Nils Bread

My sister in law’s partner made this bread when he was visiting us during Easter. It immediately became a favourite among all of us and I told him he had to write down the recipe, which he did. The only problem was that the instructions were so vague that I almost was better off taking chances with the amount of the different ingredients. Joking aside, I tried to re-make it and the first time was a complete disaster with a flat, dry sorry excuse for bread. The second time I tried it the result was better but not as good as his. Third time around I made some minor adjustments and BOOM, it was pitch perfect!

In Sweden, you commonly use fresh yeast when baking, but after almost 10 years living abroad, I have learned that most of the world uses dry yeast. It really doesn’t matter which one you choose (you can get dry yeast in Sweden also), but there is a small difference in the way you prepare the dough. I will list them both below. If you are using dry yeast, make sure you get yeast of good quality; you want the dough to really be able to rise properly.

For this bread, you need an oven safe form with a lid. I have used both a cast iron pot and a stainless steel saucepan and they both have worked perfectly.

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Nils Bread

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

3 hrs

Total Time

3 hrs 10 mins

 

A moist, soft and tangy bread that will make a great addition to your weekend breakfast.

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: European

Servings: 1 bread

Author: Olle

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
• 1/2 dl (1/5 cup) flaxseed
• 3/4 dl (1/3 cup) sunflower kernels
• 9 dl (3 1/2 cup) all-purpose flour
• 6 dl (2 2/5 cup) water warm
• 1 carrot grated
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp canola oil

Instructions

1. Mix flour, flaxseed, sunflower kernels, yeast, salt and carrot in a large bowl.

2. Heat up the water until warm, but not hot, it should be like bathtub hot water.
   

3. Add the water to the dry ingredients and mix with a ladle for about 5-10 minutes so that everything gets blended. The dough will be pretty wet. Cover with a kitchen cloth and let rise for about 2 hours.
   

4. Take your oven safe form and put it on the middle rack in the oven and heat it up to 220 C / 425 F / Gas Mark 7. When the oven is hot and the form is heated take the form out and add the canola oil to the bottom of the form.

5. Pour the dough into the form. The oil might start to fizzle a little just as the dough hits it.
   

6. Smooth out the dough evenly in the form, cover with the lid and put it in the oven for 45 minutes.
   

7. After 45 minutes, take the form out, remove the lid and bake for another 15 minutes.
   

8. Take the bread out and remove it from the form, letting it cool on a kitchen cloth or rack before cutting it.
   

Enjoy!