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Learn how to make sunflower seed bread from scratch with this easy recipe. It’s perfect for breakfast, a mid-morning, or afternoon snack.
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If you love sunflower seeds, then this recipe is perfect for you. Sunflower seed bread is soft, aromatic, and healthy! It’s a simple recipe, similar to this pumpkin seed bread recipe, that is suitable for baking beginners.
The moist spelt dough is enriched with raw sunflower seeds and baked in a loaf pan. This makes the bread very aromatic, moist, airy, flavorful, and slightly moist inside, with a crispy crust!
It is perfect for breakfast, snacks, sandwiches, salads, and soups. Also, you can conveniently freeze it in slices and defrost them individually in a toaster to always have fresh, homemade bread on hand.
The main ingredients are spelt flour and sunflower seeds. Thus, this bread is a bit more nutritious than ordinary white bread. Sunflower seeds are very healthy and provide a good portion of proteins, fiber, minerals, healthy fats (omega-6 and omega-3), vitamins B and E.
In addition, sunflower seeds give this bread a nutty flavor and crunchy bite.
Baking this sunflower seed bread recipe is easy, yet it takes some time. Good news: Most of the time is taken by the dough rising, the active time in the kitchen is manageable. So, let’s get started and bake this delicious bread together! 😉
🛒 Ingredients
See recipe card for quantities.
- Spelt Flour → Works too with all-purpose flour or whole grain flour.
- Sunflower Seeds → Give the bread valuable nutrients and a nutty flavor.
- Instant Yeast → To make the dough rise nicely! Also works with active dry yeast if you activate it: Mix lukewarm water, sugar, and active dry yeast in a bowl and let it sit for 5 minutes until foaming.
- Water → For best results, use slightly warm but not hot water.
- Salt → An aromatic bread needs a good pinch of salt.
- Sugar → Helps the dough to rise. You can also use maple syrup, honey, or it can be omitted if you are on a sugar-free diet.
Fresh Yeast: If you prefer to bake the bread with fresh yeast, use half a cube (21g fresh yeast). Activate it briefly with the sugar in lukewarm water before mixing it with the flour.
👩🍳 Visual Step-by-Step Instructions
This visual step-by-step instruction will help you along the way – definitely recommended if you’re a baking beginner! 😉
- Mix the flour, instant yeast, salt and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Pour in the warm water and knead for 5-10 minutes on medium speed until you have a smooth yet wet dough. Set aside a handful of sunflower seeds for later, and fold the remaining sunflower seeds into the dough.
- Cover with a damp tea towel (or plastic wrap), and let it rise at room temperature for one hour.
- Grease a 12 inch loaf pan with a little olive oil or butter.
- Knead the soft dough again briefly, and transfer into the prepared loaf pan.
- Sprinkle with the remaining sunflower seeds.
- Cover with a damp tea towel, and let it rise for another 30-60 minutes at room temperature, until the dough has gained plenty of volume.
- Preheat the oven to 430°F (220°C).
- Bake the bread for 45 minutes and reduce oven temperature to 390°F (200°C) after 15 minutes.
- Remove the bread from the oven, let it cool for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan, and let it cool completely on a rack before slicing
🫙 Storage & Freezing Instructions
Wrap the bread in a clean tea towel and store it at room temperature for 2-3 days. If the bread starts to turn hard, toast single slices before serving.
You can easily freeze this bread. The best way is to freeze it in slices in a freezer bag for up to 3 months. Individual slices can be defrosted briefly in the toaster or at room temperature and makes for fresh homemade bread whenever you are longing for it.
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📖 Recipe
Sunflower Seed Bread
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Ingredients
- 4 ¼ cup (500 g) spelt flour or 4 ½ cups whole wheat flour, or 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp instant yeast
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 ⅔ cup (400 g) water
- 1 cup (125 g) sunflower seeds
Instructions
- Mix the flour, instant yeast, salt and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Pour in the lukewarm water and knead for 5-10 minutes on medium speed until you have a smooth yet wet dough. Set aside a handful of sunflower seeds for later, and fold the remaining sunflower seeds into the dough.
- Cover with a damp tea towel (or plastic wrap), and let it rise at room temperature for one hour.
- Grease a 12 inch loaf pan with a little oil or butter.
- Knead the dough again briefly, and transfer into the prepared loaf pan.
- Sprinkle with the remaining sunflower seeds.
- Cover with a damp tea towel, and let it rise for another 30-60 minutes at room temperature, until the dough has gained plenty of volume.
- Preheat the oven to 430°F (220°C).
- Bake the bread for 45 minutes and reduce oven temperature to 390°F (200°C) after 15 minutes.
- Remove the bread from the oven, let it cool for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan, and let it cool completely on a rack before slicing
