A delicious loaf of homemade bread made with whole wheat flour and pumpkin and sunflower seeds.
This tasty bread is perfect for using in sandwiches for lunch or toasted with butter and honey for breakfast.
Why make this bread
Making homemade bread is so rewarding. I love the process of making bread, the smell of making bread and eating homemade bread.
Pumpkin and Sunflower Seed Bread is a whole wheat yeast bread filled with raw pumpkin seeds and raw sunflower seeds.
The seeds are added to the dough and sprinkled on top of each loaf.
White wheat flour
White whole wheat flour is a whole wheat flour made with white spring wheat. Most people are familiar with red spring wheat flour which is also a whole wheat flour.
White whole wheat flour is as nutritionally equivalent as red spring wheat flour. White whole wheat is lighter in color and in flavor and is delicious added to homemade breads.
I also use white whole wheat flour in my honey oat bread and in my whole wheat bread.
Step by step directions
- Combine water, yeast and ¼ cup of flour together
- Let mixture set for 5- 10 minutes until bubbly
- Add oil, honey, salt and 2 cups of all purpose flour. Combine
- Add seeds and combine
- Continue adding flour until dough forms a ball and isn't too sticky
- Knead dough in mixer for 5-8 minutes
- Place dough in a greased bowl. Cover with a piece of plastic wrap and let dough sit until double in size.
- Remove wrap and gently punch dough down so it is deflated.
- Divide dough into two equal pieces. Form each piece into a ball
To shape loaves, flatten round into a rectangle. Roll up jelly roll style and pinch seam.
- Tuck in ends and pinch ends together.
- Cover loaves and let rise for about 30 minutes
- Brush with an egg wash and sprinkle with seeds
- Bake for 45 minutes in a 350 degree oven
Bread making tips
- Be sure to use raw, unsalted seeds in the recipe
- Always proof your yeast to make certain it's still active (step 2 in recipe)
- Rise time may vary depending on your yeast and temperature of your kitchen
- Be certain oven is fully preheated before baking bread
- Allow bread to fully cool before slicing
Recipe FAQs
The water should be between 105 and 110 degrees. Any warmer and you can kill the yeast.
Any cooler and the yeast might not become active. The best way to determine the temperature of the water is to measure it with a thermometer.
Warm tap water usually falls between this range. Practice testing the temperature with a thermometer until you are used to what it feels like.
Yeast bread recipes rarely list an exact amount of flour needed in the ingredients. Instead, a range is listed - (2 ½ - 3 cups of flour.)
When making bread, the amount of flour varies each time you make a batch of bread. This depends on many factors - humidity in the air, exact measurements of liquids and flour, how compacted the flour is and more.
Always start with the smaller amount called for and add more as needed.
I love to eat this bread toasted with butter and honey or even a batch of my honey butter, which is honey and butter combined together in a delicious spread.
It's also perfect served alongside a bowl of clam chowder or potato soup or a delicious plate of chicken pasta.
More bread recipes
If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear about it! Leave a comment below and snap a picture and tag me on Instagram @beyondthechickencoop
If you loved this recipe you'll LOVE all the others in this category. Check out all my bread recipes here!
Pumpkin and Sunflower Seed Bread
Equipment
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
- Bread Pan
Ingredients
Dough
- 2 cups water
- 4 ½ teaspoons yeast (active dry yeast, 2 packages of yeast)
- ¼ cup oil
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 ½ - 3 cups white whole wheat flour
- ½ cup pumpkin seeds (raw)
- ¼ cup sunflower seeds (raw)
Topping
- 1 egg white
- 1 Tablespoon water
- 2 Tablespoons pumpkin seeds
- 2 Tablespoons sunflower seeds
Instructions
Dough
- Combine water, yeast and ¼ cup of flour together2 cups water, 4 ½ teaspoons yeast
- Let mixture set for 5-10 minutes until bubbly
- Add oil, honey, salt and the remaining all purpose flour. Combine¼ cup oil, ¼ cup honey, 1 teaspoon salt
- Add seeds and combine½ cup pumpkin seeds, ¼ cup sunflower seeds
- Add 2 cups of white wheat flour until dough and combine. Continue adding white wheat flour ¼ cup at a time until dough forms a ball and isn’t too sticky2 ½ - 3 cups white whole wheat flour, 2 cups all purpose flour
- Knead dough in mixer for 5-8 minutes
- Place dough in a greased bowl. Cover with a piece of plastic wrap and let dough sit until double in size.
