The 10 best seed recipes (2024)

The life-changing loaf of bread

This is high in protein, incredibly high in fibre and vegan. It is quick and easy to make, and almost all the ingredients – except the psyllium, which acts as the binding agent in place of flour – can be substituted: rolled spelt instead of oats, almonds instead of hazelnuts, honey instead of maple syrup ...

Makes 1 loaf

135g sunflower seeds
90g flax seeds
65g hazelnuts or almonds
145g rolled oats
2 tbsp chia seeds
4 tbsp psyllium seed husks (3 tbsp if using psyllium husk powder)
1 tsp fine grain sea salt (½ tsp if using coarse salt)
1 tbsp maple syrup
3 tbsp coconut oil or ghee, melted
350ml water

1 Combine the dry ingredients in a loaf tin.

2 Whisk together the maple syrup, oil and water. Add to the dry ingredients and mix until everything is soaked and the dough becomes thick (add teaspoons of water if the dough becomes unmanageable).

3 Smooth out the top with a spoon and let it sit for at least 2 hours, or all day or overnight.

4 Preheat the oven to 175C/350F/gas mark 4. Bake for 20 minutes.

5 Remove from tin, place upside down directly on the oven rack and bake for another 30-40 minutes, until it sounds hollow when tapped.

6 Allow to cool completely before slicing. The bread will store in an airtight container for up to five days. Slice before freezing.

Recipe by Sarah Britton, mynewroots.org

Dukkah

This is a delicious take on the traditional seed-filled Egyptian condiment – the za'atar and mint add a fresh, herbal note to the crunchy mix. When roasting the seeds, be sure to remove from the heat as soon as they begin to pop – and be gentle with the pestle and mortar, so they keep their texture. Eat with crudites, with bread and olive oil or sprinkle over salads, rice and almost anything else.

Serves 4

70g whole hazelnuts, skins on
2 tbsp sunflower seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp green or white peppercorns
3 tbsp coriander seeds
2 tsp za'atar
½ tsp nigella seeds
2 tsp poppy seeds
1 tbsp dried mint
1 tsp sweet paprika
⅓ tsp sea salt

1 Preheat the oven to 140C/275F/gas mark 1. Bake the hazelnuts for 20 minutes.

2 Add the sunflower seeds halfway through, keeping them apart from the nuts. Leave to cool while you toast the remaining seeds.

3 Heat an iron pan on medium for 5 minutes. Roast the fennel seeds for 30 seconds.

4 Add the cumin seeds and cook for another 30 seconds, or until they start to pop, then remove them and put both into a little bowl.

5 Keeping the pan on the heat, add the peppercorns and cook until they start to pop (about 30 seconds). Keep in a separate bowl.

6 Cook the coriander seeds for up to a minute, until they start to pop. Set aside.

7 Rub the hazelnuts between the palms of your hands to remove some of the skin. Use a pestle and mortar to coarsely crush them, then transfer to a medium bowl.

8 Lightly crush the cumin and fennel seeds and add to the hazelnuts. Do the same with the coriander seeds, followed by the peppercorns and sunflower seeds.

9 Add them to the rest, along with the za'atar, nigella seeds, poppy seeds, mint, paprika and salt. Mix well and, once cool, it will keep in a sealed jar for a couple of months.

Recipe supplied by Yotam Ottolenghi, ottolenghi.co.uk

Frozen strawberry cheesecake on a sunflowerseed crust

This cheesecake is allergy-friendly and gluten-free. The crust is very sweet, so the topping doesn't have to be: try yoghurts, soft cheeses or coconut creams. Use different fruits for a change in colour.

Serves 8-10

Sesame jaggery squares

Ghor papdi is a classic Gujarati sweet best served as an afternoon snack or after a meal with a cup of chai. It uses jaggery: a completely unrefined sugar made from reduced sugar cane juice, set into blocks. You'll find it in major supermarkets.

Makes 16

115g ghee
220g chapati flour
50g sesame seeds
130g jaggery, cut into thin flakes (or demerara/soft brown sugar)

1 Melt 85g of ghee in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the chapati flour and keep stirring gently for about 2 minutes, breaking up any lumps, while the flour toasts and darkens slightly. 2 Stir in the sesame seeds and continue to stir for about 5 minutes until the seeds start to pop. Don't let the flour burn.

