Flaxseed Bread Recipe (Sandwich Bread)

This flaxseed bread recipe is great tasting and adds lots of natural fiber to your diet. Flaxseeds are a good source of insoluble & soluble fiber. Because of this high fiber content, many people like to eat flaxseed for “digestive” reasons. Other people also like to eat flaxseed for its omega-3 content and assorted vitamins & minerals.

Flaxseed Bread Recipe

Recipe Sections

• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Helpful Tips

Your family will enjoy this soft & airy bread. My flaxseed bread recipe allows you to create either a savory “herb flavored” sandwich-type bread or a plain non-herb flavored bread (for anyone who dislikes herb breads). It is not a sweet dessert bread.

As an older Bread Dad, I generally add some flaxseed to my morning yogurt. However, I find that daily flaxseed yogurt can get a little monotonous. So for some variety, I created a delicious flaxseed bread recipe. This bread allows me to create a wide range of interesting sandwiches (i.e. turkey or grilled cheese) while still getting in my daily dose of flaxseed.

Sliced Flaxseed Bread

For this flaxseed bread recipe, you can use either instant yeast or bread machine yeast (which is instant yeast). While you can knead the dough by hand, our recipe shows you how to easily make this bread with either a bread machine’s dough setting or an electric stand mixer with dough hook. The dough will then be finished in your oven.

Key Ingredient – Ground Flaxseed

Flaxseed Bread Dough

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 Cups – Milk (lukewarm) – 307 milliliters
• 6 Tablespoons – Unsalted Butter (softened) – 86 grams
• 3 1/2 Cups – Bread Flour – 420 grams – Not all purpose flour
• 1/2 Cup – Ground Flaxseeds – 55 grams – Do not pre-moisten – Use can use ground brown flaxseed or ground golden flaxseed
• 2 Tablespoons – White Granulated Sugar – 25 grams
• 1 1/2 Teaspoons – Salt – 7.5 milliliters
• 1 1/2 Teaspoons – Instant Yeast or Bread Machine Yeast – 7.5 milliliters – Not dry active yeast
• Optional – 1 1/2 Tablespoons – Italian Seasoning (dried herbs) – 22 milliliters – Exclude the Italian seasoning if you want a “plain” sandwich bread (non-herb bread).

Servings – Roughly 18 slices

Equipment Needed – Measuring cup & spoons, flexible spatula, cutting board, 9×5 bread pan, oven mitts, oven, wire cooling rack and a kneading machine to make the dough (either a bread machine or an electric stand mixer with dough hook).

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Dough Rolled into “Jelly Roll” and Placed in Bread Pan

Alternate – Use Golden Flaxseed for a Lighter Colored Bread

Instructions

• Creating dough with bread machine
• Or Creating dough with electric stand mixer & dough hook
• Shaping dough & baking bread in oven

Instructions – Creating Dough with a Bread Machine

• Your bread machine should be unplugged.
• Remove the bread pan from the bread machine (so when you add the ingredients, they can not accidentally spill into the machine).
• Pour the milk into the bread pan and then add the other ingredients. Place the instant yeast (bread machine yeast) in last and the yeast should not touch the liquid (until the bread machine is turned on and the ingredients start to be mixed together by the bread machine). Some bakers like to make a small indent on top of the flour to prevent the yeast from spilling into the liquids or mixing with the salt before the machine is turned on.
• Put the bread pan with ingredients back into unplugged bread machine.
• Plug in bread machine. Enter the “Dough” setting on your bread machine and then press the “Start” button.
• When the bread machine has finished making the bread dough, unplug the bread machine.
• Remove the bread pan from the bread machine.
• Now go to the instruction section below on “preparing the dough & baking the bread”. FYI – Ignore the instructions for the electric stand mixer below if you are using a bread machine to make your dough. Skip down to the preparing the dough & baking the bread section.

Instructions – Creating Dough with an Electric Stand Mixer with Dough Hook

• Your electric mixer should be unplugged.
• Remove the mixing bowl from the electric mixer.
• Insert a dough hook into the electric mixer.
• Pour the milk into the mixing bowl and then add the other ingredients. Place the instant yeast in last and the yeast should not touch the liquid (until the electric mixer is turned on and the ingredients start to be mixed together). Some bakers like to make a small indent on top of the flour to prevent the yeast from spilling into the liquids or mixing with the salt before the machine is turned on.
• Place the mixing bowl back into the electric stand mixer.
• Plug in the electric mixer and use a low speed (i.e. setting 2) to mix the dough. Mix the dough for 7-10 minutes.
• Turn off the electric mixer and unplug machine.
• Remove the mixing bowl from the electric mixer. Pour the dough into a second large mixing bowl that has been lightly “greased” with olive oil, melted butter, cooking spray, etc.
• Lightly coat the top of dough with vegetable oil in order to prevent dough exterior from drying out. Use a pastry brush.
• Loosely cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise for 60-90 minutes until it doubles in size.
• After the dough has risen, go to the instruction section below on “preparing the dough & baking the bread”.

