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I’ve been working on this recipe for awhile now and finally produced a bread that is dense and hearty, as well as incredibly flavorful and satisfying. This Kansas Sourdough Bread could be used for sandwiches or just with butter as a table bread. It’s quite wonderful and named after my home state of Kansas with wheat flour, malted wheat flakes, and roasted sunflower kernels.
Years ago, my grandma and I enjoyed making what we called Kansas Sunflower Bread from a flour that was sold in Emporia, Kansas. I don’t even know if they still make or sell that flour, but it was delicious. I’m not even sure if it was a combination of wheat and white flours, but I know it had sunflower kernels in it. Possibly something else, but it’s been too long ago.
This recipe is a nod to that bread and includes wheat flour, malted wheat flakes, and roasted sunflower kernels. Plus it’s made from sourdough, which makes it even better. My husband and I like it so much, it might go onto my bi-weekly bread rotation, along with my Tangy Sourdough Bread and my Multigrain Sourdough Sandwich Bread.
Ingredients for Kansas Sourdough Bread
(As a Walmart and King Arthur affiliate, I earn from qualified purchases at the links below. See the full recipe at the bottom of this post.)
Instructions for this Recipe
Gather your ingredients so that you have everything close at hand on the counter or table.
Prepare the Soaker
Begin the recipe by combining malted wheat flakes and boiling water in a medium bowl. Allow to set for 20-25 minutes until cool.
Make the Sourdough Bread
In a large mixing bowl, combine the active (or fed) sourdough starter, warm water, honey, olive oil, artisan sea salt, whole-grain bread improver, and instant yeast. Mix together.
When I bake with whole wheat or multigrain, I like to use a teaspoon of Whole Grain Bread Improver to help attain a better rise in the loaf. This is optional, but I highly recommend it. I purchase it from King Arthur Baking and it lasts a long time.
Add in the prepared malted wheat flakes, sunflower kernels, whole wheat flour, and 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour. Mix with a kneading hook until the dough comes together. Add in remaining all-purpose flour and knead until the dough is supple.
Place in a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise until double 1.5-2 hours. Gently deflate and shape dough into a large round ball.
When shaping the dough, smooth and stretch the dough coming together at the base of the ball. Do this several times and then pinch the ends.
Place the ball on a piece of parchment paper or a silicone bread sling and then transfer the sling to a large cast iron Dutch oven. Cover with a lid and allow the loaf to rise until puffy, 1-2 hours.
Bake the Bread
Toward the end of the rising time, preheat oven to 450°F, allowing the oven to heat for 40-50 minutes.
Just before baking, score the bread using a sharp knife or bread lame. Brush the loaf with an egg wash made from 1 egg + 2 tablespoons water. Generously sprinkle Everything Bagel Topping over the loaf.
If you don’t have Everything Bagel Topping (and I have to ask, why not?), you may sprinkle one or a combination of the following over the bread: sesame seeds, poppy seed, celery seed, dried minced onion, and dried minced garlic. See my recipe for Sourdough Whole Wheat Bagels that also uses Everything Bagel Topping.
Cover with the lid and bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes. Uncover and continue baking until the bread is a deep golden brown, about 7-10 minutes.
Transfer loaf with bread sling onto a wire rack to cool. It’s best to allow the bread to cool completely before slicing. I know how tempting warm bread from the oven is, but trust me, it will slice easier once it has cooled. This recipe makes one large loaf and will serve approximately 12 people, more or less, depending on how thick you slice the bread.
Serve this bread with your favorite sandwich fixings or as a table bread slathered with butter.
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Kansas Sourdough Bread
(As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.)
Ingredients
Soaker
- 1 cup Malted Wheat Flakes
- 1/2 cup boiling water
Sourdough Bread
- 1 cup sourdough starter (Fed or Active)
- 1 cup warm water
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons artisan sea salt
- 1 teaspoon Whole Grain Bread Improver (optional)
- 1 teaspoon instant yeast
- 1/2 cup roasted sunflower kernels
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Bread Topping
- 1 large egg + 2 tablespoons water (for egg wash)
- 2 tablespoons Everything Bagel Topping (or poppy seeds, celery seed, sesame seeds, etc.)
Instructions
- Gather your ingredients so that you have everything close at hand on the counter or table.
Prepare the Soaker
- Begin the recipe by combining malted wheat flakes and boiling water in a medium bowl. Stir together and allow to set for 20-25 minutes until cool.
Make the Sourdough Bread
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the active (or fed) sourdough starter, warm water, honey, olive oil, artisan sea salt, whole-grain bread improver, and instant yeast. Mix together.
- Add in the prepared malted wheat flakes, sunflower kernels, whole wheat flour, and 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour. Mix with a kneading hook until the dough comes together. Add in remaining all-purpose flour and knead until the dough is supple.
- Place in a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise until double 1.5-2 hours. Gently deflate and shape dough into a large round ball.
- When shaping the dough, smooth and stretch the dough coming together at the base of the ball. Do this several times and then pinch the ends.
- Place the ball on a piece of parchment paper or a silicone bread sling and then transfer the sling to a large cast iron Dutch oven. Cover with a lid and allow the loaf to rise until puffy, 1-2 hours.
Bake the Bread
- Toward the end of the rising time, preheat oven to 450F degrees, allowing the oven to heat for 40-50 minutes.
- Just before baking, score the bread using a sharp knife or bread lame. Brush the loaf with an egg wash made from 1 egg + 2 tablespoons water. Generously sprinkle Everything Bagel Topping over the loaf.
- Cover with the lid and bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes. Uncover and continue baking until the bread is a deep golden brown, about 7-10 minutes.
- Transfer loaf with bread sling onto a wire cooling rack. Makes 1 large loaf.
Nutrition
I can’t rate your recipe as I just found it during a search. I must say, the picture of the crumb looks amazingly like my new recipe for Kansas Sunflower Bread which I got from King Arthur’s website. it calls for bulgar, which I did not have nor do I have the Malted Wheat flakes (KA its currently out of stock on that), but I substituted, actually doubled the amount of oats and it was great! I was trying to figure out how to add sourdough to my recipe so I’m hoping yours will give me a good boule! I have since gotten bulgar so I’m going to make the recipe as directed but I’m wondering if you knew about the KA recipe? Is your Mother’s name Audrey, by any chance? When I get around to making your recipe I’ll let you know how it turns out maybe using bulgar instead of the Malted Wheat Flakes.
Hi Sharon, Thank you for leaving a comment on this recipe. No, I had not seen the KA recipe you referred to. I actually saw their recipe for Malted Wheat Flake Bread some time ago, which sparked my renewed interest in working with this recipe. After your comment, I searched KA for the Kansas Sunflower bread and saw their note about Audrey. No, I am not related. However, if you read this post, you’ll see that my grandma also baked with the sunflower flour. She always said that it came from Emporia, and that’s where I originally found it when I lived there. I love working with sourdough, and this recipe was a good fit. I hope KA will have the malted wheat flakes in stock soon, as I am almost out. Please do try this recipe. I hope you will enjoy it as much as we do!
Hi, Deborah, well I was really hoping your and Audrey were related! How crazy would that have been, LOL. And yes, that part about Emporia really caught my attention. I’m planning to try this recipe in the near future and I also hope KA will get those Flakes back in stock. Thank you for replying and answering my Audrey question.