A hearty, moist bread packed with sunflower seeds. There’s no need to give up your bread tradition in exchange for less carbohydrates. This delicious recipe is loaded with healthy fats, protein, and fibre.

Before adopting a low-carb diet, I honed my bread making skills. They’ve been left to the wayside lately, as my diet change drove bread away. I’m still on a quest to find suitable low-carb breads, mainly for the challenge. Though I admit it’s sometimes nice to have a slice of bread with a meal.

I chose spelt flour because it was closest to me on the shelf. Normal whole wheat or rye flour should work. Given the low amounts, it’ll only subtly alter the flavour. This flour adds carbs to the bread, which is fine. My goal is not zero carbs, but low, or significantly reduced. No sensible person will scoff at the amount of carbs in this bread.

The gluten is primarily as a binding agent. All those seeds fall apart otherwise. If you like a stiffer bread you can increase the amount of gluten — this makes it rise even less. If you don’t mind crumbly bread, you can lower the amount or even remove it. If you do, lower the water content, and leave it in the oven longer to dry more. If you’re successful, let me know.

Now, go bake yourself breakfast.

Sunflower Flax Bread

Ingredients

Yeast

1. 7 g
   Dry Yeast
2. ¹⁄₄ teaspoon
   White GranulatedSugar
3. 400 g 400 mL
   Water
4. 30 g ¹⁄₈ cup
   extra virginOlive Oil

Dry

1. 120 g ³⁄₄ cup
   Sunflower Seeds
2. 80 g ³⁄₄ cup
   partially groundFlax Seeds
3. 100 g ³⁄₄ cup
   Flax Flour
4. 40 g 14 teaspoon
   Whole Grain Spelt Flour
5. 30 g 10 teaspoon
   Wheat Gluten
6. ¹⁄₂ teaspoon
   Salt

Equipment

• measuring cup
• mixing bowl
• oven
• bread pan ~22cm x 8cm
• backing rack

Directions

Yeast

1. Mix the yeast, sugar, and warm water together in a measuring cup.
2. Let the mixture sit for 3-5 minutes.
3. Mix in the olive oil.

Dough

1. Mix all dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Be sure to mix thoroughly to get a good distribution of ingredients.
2. Mix the yeast and oil mixture once more then pour into the mixing bowl.
3. Mix the dough thoroughly and lightly need it with your hands. Ensure everything is wet and you’ve collected it into a ball.
4. Cover the dough and let it sit in a warm are for 1-2 hours. The dough will grow only a little bit.
5. Oil the cake pan to prevent the dough from sticking.
6. Dump the dough into the oiled cake pan. Spread it out lightly and avoid pressing it down.

Baking

1. Place the pan in the oven and bake at 150°C for 30 minutes.
2. Remove the pan from the oven and tip out the bread.
3. Put the bread on a baking rack and place it back in the oven.
4. Turn the heat up to 180°C and bake for another 30 minutes.
5. Remove the bread and let it cool.