Instructions – Shaping the Dough & Baking the Bread

• Preheat the oven to 350 F.
• Sprinkle a little bit of flour onto a large cutting board.
• Remove the dough from the bread pan or mixing bowl and place the dough on the cutting board.
• Press down on the dough with your hands and create a “flattish” rectangle with the dough. The dough should be roughly 1 inch high.
• Roll up the dough into a tight “jelly roll”. FYI – Please see the short instructional videos in the tips section below on how to shape the dough if you haven’t shaped bread dough before. It is easier to watch & learn from these short videos versus trying to explain the rolling technique step by step.
• Place the rolled up dough into the bread pan.
• Press down on top of the dough so the edges of the dough press out towards the sides of the bread pan. This should result in little or no gaps between the dough and the bread pan. This helps the bread to turn into a nice loaf shape without any misshapen edges. Make sure that the top of the pressed down dough is roughly level (so one side isn’t much higher than the other).
• Brush vegetable oil on top of the dough with a pastry brush. This prevents the crust from drying out as the dough rises.
• Loosely cover the top of the bread pan with plastic wrap. Set the covered bread pan aside for 60-90 minutes for the dough to rise into a loaf shape. Once the dough has risen 1 – 1.5 inches (2.5 – 3.8 cm) above the rim of the bread pan, the dough should be ready to be placed in the oven. FYI – You want the dough to fully rise during this stage. So don’t try to shorten this rising time. If the dough is still significantly rising while in the oven, you are more likely to see crust/seam cracks or “bursts” in the oven. In addition, the speed of the dough rise will vary in part based on the temperature of your kitchen (i.e. rise faster in the summer & slower in the winter).
• Place the bread pan in the (preheated) oven to bake at 350 F for 37-42 minutes. Wear oven mitts when dealing with a hot oven. Place the bread pan in the middle of the oven.
• Rotate the bread pan in the oven after 15-20 minutes (in order to ensure an even browning of the bread).
• After the 37-42 minute baking period has finished, remove the bread pan from the oven. Wear oven mitts. Optional – Use digital thermometer to confirm that the bread has been fully baked. See tips below.
• Remove the bread from bread pan and place the bread on a wire cooling rack. Wear oven mitts.
• Optional – Brush melted butter on top of the bread with a pastry brush. This “basting” helps to create a more golden & tasty crust.
• Allow the bread to cool down on the wire cooling rack for 1-2 hours before cutting the bread.
• Please read the tips section below for extra information on how to make this recipe successfully.

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Other Bread Dad Sections

• Bread Cookbooks
• Bread Machines – My favorites
• Bread Mixes – Ingredient kits
• Bread Tools – Bread slicers, etc.

Helpful Tips

• The tips below are designed to help baking & bread making “novices”. This recipe is focused on making oven-baked bread with a bread machine (dough setting) or an electric stand mixer. If you are an intermediate or advanced bread maker, you probably know many of these tips.
• Click on our “print recipe” link if you want to print out this recipe. It includes all of the recipe’s ingredients and instructions. However, the recipe print function does not include our tips section. Please read the tips section in order to avoid common recipe problems.
• This flaxseed bread recipe is great for people who want more fiber but dislike the taste of whole wheat. It is perfect as a flaxseed sandwich bread.
• This is NOT a keto recipe. Our flaxseed bread recipe is made with regular bread flour and ground flaxseeds. FYI – The keto diet is a specialized very low carb diet and regular wheat-based bread is usually not on a keto diet plan.
• Optional – You can EXCLUDE the Italian seasoning if you would prefer to make a flaxseed sandwich bread without any herb flavoring. Some people prefer “plain” (non-herb) flaxseed bread for lunch sandwiches.
• Visitors – Why do you eat flaxseeds? Post your reasons in the comment section below. As I mentioned at the top of the page, I eat ground flaxseeds for the fiber which helps everything to move in the right direction… if you know what I mean! Also do you prefer to use brown or golden flaxseed when making this recipe?