- Remove wrap and gently punch dough down so it is deflated.
- Divide dough into two equal pieces. Form each piece into a ball
- Form each ball into loaves and place in greased loaf pans
- Cover loaves and let rise for about 30 minutes
Topping
- Make an egg wash by combining egg white and water1 egg white, 1 Tablespoon water
- Brush with an egg wash and sprinkle with seeds2 Tablespoons pumpkin seeds, 2 Tablespoons sunflower seeds
- Bake for 45 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven
- Allow bread to cool for 10 minutes and then remove from pans. Continue cooling on a baking rack until fully cooled.
Notes
- Be sure to use raw, unsalted seeds in the recipe
- Always proof your yeast to make certain it's still active (step 2 in recipe)
- Rise time may vary depending on your yeast and temperature of your kitchen
- Be certain oven is fully preheated before baking bread
- Allow bread to fully cool before slicing
Nutritional Disclaimer:
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and should only be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. To obtain the most precise nutritional information in a provided recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the exact ingredients you are using when preparing the recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Irene Guidry says
This is one of the best bread recipes I've found! We haven't purchased bread since finding it. I freeze one loaf and it thaws perfectly just as if it's fresh.
Wonderful
Kathy says
Wow!!! Thank you so much! I'm so glad you enjoy it.
Kathy 🙂
Pauline Wan says
Baked this over the weekend. Ran out of olive oil and used pumpkin seed oil instead. I didn’t add honey and bread still taste good. The texture is good and the next time I bake this, I would cut down the oil to lower the fat content. Thanks for the recipe.
Kathy says
Thank you
Bakerlife says
I'm just a bit confused - in the ingredients it says 2 cups of all purpose flour. Then it says to add 2 cups of all purpose flour in step 3 and then again in step 5. is this just an error? Or is there 4 cups of all purpose flour?
Kathy says
Goodness! You're correct! You'll need a total of 2 cups of all purpose flour. And then you'll need white wheat flour. Thanks for pointing out the error. I've made the adjustments in the recipe. 🙂
Barb says
I've been making this bread for about 2 years now, and it is my absolute favorite bread of all time. It doesn't taste sweet (even though there is honey in it), and the white whole wheat is delicious and gives you all the nutrition of regular whole wheat but doesn't have the heavy whole wheat taste. And I love the seeds in it. I toast it for breakfast every morning and spread it with tahini. The bread is also great to munch on for a snack.
Kathy says
Oh wow!!! Thanks so much! 🙂
Rick Marinelli says
I generally don't care for the sweetness of typical whole wheat breads, as they all seem to call for some kind of sweetener. I'm wondering if the honey can be omitted.
Kathy says
Yes, you can leave out the honey. It is used just to add flavor, but the structure of the bread will be fine without it.
Enjoy! 🙂
JANE says
Can I use roasted seeds in this recipe?
Kathy says
Yes! Roasted seeds will work fine.
Enjoy 🙂
Ila says
I am so anxious to try this bread! It looks so delicious- could you please tell me what size pans you recommend? Thank you.
Kathy says
Any 9x5 sized loaf pan will work.
Sherri says
Can you make these dinner rolls instead of loaves? If so, would any of the process change? Also, can you use bread flour in place of the all purpose flour?
Kathy says
Yes, these can be made into dinner rolls. The only difference will be the amount of time the rolls are baked. Bake at 350°F for 20-25 minutes, depending on the size of your rolls. And yes, bread flour can be used.
Enjoy,
Kathy 🙂