3 Remove from the heat and set aside the seed/flour mixture. Put the remaining 30g of ghee and the jaggery in the pan, return to a low heat and stir as they melt and bubble. Continue to stir for a couple of minutes, making sure nothing sticks or burns, until the jaggery mixture starts to darken, then stir in the seed/flour mixture. Increase the heat to medium and stir for another couple of minutes, then remove from the heat.

4 Tip the mixture into a 16cm x 16cm square tin at least 2cm deep. Smooth the top, then score it into 16 squares while warm. Cool for 15minutes before serving.

Prashad: Indian Vegetarian Cooking by Kaushy Patel (Saltyard Books). Order a copy for £20 with free UK p&p (save £5) from guardianbookshop.co.uk or call 0330 333 6846.

Seeded dhal puffs

These delicious little bread-based snacks are relatively quick to make, as you don't have to worry about the dough proving the second time round. Freeze them either uncooked or lightly cooked and finish them off in the oven for an emergency snack.

Serves 6–8

For the dough
250g strong white flour, plus extra for dusting
3.5g (half a 7g sachet) fast-action yeast mixed with75ml warm water
½ tbsp honey
1½ tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt

For the dhal
80g butter or ghee
2 medium onions, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 green chilli, finely chopped
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tsp ground turmeric
10 curry leaves
150g chana dhal (dried yellow split peas), soakedfor 2 hours in cold water
350ml vegetable stock
3–4 tbsp coriander, chopped

For the topping
80g butter, melted
1–2 tsp black mustard seeds
1–2 tsp cumin seeds

1 For the dough, mix all the ingredients in a food processor for 2-3 minutes until stiff. Add more water if the dough isn't coming together. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and prove in a warm place until the dough has doubled in volume.

2 For the dhal, melt the butter or ghee in a pan and gently cook the onion, garlic, chilli and spices for 3–4 minutes without colouring. 3 Drain and rinse the peas and add to the pan with the stock. Season and simmer gently for about 30–40 minutes, stirring every so often, until the peas are tender, the liquid has been absorbed and the consistency is risotto-like.

4 Stir in the coriander and leave to cool.

5 Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/gas mark 7. On a lightly floured table, roll the dough out toabout 3mm thick. Leave it to rest for 5 minutes and cut into roughly 4–5cm discs.

6 Put a tsp of the dhal on the centre of each, brush the edges with water then bring the edges together in the centre to make a ball.

7 Place them on a lightly oiled baking tray with their join sides down and make a slit in the tops with a knife to expose the dhal.

8 Brush with melted butter and scatter over the mustard and cumin seeds.

Mango, mint and linseedthickie

This couldn't be simpler and that's why it's so good. The fresh zip of the mint sits in happy contrast to the rich sweetness of the mango and coconut. Then, just when you thought it was all getting a bit obvious, the linseeds turn up to make this a really super smoothie. Slurp up through straws.

Makes 2

1 ripe mango
A large handful of mint
1 banana
4 tbsp linseed
A large handful of desiccated coconut
Coconut water

1 Put all the solid ingredients in the blender and pour over just enough coconut water to cover the ingredients.

2 Whizz it up, pour into glasses and serve witha sprinkling of linseeds on top.

Recipe supplied by Allegra McEvedy

Black sesame ice-cream

With its deep asphalt grey colour, so uncharacteristic of ice-cream, this is an intriguing dish, with an irresistible flavour that combines hints of halva and honey.

Serves 8

For the black sesame paste
70g black sesame seeds
150g honey

For the ice-cream
2 400ml tins full-fat coconut milk
2 tbsp arrowroot powder
100g coconut sugar
A pinch of salt

1 First make the paste. Toast the black sesame seeds in a dry frying pan over a medium heat, shaking the pan often until you can smell the toasted seeds. Whizz in a coffee grinder or pestle and mortar and mix in the honey.

2 Mix together 60ml coconut milk and the arrowroot powder in a bowl.

3 In a medium-size pan, combine the rest of the milk, sugar and salt and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, stir in the arrowroot mixture and simmer for 1-2 minutes, stirring. Remove from the heat.

4 Mix in 4 tbsp of the black sesame seed paste. Cool at room temperature and refrigerate overnight.

5 Put the mixture in an ice-cream maker for 25 minutes or as long as the instructions suggest. If you don't have a machine, cool your mixture completely and freeze in a sturdy container.

6 After about 45 minutes, when the ice-cream has begun to solidify around the edges, stir to break down any frozen segments and return to the freezer. Check and stir every 30 minutes or so until the ice-cream is evenly frozen throughout. This will take 2-3 hours.