• Use FRESH ground flaxseed. After you have opened a bag of ground flaxseed, the ground flaxseed can go rancid (bad) quickly. Do not use old ground flaxseed that has been sitting in your pantry in an already opened bag. Once the ground flaxseed package has been opened, you should store the ground flaxseed in an airtight container in your refrigerator or freezer. According to Wikipedia, “ground flax seed meal, because of oxidation, may go rancid when left exposed to air at room temperature in as little as a week”.
• Some people say flaxseed tastes slightly nutty. However, I don’t taste this flavor (or any flaxseed flavor) in my flaxseed bread recipe. This is one of the reasons that I added some Italian seasoning to this recipe. However, if the flaxseeds smell bad or fishy in the package, they have gone rancid. Throw them out.

• This bread doesn’t taste like whole wheat (a bread flavor that some people dislike). It is an airy flaxseed sandwich bread with a mild Italian seasoning flavor. I personally find that flaxseeds have a neutral flavor or very little flavor.
• Optional – You can turn this flaxseed bread into a fruit bread by removing the Italian seasoning and adding dried fruit (i.e. dried cranberries or raisins). Thanks Helen for this tip! Just make sure to add the dried fruit after the dough has been initially mixed but before the kneading cycle has finished. Also do not forget to eliminate the Italian seasoning (as herbs & dried fruit are usually not a great flavor combination!).
• If you like baked goods with flaxseeds, you should try out our Flaxseed Banana Bread recipe. It is a delicious banana bread made with golden flaxseeds and ripe bananas.
• Or if you like “crunchy” breads, you might like to try my Seed Bread Recipe. It is made with sunflower, flax and chia seeds. Or check out my Chia Banana Bread recipe. It is a delicious banana bread that uses chia seeds to add fiber, omega 3 and a little extra crunch!!

• You can use either ground brown flaxseed or ground golden flaxseed to make your bread. Ground brown flaxseed gives the bread a more rustic look and golden flaxseed provides a lighter color to the bread. FYI – I have posted pictures of ground brown flaxseed and ground golden flaxseed higher up on this page.
• According to the WebMD article Benefit of Flaxseed, “Milled = ground = flax meal. Don’t be confused by the different product names for ground flaxseed. Milled or ground flaxseed is the same thing as flax meal. Buy either brown or golden flaxseed. Golden flaxseed is easier on the eyes, but brown flaxseed is easier to find in most supermarkets. There is very little difference nutritionally between the two, so the choice is up to you.”
• Do not use non-ground flaxseed. Or you will be eating full seeds and you will get very little of the flaxseed benefit because the fiber, etc. will be encased in a hard seed shell (which is hard to digest).

• Some people like to eat ground flaxseed in order to improve their digestive health and/or to relieve constipation. Flaxseed bread is consumed because it is seen as a high fiber bread.
• One tablespoon of ground flaxseed contains roughly 2 grams of dietary fiber. In contrast, regular bread flour & all purpose flour usually has only 2-4 grams fiber per cup. So flaxseed is often used as an easy way to add fiber to baked goods (i.e. breads & muffins).
• According to Wikipedia, flaxseeds “contain high levels (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of protein, dietary fiber, several B vitamins, and dietary minerals. Flax seeds are especially rich in thiamine, magnesium, and phosphorus (DVs above 90%). As a percentage of total fat, flax seeds contain 54% omega-3 fatty acids”.
• For more information on ground flaxseed fiber benefits, you might like to read this Mayo Clinic article called “Does ground flaxseed have more health benefits than whole flaxseed?“.

• Use bread flour for the best results when making this flaxseed bread recipe. You can make flaxseed bread with all purpose flour but it will be a less “airy” bread.
• Optional – If you want to give the bread a greater flaxseed “appearance”, you can use a pastry brush to coat the top of the dough (just before you put the bread pan in the oven) with an egg wash. Then you should sprinkle some ground flaxseed onto the now sticky top of the dough.
• I would not recommend completely replacing the bread flour in this flaxseed bread recipe with whole wheat flour. This would result in a short dense bread. The bread flour in this recipe adds softness & the rise to the bread while the ground flaxseeds add the fiber.
• Do not add too much fiber if you are not used to a high fiber diet. This is one of the reasons that I used only a 1/2 cup of ground flaxseeds for this flaxseed bread recipe and do not add any additional whole wheat flour or oat flakes to the recipe.
• Optional – If you are already used to a high fiber diet and you want to add even more fiber to this bread (but still maintain it as a semi-airy bread), you can replace 1 cup of bread flour with 1 cup of whole wheat flour or old fashioned oat flakes.
• Of course, always check with your doctor before starting a high fiber diet and/or making large changes to your fiber intake.

