
When we lived in Florida, we used to get these wonderful loaves of Sunflower Bread from a local grocery store. I've not been able to find them anywhere, since leaving Florida, so I decided to make my own.
A little experimenting, and I think I have come pretty close to that yummy bread I remember!
Follow me, for my recipe, and you can make your own~
Heat water, milk, honey and butter together, just until butter is melted. You want it warm, but not hot. Add 1 pkg. active dry yeast to wet ingredients, stir once or twice, and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, add flour and salt. Put your sunflower kernels in a blender or food processor, and just pulse once or twice to roughly chop them. Add to flour mixture, and stir ingredients together.
Once your wet ingredients have started to bubble, add them to the flour mixture. Stir well, until a soft dough forms. Turn the dough out onto a well floured surface. (I use my countertop) Knead dough until it is smooth and no longer sticky, adding flour as needed. (I used about 3/4 cup of additional flour at this point)
After dough is kneaded, place it in a greased bowl, flip it one time, so both sides are coated. (I used plain old vegetable oil to lightly grease my bowl) cover, and let it sit in a warm~not hot~place for 1 hour. It will rise to almost twice it's original size! Punch it down, take it out of the bowl, and form it into a loaf. Place it in a buttered loaf pan, cover, and let sit for 1 more hour. It will rise again!
Place loaf in a 350 degree oven, for 40 minutes. About halfway through, I brushed the top of mine with honey butter, to keep my crust soft. Remove from oven, let cool, and enjoy! It tastes fantastic with honey butter spread on each slice, but this is not a sweet bread. You can easily use it for some amazing sandwiches, too!