Poppy Seed Soft Wholemeal Bread

Here is my recipe for five-petalled, crunchy and irresistibly tasty wholemeal flour sandwiches in the shape of a flower.

Ingredients:

• Wholemeal flour 400g
•  Regrinded flour 100g
• Warm water 250-270g
• Oil evo 30g
• Mother yeast 30g (or brewer's yeast 7g) 
• Salt 6-8g
• Honey (or sugar) 1 teaspoon
• Poppy seeds at will

Then come on!

Procedure:

We start by pouring lukewarm water into a bowl and dissolving 30g of sourdough. Add a teaspoon of honey and the evo oil and incorporate the sifted flour and salt. We knead the dough with our hands for about 10 minutes, then we move to a clean and floured pastry board or a pastry board to work the dough with strength.

We knead for at least 15 minutes, stretching and then folding the mixture on itself and let the dough rest, covered with a damp cloth, for at least 3 hours at room temperature.

After the resting time we resume and knead the dough again, stretching it and then folding it back on itself several times, until it is homogeneous and smooth.

At this point we can form the flowers, dividing the dough into balls of about 150g and make some incisions with a sharp knife. With wet fingers, we join two edges together and round them to form the petal. Finally, press the bread flowers on the poppy seeds and place them on a baking plate and let them rise for at least 1 hour covered with a cloth. Bake at 220°C for about 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 180°C and bake for 30-40 minutes in a static oven.

Let it cool and enjoy!

Tips:

• In the baking mixes we use lukewarm water which must never exceed 30°C to keep the yeasts at an optimal growth temperature. 

• If the dough is too dry we can use water, milk or a yolk to soften it.

• A variant of the flower shape could be a bread braid.  To make it, all we need to do is divide the dough into three and form elongated and rolled up dough that we can then weave together. 

• To make the sandwiches tastier, we can also add seeds to the dough.