Sure, it has been a while! But not because I haven’t been baking, only because I haven’t been writing about it. But I’m home sick from work and I can’t do the baking part unless I want to be Patient Zero of Bread Flu, so here I am doing the boring part. This bread was originally supposed to be for someone else, but I didn’t get to the post office, so I just ate it all myself. It’s like a foster fail, but, you know, for bread.
This bread has a strong sesame flavor and is very hearty. It goes very well with butter or any number of jams or spreads. If you like a savory bread, this is the one for you. The addition of egg gives the bread a moist crumb and a crisp crust.
This bread did not work for me as avocado toast. It was…fine? But there’s something about the sesame flavor that didn’t blend well with the acidity of the avocado mixture. Do not recommend. 🥑🥑/5
Sesame Whole Wheat Bread
(makes three standard size loaves, takes about 4.5-5hrs)
Dough:
• 1.5c warm water
• 10g yeast
• 1T active dry yeast
• 47g light brown sugar
• 1/4c light molasses
• 281g whole wheat flour
• 1/4c sesame oil
• 1/4c sesame seeds
• 30g yellow cornmeal
• 13g salt
• 3 eggs (room temp)
• 684-753g bread flour
1. Begin by gathering your ingredients. This bread does have a lot of ingredients, so it’s a good idea to have everything pulled out and possibly pre-measured, get your mise en place on. You want your eggs to be room temp, so at the very least if they’re in the fridge, pull them out early on to let them warm up. You’ve got your standard flour, water, salt, yeast, and this bread has the addition of molasses, brown sugar, and sesame oil for color and flavor, as well as egg to add some moisture to the dough.
2. Pour the warm water into a large bowl. Sprinkle the yeast over the top and add a pinch of brown sugar. Stir a bit to dissolve, and let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes (it might be hard to see the difference here in the photos because it’s a very fine foam, but if you look carefully you can see the after pic looks like it’s more textured and raised).
3. Once the yeast is proofed, add the brown sugar, molasses, and WW flour. Beat until smooth, then cover with plastic wrap and set aside until foamy, about 1 hour.
4. Add the oil, sesame seeds, cornmeal, salt, eggs, and 1 cup of the bread flour. Beat until smooth again. Ad the rest of the flour, about a half-cup at a time, until a soft dough forms.
5. Turn the dough out and knead gently until no longer sticky. The dough should end up smooth on the surface, and fairly soft. Dust with flour minimally to avoid sticking. Don’t overknead, the dough will continue to absorb flour and become dry, so it’s okay to stop if the dough is still a little sticky once it’s smooth and soft.
6. Grease a large bowl, drop the dough in, turn it once to coat, then cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 1.5-2 hours.
7. Working carefully to avoid deflating the dough, turn the dough out and divide it into three equal parts. Gently shape each into a rectangular loaf. Place them seam-side-down on a baking sheet that has been greased and sprinkled with cornmeal. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled again, about 1 hour.
8. Twenty minutes before baking, preheat to 350°. Just before baking, use a sharp serrated knife to slash 3 parallel lines about 1/4″ deep into each loaf. Bake 35-40 minutes until evenly golden brown and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Let cool completely before slicing or else it’ll get gummy. Enjoy!
0 Comments