Easy Sunflower Seed Baguette Recipe that Rivals a Parisian Baguette
Table of contents
BAGUETTES IN FRANCE
THE BEST SUNFLOWER SEED BAGUETTE RECIPE
For these sunflower seed baguettes, we used our master recipe for Pain a l’ancienne French bread. It gets it’s name by referring to an ancient way of making bread by allowing it to raise for a long time in a cold place. Making up a batch of dough is quick and easy.
The dough is refrigerated overnight which allows the bread to rise slowly, improving the flavor, and creating a dough that doesn’t need much kneading. The bread has a nutty, buttery taste. This recipe makes two baguettes that can be baked on different days, anytime in the next four days. The bread is truley incredible, with a soft interior and a crusty exterior.
THE SECRET TO MAKING CRUSTY BAGUETTES
THE SCIENCE OF MAKING BREAD
It is important to understand a little of the science of making bread. There are very few ingredients, so each ingredient has a key roll. Brands will vary in quality and weight and consistency, so it is helpful to choose a quality brand for the main ingredients and stick with it as you change other ingredients in the bread.
Table of contents
INGREDIENTS
FLOUR – KING ARTHUR ORGANIC BREAD FLOUR – The flour must be unbleached bread flour. Bread flour has more protein than all purpose flour, allowing more gluten to form and the bread to rise. Bleaching makes the flour whiter, but it interferes with the activity of the yeast. As a basic bread flour, we use King Arthur because it is made from high quality wheat and they have a tight control over the amount of protein that is in the flour, so baking with it gives consistent results. Then we use other flours to change the taste of the bread.
WATER – Using more water allows the gluten to form naturally without kneading the dough.
YEAST – SAF-INSTANT – The yeast must be good quality. We use saf-instant. Instant yeast is easier to work with and is more reliable because of how it’s processed. It doesn’t need to be soaked in water before using it, it can just be added to the mix, but soaking it will give it a head start.
SALT – DIAMOND KOSHER – We like the quality of Diamond Kosher salt and don’t want the iodine taste. The weight and structure of salt varies between brands so it is important to chose a salt and stick with it to be consistent. Salt will interfere with the activity of the yeast. This might be a problem, or it might be something that is desired in order to slow down the yeast. Mixing the salt with the flour before adding the yeast will help limit the effect.
BARLEY MALT SYRUP – Many of the same flavors of baked bread are found in barley malt syrup, so we usually add some to the dough to increase the flavor.
TIME – Time can also be considered an ingredient, and it makes a huge impact on the finished product. Over time, the starch in the flour converts to sugars and other flavors are released. This process requires about twelve hours. At the same time, the yeast is increasing and causing the dough to rise. Most recipes allow the bread to raise for only a few hours at room temperature. Slowing this process down by using less yeast or by putting the dough in a cold place to raise will allow the flavors to develop before the yeast has caused the dough to rise. This is easy to do at home just by using less yeast or putting the dough in the refrigerator. It can be much harder for a bakery to do because of the limited space in the refrigerator, so bakery bread is often made with a portion of refrigerated dough (a poolish or a biga) and a portion of fresh flour and water making the recipes more complicated. This explanation is an over simplification of a much more complicated process, but it does give a clearer picture of why this works.
METHOD FOR MAKING DOUGH
WEIGH THE INGREDIENTS – It is very difficult to accurately measure dry ingredients, like flour, in a volume container, like a measuring cup. The ingredients for baking bread need to be measured by weight, using a scale. And it is easier and more accurate to use grams instead of having to do the math on ounces and pounds.
USING THE AUTOLYSE METHOD – Adding water to the flour and then letting it rest for 20 to 60 minutes before adding the other ingredients. This allows the protein to relax and extend, becoming stretchy before the other ingredients are added. It also creates sugars for the yeast to consume, giving the bread a better rise. The King Arthur baking site has a really good explanation of the science behind the autolyse method.
WETTER DOUGH -The method for making this bread is to use more water. Using more water allows the gluten to form naturally without kneading the dough.
LONGER FERMENTATION – Chilling the dough or using less yeast will slow down the fermentation and allow the dough to rise for twelve hours. The slow rise improves the taste and eliminates the step of kneading the dough, so it’s easier. The dough can be made in the evening and baked the following day at a convenient time. We make up a batch of dough in just a short time with very little work. The next morning it is ready to shape and bake.
FOLDING – Carefully folding the dough in order to avoid deflating it.
CHOOSING BRANDS:
For certain products, the choice of brand will make a big difference in the outcome of the recipe and in your carbon footprint. So, for those products, we have listed the brand. We are not paid to mention a brand and have no affiliates.
Ingredients
- 567 grams King Arthur organic bread flour
- 2 teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1 1/4 teaspoons Red SAF instant yeast
- 1/2 teaspoon barley malt syrup
- 444 grams cold filtered water
- 1 egg white
- 1/2 cup Terrasoul raw sunflower seeds
- 1/4 cup poppy seeds optional
- 1/4 cup Terrasoul sesame seeds optional
Instructions
DOUGH
- Using a scale, measure the flour and the salt into the mixing bowl for a stand mixer. Reset the scale and measure in the yeast, barley malt syrup and water, resetting the scale after each measurement.
- In the stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, mix on low speed for 1 minute.
- Stop the mixer and wait 5 minutes.
- Switch to the dough hook. and mix on low for 1 minute.
- Stop the mixer and wait 10 minutes.
- Mix on low for 1 minute.
- Stop the mixer and wait 10 minutes.
- Mix on low for 1 minute.
- Stop the mixer and wait 10 minutes.
- Using a spoon, lift a corner of the dough and fold it over the top. Turn the bowl a quarter turn and do this again. Fold it like this a total of eight times.
- Put the dough in a clean, lightly oiled bowl with enough room for it to double in size. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 to 4 days.
ON BAKING DAY
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Cut in two pieces. Roll each into a ball, rolling and tucking the edges under to make the surface smooth. Pull the dough into two long cylinder shapes. Tuck the edges under to form a shape that is about a foot long. Place them on parchment paper on a baking sheet with rolled up towels under the parchment paper to keep them from spreading sideways.
- Let the dough rise for about 2 hours or until it has doubled in size.
- Preheat the oven at the highest setting, usually 500 degrees F.
- Mix the egg white with an equal amount of water and paint the mixture over each loaf.
- Sprinkle the seeds over the loaves until they are well coated.
- Using a scissors or sharp knife, make a cut down the center of each loaf.
- Shape a sheet of tinfoil to cover the bread, but not touch it. A disposable tinfoil pan works well for this.
- Remove the rolled up towels, sprinkle about a Tablespoon of water over the top of the loaves. Quickly set the tinfoil over the top and place the sheet with the bread and tinfoil in the hot oven.
- After 15 minutes, remove the tin foil. Continue baking for about 15 to 20 minutes until the bread is golden brown.
- Remove the bread from the oven and cool on a rack. It's important to wait until the bread is cool before slicing.
Nutrition
WHY THIS RECIPE IS SUSTAINABLE:
Check out the chart on the blog post to see how food choices affect climate change. This recipe uses responsible brands and items that are lower on the chart and the production creates less greenhouse gas.
Photos by Tony Fitzgerald Photography