Indeed the greatest of feasts. My bread adventure continues and this month the #BreadBakers are baking Breads with Seeds. I am trying to improve my braiding - I am still only doing three stands - so I thought it would be fun to roll the logs into the seeds.
This is one delicious loaf of bread! For the topping I used a mixture of pumpkin seeds, flax seed, black and white sesame seeds, fennel seeds, anise seeds, and sunflower seeds - it may seem like seed overload, but they all work so well together. It takes a little time to make due to the rising times, but it is definitely worth it.
As soon as it was slightly cooled, I cut into it and slathered it with some Kerrygold butter (my favorite butter as it reminds of the butter we get in Australia). There is nothing quite like bread warm from the oven. Such a tender crumbs and the wonderful crunch from all of the seeds. I then wrapped it on foil to save for dinner the next night as I knew it would go perfectly with the soup I was making. This one is absolutely a keeper!
Crunchy Seed Braid
Ingredients
This is one delicious loaf of bread! For the topping I used a mixture of pumpkin seeds, flax seed, black and white sesame seeds, fennel seeds, anise seeds, and sunflower seeds - it may seem like seed overload, but they all work so well together. It takes a little time to make due to the rising times, but it is definitely worth it.
As soon as it was slightly cooled, I cut into it and slathered it with some Kerrygold butter (my favorite butter as it reminds of the butter we get in Australia). There is nothing quite like bread warm from the oven. Such a tender crumbs and the wonderful crunch from all of the seeds. I then wrapped it on foil to save for dinner the next night as I knew it would go perfectly with the soup I was making. This one is absolutely a keeper!
Crunchy Seed Braid
Ingredients
Bread ~
- 283g (1¼ cups) lukewarm water
- 35g (3 tablespoons) vegetable oil
- 241g (2 cups) Bread Flour
- 170g (1½ cups) White Whole Wheat Flour
- 43g (½ cup) traditional rolled oats
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- 25g (2 tablespoons) sugar
- 28g (¼ cup) nonfat dry milk
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast
Topping ~
- 1 large egg white beaten with 1 tablespoon cold water
- 85g (generous ½ cup) mixed seeds - poppy, sesame, flax, fennel, and anise are all good choices.
Preparation
- Mix all of the dough ingredients, and mix and knead - by hand, stand mixer, or bread machine - to make a smooth, supple dough.
- Place the dough in a lightly greased, covered container, and allow it to rise for 60 to 90 minutes (it will become quite puffy, though it may not double in size).
- Gently deflate the dough, and divide it into three pieces.
- Roll/stretch each piece into a 60cm (24-inch) log.
- Brush the logs with the beaten egg white, coating them as well as you can.
- Sprinkle with the seeds. Roll them over, brush with egg white, and sprinkle on more seeds. Roll them around a bit, to coat as completely as possible.
- Allow the logs to rest for 15 minutes, uncovered.
- Squeeze the three logs together at one end, braid, and when you get to the end, squeeze the three pieces together and tuck them underneath.
- Transfer the braid to a lightly greased or parchment-lined pan, brush with more egg white, and and sprinkle with any leftover seeds.
- Cover the braid, and let it rise for 1 hour, till the braid has become noticeably puffy. Toward the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 220℃ (425°F).
- Bake the bread for 15 minutes. Tent it lightly with foil (to prevent over-browning), reduce the oven temperature to 180℃ (350°F), and bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, until the crust is golden and the braid's internal temperature registers 89℃ (190°F.)
- Remove it from the oven, and cool on a rack.
#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated after each event on the #BreadBakers home page.
We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send Stacy an email with your blog URL to foodlustpeoplelove at gmail.com. Our theme this month is Breads with Seeds and mahalo to Mayuri for hosting.
We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send Stacy an email with your blog URL to foodlustpeoplelove at gmail.com. Our theme this month is Breads with Seeds and mahalo to Mayuri for hosting.
And don’t forget to check out all the fantastic pancakes baked by our talented bakers ~
- Almond Poppyseed Bread from A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Crunchy Seed Braid from All That's Left Are The Crumbs
- Fennel and Poppy Seed Rolls from Mayuri's Jikoni
- Onion & Poppy Seed Bialys from Baking Sense
- Savory Seeded Focaccia from Palatable Pastime
- Seeded Ficelle Bread from Karen's Kitchen Stories
- Siddu from The Mad Scientist's Kitchen
- Six-Seed Soda Bread from Food Lust People Love
- Sugarless Multiseed Rye Bread from CookwithRenu
- Tangzhong Method French Loaf With Seeds from Sneha's Recipes
- Vegan Seeded Challah Bread from Cook's Hideout
Love the crust this bread has, perfect to slater with butter or jam.
ReplyDeleteThat looks amazing Felice. P.S. I'm still stuck at three strands myself. =)
ReplyDeleteThis sounds a delicious and a healthy bread loaded with nuts...lovely share
ReplyDeleteWow, love the abundance of seeds on this bread. It looks fantastic. Love that last shot with the crumb.
ReplyDeleteWOW, your bread looks so nutty and delicious. Your braid looks great. Good one.
ReplyDeleteThis is an amazingly gorgeous loaf of bread.
ReplyDeleteSuperb, I love how well you have coated the strands to make a beautiful bread. Will definitely bake a bread with all the seeds. And James Beard is absolutely right, a good bread with fresh butter is the greatest of feasts.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a lovely bread! I am in love with it. It is not surprising that all that are left are crumbs.;D
ReplyDelete