Butternut Squash Seeded Bread

This is now one of my favourite loaves.   The seeds are toasted for extra flavour alongside rosemary roasted butternut squash. The soy flour and seeds add extra protein too. This is a very satisfying bread and will stay together and cut for sandwiches or just on its own. Serve with protein and good fats to further minimise the impact of the sugars.

Testers and Tasters Feedback

"I made this the sourdough way which takes longer to rise. I tasted very yummy. I don't often eat bread but I will be making this again."

"Easy to prepare and usually have squash so good to use in something different. Scored 56 on Zoe which is good for bread."

"Good flavour and lovely as bread or toasted with cheese."

Photo: John Gladman, Tester and Taster, Made with Sourdough Starter

Makes: 1 large loaf

Plants: 6

Preparation: 20 minutes Prove 1 : 1 hour Prove 2: 4-8 hours

Cooking: 25-45 minutes

V NF DF

Swaps

Flour: use any blend of wholemeal flour, Einkorn is particularly good, Emmer might be a bit dense so mix with other flour. For a lighter loaf replace some of the flour with 100g of white french bread flour or tipo00

Soy Flour: Chickpea flour, gram or besan flour

Yeast: I use an emulsifier free dried yeast from Biolife but you do need a little more as it doesn't rise so well as the more readily available ones., but Doves Farm dried yeast as the least UPF ingredients. I will use this as well as there is so little emulsifier in 1-3 tsp of yeast and even less in a slice of bread that I feel for convenience this is ok. This is of course personal choice.

One Tester and Taster, who is an experience sour dough bread maker replaced 100 g of flour with 100g of sourdough starter. This will need a longer first and second prove.

Ingredients

400g Emmer Flour

100g Soy Flour or Einkorn or Tipo 00 for a lighter loaf.  Note the nutrient and calorie content will change.

100g Naked Barley Flakes or other barley flakes

200g of uncooked butternut squash or other firm squash

60ml  Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) or Cold Pressed Sunflower Oil

1 tbls vital wheat gluten

10g salt

1 tbls fresh rosemary

75g pumpkin seeds

30g each of sunflower, crushed linseed, sesame seeds and poppy seeds.  Or other mixture of your choice making a total of 120-150g in addition to the pumpkin seeds.  You could also increase the pumpkin seeds and reduce the other mixture.

270 ml warm water

12g dried yeast .  I don’t think this would work with sourdough starter but am happy to be proved wrong do let me know if you try.

An additional 2-3 tsp of EVOO for the squash

Method

Cook the Squash

 

1. Heat the oven to 180c

2. Cut the squash into large chunks, deseeded.  There is no need to peel the squash at this stage.

3. Put in a roasting pan and coat with EVOO and sprinkle the rosemary over the squash.

4. Roast for 30-40 minutes until the squash is very soft and beginning to caramalise but not burn.

1. Multi cooker version – steam roast for 10-15 minutes, check regularly to make sure it doesn’t burn.

Allow to cool.

Toast the Seeds

1. Heat a frying pan up to medium heat and add the pumpkin seeds and toast stirring regularly for about 3 minutes.

2. Add the rest of the seeds and continue to cook until the seeds start to pop.  Stir regularly as you don’t want the smaller seeds to burn.

3. Leave on one side to cool.

The Bread

1. If using a stand mixer insert the dough hook.

2. Mix together all the dry ingredients.  Stir in the salt before adding the yeast.

3. If using a food processor leave the skins on the butternut squash and blend with the EVOO until mixed well.  If mashing the squash by hand or with a stick blender you may need to remove the skins to get a smooth mixture.

4. Make a well in the middle and add the EVOO and the warm water leave 25-50ml of water and only add if your mixture needs it.  You want a pliable mixture easy to knead but it will be dryer than is usual for a bread dough.

5. Mix together and knead for at least 10 minutes.  If using a stand mixer then make sure you let it mix for 8-10 minutes.  This breaks down the gluten and helps blend the flavours and rise of the bread.

6. Leave the bread to prove at room temperature for an hour.

7. Turn the dough out and shape into a ball and leave to prove for 4-8 hours.  This helps the flavours to blend in the dough.  It should double in size. When you press a finger into the dough it won’t bounce back immediately.

Bake in Oven

1. Heat the oven to 220c fan oven

2. Bake for 15 minutes then turn the oven down to 180c fan oven

3. Bake for a further 30-40 minutes until it is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.

4. Add a bowl of water to the oven to get a more crusty outer unless you have a steam bake function on your oven then use this on medium to high steam.

Bake in Multi Cooker with Steam Bake Function

1. Place the loaf in the Cook and Crisp basket lined at the bottom with greaseproof paper.

2. Add 300 ml of water to the bottom.

3. Move slider to Combi Steam and set temperature to 160 and set timer to 40 minutes.

4. Half way through when timer has 10 minutes left check the bread to ensure it isn’t burning.  I sometimes turn it over to ensure it cooks well at the bottom. 

5. The bread should sound hollow when it comes out. 

Leave to cool for at least 30-40 before slicing. If bread is cut too soon it can go sticky in the middle due the remaining steam in the loaf as it cools.