.

Slip the bread into the pan and leave to rise an other hour.

Step 7: Bake

Pre-heat the oven to 200°C.

Use either top/bottom heating or HydroHeat if available. Lower the heat to 200°C and bake for 30-40 minutes. You'll know the bread is finished by removing it from the pan and knocking at the underside. If it sounds hollow, it's done. If it isn't just bake for 5 more minutes without the pan.

Step 8: Enjoy!

Leave the bread to cool for about 30 minutes before cutting.

Spread plentiful with butter on the slice and add your favourite topping.

Enjoy the smell and taste of grandma's bread!