Green Bread with Spinach

sliced green bread with jam on a wooden board.

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5 from 5 votes

Green bread with spinach and pepitas, a fluffy, savory bread perfect for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Prep Time20

Cook Time1

Additional Time2 30

Total Time3 50

Course: Bread

Cuisine: German, American

Servings: loaf

Calories: 156kcal

Author: Adina

Ingredients

170 g fresh spinach 6 oz/ ¾ cup (chopped)
1 tablespoon fine sea salt
1 large egg
240 ml milk 8 fl.oz/ 1 cup
60 g soft butter 2 oz/ ¼ cup, I had unsalted
2 teaspoon granulated sugar
450 g all-purpose flour 1 lb / 3 ¾ cup, Note 1
100 g whole wheat flour 3.5 oz/ ¾ cup + 1 tablespoon
1 tablespoon instant yeast Note 2
70 g pepitas 2.5 oz/ ½ cup, Note 3

Instructions

Wash the spinach, shake it well in the sieve and pat dry with kitchen towels; it should not have too much water clinging to it. Chop roughly if the leaves are large.
170 g fresh spinach/ 6 oz/ ¾ cup (chopped)
Blend: Place it in the food processor with salt, egg, milk, soft butter, and sugar. Blend until smooth. Or use an immersion blender.
1 tablespoon fine sea salt + 1 large egg + 240 ml milk/ 1 cup + 60 g soft butter/ 2 oz/ ¼ cup + 2 teaspoon granulated sugar
Combine: Mix both types of flour, yeast, and seeds.
450 g all-purpose flour/ 1 lb / 3 ¾ cup + 100 g whole wheat flour/ 3.5 oz/ ¾ cup + 1 tablespoon +1 tablespoon instant yeast + 70 g pepitas/ 2.5 oz/ ½ cup
Knead: If you can knead the bread in your food processor, add the mixture to the pureed spinach. Or knead everything in a stand mixer with the hands. Knead the dough well until smooth and not so sticky anymore. It took me about 7 minutes in the food processor.
Let rise: Lightly oil a large bowl, place dough inside, cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, between 1 ½ to 2 hours depending on the temperature in the kitchen and the type of yeast you are using (Note 2).
Second knead: Punch down the dough. Transfer to a lightly floured working surface and knead 2-3 times with a small amount of flour to form a ball.
Shape: Press the dough into a thick rectangle almost as wide as your baking tin (my tin is 30 cm/ 12 inches, so I pressed the dough about 2 cm/ 0.8 inch smaller). Fold a third of the dough a third of the way over the rest of the dough. Fold the other side of the dough over the already folded piece. Pinch the seam.
Second rise: Butter the loaf tin and place the dough in it with the seam facing down. Cover with the kitchen towel again and let rise for about 30 minutes in a warm place.
Bake: In the meantime, preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius/ 360 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake for 55-60 minutes until golden on top and sounding hollow when tapped. Remove from the pan and let cool on a wire rack.

Notes

Measuring your flour by weight will provide much more accurate results. Converting flour to cups can vary by room temperature, quality of flour, the person measuring it, etc. A digital kitchen scale is the best kitchen gadget you can own when it comes to baking. (the Amazon affiliate link opens in a new tab)
Yeast: You can use the same amount of active dry yeast or 25 g/ 0.9 oz fresh yeast. Proof the yeast first: place in a small bowl, add about 50 ml/ 1.7 fl. oz/ ¼ cup of the measured and lukewarm milk and the sugar. Mix well and let stand for about 5-10 minutes until foamy on top. Mix with the flour and the rest of the ingredients.
Bread made with fresh yeast might rise quicker; start checking after 1 hour already.
Pepitas are pumpkin seeds without a hull; they come from specific pumpkins and don't require shelling. You can use other seeds instead; try flaxseed, sesame, or sunflower seeds.

Nutrition