Recipe supplied by Anya Kassoff, g0lubka.blogspot.co.uk

Date, seed and honey powerbars

This accentuates all that can be great about flapjacks (oats, dried fruit and seeds) and minimises refined sugars.

You can swap my suggested ingredients for whatever you have in the cupboard – apricots or figs instead of dates and prunes, walnuts for almonds, and use whatever seeds you have knocking around. A good rainy afternoon activity for all.

Makes about 14 pieces

160g butter
6 tbsp honey
300g oats
80g flaked almonds
70g sultanas
70g dried apricots, chopped
80g dried prunes, chopped
100g stoned dates, chopped
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tbsp pumpkin seeds
1 tbsp hemp seeds
1 tbsp linseeds

1 Preheat the oven to 160C/320F/gas mark 3.

2 Melt the butter with the honey.

3 Toss all the dry ingredients together in a bigbowl, then pour in the melted butter andhoney.

4 Line a 20cm x 30cm tin with buttered, greaseproof paper and pack the mix into it, pressing it down with the back of a spoon.

5 Cook for 45 minutes, or until slightly brown. Take out of the oven and allow to stand for 5 minutes before cutting into oblongs.

6 Cool to room temperature before taking out of the tin. These can be stored for five days in an airtight container.

Allegra's Colour Cookbook by Allegra McEvedy (Kyle Cathie)

Poppy seed torte

A traditional recipe from the north-western Waldviertel region of Austria.

Serves 8-10

200g butter, softened, plus more for greasing
60g icing sugar
6 eggs
Juice and grated zest of 1 lemon
4 tsp rum
½ tsp vanilla extract
280g poppy seeds, crushed
120g hazelnuts, ground
125g caster sugar

For the filling and topping
200g redcurrant jelly
125g icing sugar
2 tbsp rum

1 Cream the butter and icing sugar together. Separate the eggs and add the yolks to the bowl, mixing until very light and creamy.

2 Add the lemon juice, zest, rum, vanilla extract, poppy seeds and ground hazelnuts and mix well.

3 Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Grease with butter or line with baking paper a24cm-wide springform cake tin.

4 Beat the egg whites into peaks, then add the caster sugar slowly, beating until the mixture is smooth and shiny. Gently fold into the poppy seed mixture with a wooden spoon.

5 Pour the mixture into a tin and smooth the surface. Bake for an hour. When the torte starts to darken, cover with foil.

6 Allow to cool in the tin. When the torte is cool enough to handle, remove from the tin and leave to cool on a cake rack.

7 Slice the torte in half horizontally and spread the lower half with redcurrant jelly, then reunite. Cover the top of the torte with a thin layer of the jelly and set aside to dry. 8 Mix the icing sugar with the 2 tbsp rum and spread the glaze with a palette knife, letting itdrip down the sides. Allow the glaze to dry before serving.

Translated and adapted from Herdhelden by Sarah Wiener (Gräfe und Unzer Verlag)

Early spring slaw

This slaw has flavours and textures shooting out in all directions and is the perfect way to welcome spring. A fabulous bowl of raw goodness – a relief after six months of slowcooking.

Serves 4-6

1 bulb of fennel
A handful of asparagus spears
1 ruby grapefruit
A splash of extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp white balsamic vinegar or white wine vinegar
½ hispi cabbage, finely shredded
Two handfuls of mixed seeds, toasted
Small handful of mint, roughly chopped, plus a few small whole leaves
Small handful of basil leaves, roughly chopped
Salt and black pepper

1 Fill a big bowl with cold, preferably iced water, peel off the outer, tougher leaves from the fennel bulb, then slice thinly.

2 Drop the fennel slices into the water to crisp and curl while you make the rest of the slaw.

3 Remove the woody end of the asparagus, then peel the rest of the stalk into thin ribbons, letting them fall into your salad bowl.

4 Cut the top and bottom off the grapefruit so it sits flat, then in downward slices cut off the peel. Cut between the segments so that they fall pith-free into the salad bowl. Then squeeze the juice into a separate, small bowl.

5 Use a fork to beat the olive oil into the grapefruit juice along with the vinegar and some salt and pepper.

6 Drain the fennel and pat it dry on kitchen paper, then mix with the shaved asparagus, grapefruit, cabbage, herbs (except whole mintleaves) and most of the seeds.

7 Lightly toss the salad with some seasoning and just enough of the dressing to coat; sprinkle the remaining seeds and mint leaves.

Recipe supplied by Allegra McEvedy