Vegan Three-Seed Lemon Tea Bread

I wanted a nice light little bread to go with my homemade Limequat Curd and found this one for Three-Seed Lemon Tea Bread, marked to try in what is becoming a favorite cookbook, Vegan Planet by Robin Robertson. 

Robertson says: "A fresh lemon taste is the backdrop for this protein-packed tea bread loaded with three kinds of nutritious seeds. The light, not-to-sweet flavor makes it a terrific breakfast bread."

Three-Seed Lemon Tea Bread

Vegan Planet by Robin Robertson

(Makes 1 Loaf)

2 Tbsp flaxseeds

1/3 cup water

1/2 cup sugar or natural sweetener

1 cup soy milk  or other dairy-free milk

2 Tbsp corn oil

Juice and grated zest of 1 lemon

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup chopped hulled raw sunflower seeds

1/4 cup sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil a 9x5-inch loaf pan and set aside. Grind the flaxseeds to a powder in a dry blender. Add the water and blend until thick, about 30 seconds. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the sugar, soy milk, corn oil, and lemon juice and zest. Blend in the flaxseed mixture and set aside. In a medium-size bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Using a few swift strokes, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until just combined. Fold in the sunflower seeds and sesame seeds, then transfer to the prepared pan. 

Bake on the center oven rack until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack before removing from the pan and slicing.

Notes/Results: Delicious! Moist, lightly lemony and a bit nutty in flavor, this is a great little bread. It was perfect with the Limequat Curd, as well as good on its own for breakfast and a snack. It is a healthy little bread; you are getting Vitamin E, Thiamine and a host of other nutrients from the sunflower seeds, Omega-3 Fatty Acids from the flax and Copper, Manganese and other good stuff from the sesame seeds. Not to mention the protein from the almond milk and fiber from the seeds. Of course I wouldn't be me if I didn't make some changes. I used half all-purpose flour and half whole-wheat pastry flour. Since I didn't have corn oil and soy milk handy, I substituted walnut oil and almond milk. I realized I only had about 1/8 of a cup sesame seeds so I ended up using some whole flax seed, in addition to the ground, to make up the 1/4 cup. Finally, I baked them in 2 small loaf pans instead of one and sprinkled some whole sunflower seeds and a little demerara sugar on top for a nice crunch. I will be making this one again.