Whole Wheat Flax Seed Bread

I think I just found my favorite whole wheat flax seed bread recipe. And I came up with it almost all on my own. "Almost" because I started off with Honey Oatmeal Bread from KingArthurFlour.com which I baked into Oatmeal Flax Seed Bread using half whole wheat flour and half bread flour. From that, I left out oatmeal all together, upped flax seeds and the whole wheat flour portion and made Flax Seed Bread Made With Whipping Cream. This time, I made the bread even healthier by substituting olive oil for whipping cream, reducing the sweetener and using all whole wheat flour.



The bread came out perfectly domed, crunchy and at the same time soft. It's not as sweet as the past loaves which is perfect toasted for breakfast.



Ingredients

• 2 oz. flax seeds


• 8 oz. hot water


• 12 oz. whole wheat flour


• 1/4 oz. vital wheat gluten


• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 2 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast


• 1 oz. light tasting olive oil


• 1 oz. agave nectar

Directions

1. Soak flax seeds in hot water for about 10 minutes while letting the water cool down.


2. Mix flour, wheat gluten, salt and yeast together in a large bowl. Add flax seeds and water, olive oil and agave nectar. Stir with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together.


3. Knead by hand on a lightly flour surface or right in the bowl for 8 minutes with 5 to 10 minutes pause in the middle. After the pause the dough will become more manageable.


4. When the dough is smooth, ball it up and let rise in the same bowl covered with plastic wrap for about an hour.


5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly oiled surface (I used a silicone mat), flatten and roll up into a log shape. Crimp the seams including both ends. Drop into a greased loaf pan and cover loosely with a plastic wrap. Let rise until the dough dome about an inch over the pan - about an hour.


6. About 15 minutes before the dough is ready, heat the oven to 400 degrees.


7. Put the bread into the oven. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees. Bake for 35 minutes. Turn the bread out of the pan and let cool for at least an hour on a cooling rack before slicing.