Sesame Seeded Semolina Bread

This Sesame Seeded Semolina Bread has a wonderful nutty, sweet flavor and a beautiful yellow crumb. It is wonderful with butter, and makes delicious toast. It is the perfect accompaniment for fall's soups, stews, and chilis. It also makes delicious garlic bread.

The best part? You make the dough in advance, shape it, and bake it the next morning.

Semolina is a coarse, grainy flour from high protein durum (hard) wheat. It is typically used to make pasta, but can be substituted for some or all of the flour in bread. It also is wonderful in pizza dough.

In the U.S., there are two types of semolina flour: regular semolina (used in this recipe), and durum flour, which is more finely ground. In India, the finely ground version is called Atta (I'm pretty sure). My bread baking buddies from across the globe also refer to the finely ground version as semola flour.

As a bread ingredient hoarder (because you never know when a "semolina emergency" might come up), I keep both on hand.

This recipe is from my friend Donna's (of the blog Cookistry) new cookbook, Make Ahead Bread: 100 Recipes for Melt-in-Your-Mouth Fresh Bread Every Day. Donna makes bread baking completely hassle free. She demystifies the whole process.

If you think you don't have time to bake your own bread, this book will change your mind. She's got recipes for breads, pizzas, pastries, and dinner rolls (perfect for Thanksgiving!).

This bread is kneaded, allowed to rise, shaped, placed in a Dutch oven, and then refrigerated over night. On baking day, after sprinkling a generous amount of sesame seeds on top, you put the cold pan, cover and all, into a cold oven and turn on the heat. fifty minutes later, you have this gorgeous loaf of bread.

We had it with slow cooker white chicken chili and a tossed green salad. Perfect for fall.

Resources:

• I used this 5 quart Lodge Dutch oven for baking the bread. I love it because the lid also can be used as a frying pan. 
• I usually can find semolina flour in the Bob's Red Mill section of the grocery store, but if you can't find it, you can order it from King Arthur Flour. 
• I placed a sheet of parchment paper in the pot before adding the shaped dough. It makes it easier to lift out the bread. If you decide to use parchment, make sure it's heavy duty. I recommend the pre-cut sheets from King Arthur Flour, or the Reynolds brand from the grocery store. 
• And of course, Donna's book. 

After the recipe, be sure to check out the amazing collection of fall breads from the #BreadBakers participants. 

For more bread recipes using semolina, check out this Semolina Sourdough, Semolina Rounds, Durum Bread, and Durum Stirato. 

Sesame Seeded Semolina Bread Recipe

From Make Ahead Bread: 100 Recipes for Melt-in-Your-Mouth Fresh Bread Every Day. 

Ingredients

Spray oil

Course corn meal, for the bottom of the pan

1 cup room temperature water, plus more if needed
1 large egg
2 1/4 tsp instant or active dry yeast (I used instant)
1 tablespoon sugar
2 1/2 cups (11 1/4 ounces) bread flour
1 cup (6 ounces) semolina flour
2 tablespoons semi-soft unsalted butter
1 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
Egg wash (one egg whisked with 1 tablespoon of water)
2 tablespoons raw sesame seeds

Instructions

On Prep Day

1. Spray the bottom of a 3 to 5 quart Dutch oven with spray oil and sprinkle it generously with coarse corn meal. Optionally, line it with heavy duty parchment, spray the parchment with spray oil, and sprinkle with corn meal.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add all of the ingredients except the egg wash and sesame seeds. 
3. Mix with the dough hook for about 7 minutes, until smooth, adjusting the flour or water at about two minutes. The dough should be smooth but not stiff. I added an additional tablespoon of water. 
4. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in a warm spot in your kitchen to rise until doubled, about one hour.
5. Shape the dough into a ball, and place it seam side down, into the Dutch oven. Cover and place it in the refrigerator overnight, up to 24 hours. 

On Baking Day

1. Brush the loaf with the egg wash and sprinkle with the sesame seeds. You will have way more egg wash than you will need. 
2. Place the covered pan into a cold oven and set it to 400 degrees F. Bake for about 50 minutes, until the dough registers about 195 degrees F. I took the top off of the pan for the last 5 minutes. 
3. Take the pan out of the oven and transfer the bread to a wire rack and cool completely. 

Let's take a look at the other Fall Flavors being shared today

• Apple Crumb Quick Bread from Food Lust People Love
• Browned Butter Semolina Pumpkin Bread from Sizzling Tastebuds
• Buttermilk Wheat Bread from Magnolia Days
• Eggless Apple Sage Cheddar Scones from Spill the Spices
• Fall Harvest Bread from Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
• Harvest Grains Bread from Hostess At Heart
• Mr. Potato Bread from What Smells So Good?
• Multigrain Bread With Seeds from Sneha's Recipe
• Pumpkin and Apple Cornmeal Griddle Cakes from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Pumpkin Bread from la cocina de Aisha
• Pumpkin Bread from Sara's Tasty Buds
• Pumpkin Bread Rolls from Spiceroots
• Pumpkin Spice Cinnamon Rolls from Recipes Food and Cooking
• Pumpkin, Poppy & Papaya Seeded Breadsticks from G'Gina's Kitchenette
• Pumpkin Raisin Bagels from Cook's Hideout
• Pumpkin Sourdough Bread from Passion Kneaded
• Schiacciata Con L'uva (Tuscan Style Grape, Olive and Goat Cheese Focaccia) from Ruchik Randhap

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this 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@gmail.com.