• If you are having problems shaping your dough, you should watch the “how to” instructional videos below. These are links to bread dough shaping videos on YouTube.
• King Arthur Baking
• San Diego Artisan Bread School
• Father Dominic – a slightly different method versus the videos above
• Don’t worry if you are a beginner and the bread top comes out a little lopsided. The bread will still taste great. It takes a little while for new bakers to learn how to shape a bread consistently. 
• If you like, you can knead the dough by hand. However, kneading dough by hand for 10-15 minutes is too much work for me!!! I prefer the bread machine or electric stand mixer to do the hard stuff.
• If you are looking for other bread recipes where you can make the dough in your bread machine (or electric stand mixer) and bake it in your oven, you should try our recipes for White Bread (with extra buttery flavor), Buttermilk Bread, Multigrain Bread, Honey White Bread and Honey Oat Bread.

• Use FRESH ingredients (i.e. flour) for the best results. Ingredients that have been sitting in the pantry for months can become stale or pick up weird smells & flavors. Try to keep your ingredients (i.e. flour) in airtight food containers in order to extend their shelf life.
• Do not use cold milk because that will inhibit the growth of the yeast. The milk should be lukewarm in temperature. If you use cold milk, your bread may have trouble rising properly. You can use a microwave (for a very short time) in order to warm the milk. However, don’t make the milk too hot as excessive heat can kill the yeast.
• If you do not have milk, you can use water as a substitute. However, I prefer the taste of homemade bread made with milk.
• Optional – If you prefer a softer bread, you can use buttermilk (rather than regular milk) to make this recipe. The acidity of buttermilk “tenderizes” the bread. However, buttermilk can be harder to find & more expensive than regular milk. Since I frequently can’t find buttermilk in the supermarket, I often use powdered buttermilk (dehydrated buttermilk).

• This bread recipe uses instant yeast or bread machine yeast. It does NOT use active dry yeast.
• Active dry yeast is different from instant yeast & bread machine yeast. Instant yeast & bread machine yeast are added directly to the recipe’s ingredients. In contrast, active dry yeast must be activated in water/milk before being added to a recipe’s ingredients. Many bakers find it quicker to use instant yeast because you just add it to the dry ingredients. With active dry yeast, you need to spend roughly 10 minutes “proofing” (activating) the yeast with a liquid & sugar.
• If you have not made bread in a long time, please buy some NEW bread machine yeast or instant yeast before making your bread. Old yeast can die or lose its potency and this will lead to bread that does not rise properly. Yeast is not likely to be viable if it has been sitting in your pantry for years.
• Once you have opened the container that contains the yeast, the yeast will last longer if you store the bottle in the refrigerator or freezer. Just make sure the bottle is sealed tight (as yeast will deteriorate quickly if exposed to air, moisture and/or heat).

• Cooler home temperatures in the winter can cause rising problems for bread dough. Ideally, your room temperature should be around 75-80 degrees F. Colder winter room temperatures can significantly delay the rise of the dough. You will need to raise the temperature of your kitchen (if you like a cold house in the winter) or find a warm spot for the dough to rise. I often put my dough (covered of course) next to a heating vent in the winter to make sure it is getting enough heat.
• Conversely, dough can rise faster than expected in a very hot kitchen.
• Kitchen humidity can also impact a recipe. A winter kitchen tends to be drier due to your heating system drying out the air. In contrast, a kitchen in the summer can be much more humid. This change in humidity impacts baking as flour can soak up humidity from the air. Therefore, you might have to add 1-2 teaspoons of liquid in the winter if the dough is looking too dry. Or you might have to add 1-2 teaspoons of flour in the summer if the dough is looking too wet. If your kitchen is very dry or humid, you might have to add even a little more (but start with 1 teaspoon at a time until you achieve the right consistency).
• Of course, excessive kitchen humidity or dryness can impact a recipe at any time during the year (not just in the summer & winter)!

• Other factors that can impact the rise of the dough include old or expired yeast, contaminated yeast (i.e. the yeast was left in an open jar & air moisture contaminated it), water that is too cold or too hot, using heavily chlorinated tap water, placing salt next to or on top of the yeast (salt can kill yeast or inhibit its growth), not covering the dough during the rising period (as the exterior of the dough can dry out & limit the ability to rise), etc.
• If your bread comes out too dense, it is likely due to one of the following reasons; You are using old or stale yeast, using a cold refrigerator temperature liquid (which slows yeast growth), baking in a cold winter temperature kitchen (yeast likes kitchen temps of 75-80 degree F), using all purpose flour (versus bread flour as called for in the recipe), placing salt on top of or next to the yeast (salt kills yeast so it must be placed away from the yeast in the bread pan), etc.

