Iron + Protein-Packed Seeded Rye Loaf

Preheat the oven to 180°C fan / 200°C / 400°F.

Add the pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds to a tray and roast for 5-8 minutes until lightly golden.

In a jug, combine the warm water with the blackstrap molasses and stir until dissolved.

In a large bowl, combine the rye flour, teff flour, strong white bread flour, yeast, salt and ground flaxseed.

Pour the water and molasses mixture into the large bowl and bring everything together, with a spatula, into a rough, shaggy dough.

Generously dust a worktop with flour, turn the dough out and knead for around 8 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. The dough will be really sticky so you can add a few more sprinkles of flour if you need to but try not to add too much flour otherwise the dough will become tough. We use a scraper or spatula to scrape the dough off from the worktop as we go.

Flatten the dough out and scatter over the toasted pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds. Fold the dough and knead briefly for 1-2 minutes so the seeds are distributed evenly.

Shape the dough into a ball, place it into a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a damp tea towel. Leave the dough somewhere warm for about 1 hour, or until roughly doubled in size.

Gently knock back the dough then shape it into a loaf and place in a lined loaf tin.

Lightly brush the top of the loaf with water and scatter the topping seeds evenly over the top (the pumpkin seeds, nigella seeds and sunflower seeds). Press the seeds down a little with your fingers so that they stick to the dough.

Cover the dough with a damp tea towel and leave it to rise again for 30-45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180°C fan / 200°C / 400°F. Bake the bread for 30-35 minutes until deep golden and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the base.

Turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely before slicing.