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Chia Seed Loaf

Ingredients

  • 400g strong white organic flour
  • 200g stoneground wholemeal flour
  • 100g chia seeds
  • 8g dried yeast
  • 12g salt
  • 360ml cold water
  • Olive oil

Method

  1. Put all of the dry ingredents in a large bowl, careful to keep the yeast and salt apart.
  2. Add the water, you may need more or less than the quantity specified. You are aiming for a workable dough that is slightly wetter (the chia seeds can suck up a lot of water).
  3. After working together the ingredients in the bowl, turn it out a kneed until smooth and silk-like (should take about 10 minutes).
  4. Rub some olive oil around the bowl and place the dough back in it, cover with cling film or a show cap and leave somewhere warm (normal kitchen temp of 18-21C is fine).
  5. After an hour, turn the dough out, deflate it and shape it in to a nice tight round
  6. Rub some flour (rye is good) around the dough and place in a proving basket (or a floured wooden board) for another hour.
  7. Place a tray of water in your oven (220C) and give it a few minutes to build up some steam
  8. Put the dough in the over on a baking stone or lined baking tray, set a timer for 10 minutes.
  9. After 10 minutes, check the loaf and turn the oven down to 170-180C for an additional 25-30 minutes.
  10. Remove from the oven, cool and then enjoy with some butter

Chia Seeds

Chia seeds are packed with health benefits, containing lots of Omega 3 & 6 oils, fibre and protein and have been more commonly available since books such as "Born to Run" were published.

There are a number of online retailers that stock Chia Seeds, I buy 1kg packs from Amazon.co.uk.