• The flattening & shaping of the dough and the press down of the dough in the bread pan is the “punch down” phase.
• If you don’t do this punch down phase, your bread will have large air pockets (trapped bubbles produced by the yeast). Large air pockets are fine for ciabatta-type breads but not ideal for sandwich bread.
• This recipe calls for the use of a 9 x 5 inch bread pan. You can also use a 8.5 x 4.5 inch bread pan but the “crown” of the bread might come out too tall (or overflow) if your yeast is very active.
• Recommended – Use a digital bread thermometer to test if your bread is completely done. The interior temperature of the bread should be 190-200 degrees F. This inexpensive tool can save you from underbaked breads.
• Also consider using an oven thermometer as your expected oven temperature may be different than reality. Some ovens can be 25-50+ degrees F hotter or colder than the number you set with your oven dial. An oven thermometer (which usually costs less than $10) is an easy way to measure the actual temperature inside your oven.

• You should let your bread cool down for 1-2 hours on the wire cooling rack before you cut any slices (or the slices will be “gummy” and not taste as good as expected). Excess interior moisture is released (via steam) during the cooldown period.
• My recipes are based on US ingredient measurements (i.e. US cups & tablespoons). However, as a courtesy to our European visitors, I have also included some very ROUGH European equivalents (i.e. grams & milliliters). Since I rarely use European measurements when baking, please let me know in the comment section below if any of the European ingredient measurements need to be changed (i.e. for XYZ ingredient, milliliters are more commonly used versus the grams information listed in the recipe).
• Always wear oven mitts/gloves when dealing with a bread machine, hot oven, hot bread pan, etc.
• For more easy bread ideas, please check out Bread Dad’s sections for Bread Machine Recipes and Homemade Bread Recipes.

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Flaxseed Bread – Common Questions & Answers

What does flaxseed do to bread?

Flaxseed in bread provides extra fiber and nutrients such as omega-3 fatty acids, magnesium, etc. Flaxseed provides both insoluble and soluble fiber when added to bread. These types of fibers help to “move” things more easily through a person’s digestive tract. For more information on insoluble and soluble fiber, you should read the Wikipedia article on Dietary Fiber.

Can I use flaxseed instead of flour?

Ground flaxseed can not replace flour when making bread. Flaxseed generally does not have any gluten and without gluten, flaxseed would not be able to trap the CO2 put out by the bread yeast. You would end up with a very dense brick instead of a soft sandwich bread. Most flaxseed bread recipes use flaxseed in combination with flour. The flour provides the rise to the bread while the flaxseed provides the extra fiber & nutrients. You will often find that flaxseed recipes have 3 or 4 times as much as flour when compared to the amount of ground flaxseed in the recipe.

What happens if you don’t grind flax seeds?

The hard shell of the flaxseed is not easily digested. Therefore, flaxseeds must be ground down (milled) in order for your body to absorb much of the nutrients and fiber found in flaxseeds. Therefore, many recipes use ground flaxseed when making flaxseed bread, flaxseed pancakes, flaxseed cookies, flaxseed cakes, etc. If you do not grind the flaxseeds, they will pass through your body without being properly digested.

Does ground flaxseed need to be refrigerated?

Yes. For long-term storage, ground flaxseed should be stored in a refrigerator or freezer. Ground flaxseed can go rancid quickly when exposed to air and warm temperatures.

Therefore, after opening a flaxseed package, ground flaxseed should not be stored in the pantry. For the best results (i.e. flavor), the ground flaxseed should be stored in a refrigerator or freezer in an airtight container. The airtight container reduces the potential for oxidation and moisture contamination of the ground flaxseed. Whereas the colder temperature of a refrigerator or freezer slows potential bacterial growth. For the longest storage, the freezer is probably a better storage option than a refrigerator. For more information on why freezing helps to preserve food, you should read this Wikipedia frozen food article.

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Reference Sources

• Wikipedia, Bread
• Wikipedia, Dietary Fiber
• Wikipedia, Flax

Related Recipes

• Bread Machine – White Bread
• Bread Machine – Whole Wheat Bread
• Buttermilk Bread (Oven baked)
• Chai Banana Bread
• Flaxseed Banana Bread
• Oatmeal Sandwich Bread (Oven baked)

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