One snack Master Ollie loves is toast. Mum says that he must surely be sick of peanut butter toast by now but I do mix things up with avocado and Vegemite as well. Seeing as I know he loves bread I thought I’d do a bit of experimenting to boost the goodness.

Celia from Fig Jam and Lime Cordial aka my bread baking muse has taught me that you can pretty much add anything you like to sourdough  so I wasn’t too nervous adding my goodies. I threw in the pumpkin, quinoa and chia seeds and mixed it all up. The dough was pretty wet but seemed ok.

A little while later I gave it a quick knead and it seemed to come together nicely so I left it to get its rise on. Hours and hours later, it had only risen the tiniest bit. I was a bit worried. I ended up going to bed and leaving it to rise overnight. By morning it was just risen and took the whole next day to rise the second time.

I think poor Kevin the sourdough starter might be a bit sick.

The good thing about the long rise though was the prominent sour flavour it gave the finished loaf. I don’t love that Kevin now takes two days to make a loaf rise (oops poor neglected Kevin), but I love the new taste. This loaf had a nice, moist crumb from the pumpkin and a very crunchy crust (I’m thinking from the sugar in pumpkin?).

Ollie loved it which was the best part. Luckily he loves bread because I think it’s the only way I’m going to keep him full when he’s bigger without blowing our food budget. Now to think of more ways to add veges to bread. Spinach bread next I think. Enjoy!

What about you? What do you add to your bread doughs? Anything you think I should try?

Pumpkin and quinoa sourdough

Yield: 1 large loaf

Prep Time: 1 days

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 days 1 hour

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Ingredients

• 450g Baker's flour
• 50g quinoa flakes
• 2tbsp chia seeds
• 10g salt
• 25g olive oil
• 200g water
• 1 cup pureed pumpkin
• 150g bouncy, ripe sourdough starter

Instructions

1. Place all the ingredients in a large bowl and squelch them together with your hands until there are no more dry bits.
2. Cover the bowl and leave it to rest for 15 minutes.
3. Uncover and knead in the bowl for 1 minute. There is no right or wrong way to knead just stretch and fold the dough back into itself making sure you turn the bowl a little each time.
4. Cover the bowl again and leave the dough until doubled in size. This can take anywhere from 2-7 hours depending on the weather and your starter.
5. Lay a sheet of plastic wrap on the bench and brush it with oil.
6. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
7. Punch down the dough then use your hands to shape it into a smooth ball, tucking it under itself if it needs tidying.
8. Place it on the baking tray and cover with the oiled wrap and leave until almost doubled in size.
9. Pre-heat the oven to maximum fan-forced.
10. When the dough has risen, uncover it and slash the top with a knife.
11. Pop the dough in the oven and turn the oven down to 220C (470F) fan-forced and bake for 30 minutes.
12. Reduce the temperature to 175C (380F) and bake for another 30 minutes or until brown.
13. Transfer the dough to a wire rack to cool.