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]]>This wholesome and flavorful seeded whole wheat bread recipe is one of the many loaves I baked over the two years when I returned to New England after living in Spain. One of my first “culture shocks” was the supermarket sandwich loaves. They were so sweet, the crumb soft but disappointing, as was the crust. It took a long time to find store-bought artisan bread, and when I did they were surprisingly expensive.
Whenever I could manage, I’d make homemade bread. Dedicating ten minutes of meditative mixing and kneading, plus passive time waiting for the dough to rise and bake, turned into a delicious ritual. This simple whole wheat bread recipe was born, along with other whole wheat goodies like Pizzas Dough and Blueberry Muffins.
With this simple loaf, the whole wheat flour imparts a complex and earthy flavor, while the blend of toasted seeds adds a mild nuttiness. As opposed to supermarket varieties, homemade bread has a crisp crust to contrast the soft interior. The crunchy seeds add to the textural variety, and you can control the sweetness with just a tablespoon of honey.
Making your own sandwich bread doesn’t require as much time as you might expect, especially when you consider it’s mostly hands-off. Storebought bread doesn’t get stale as quickly as homemade bread–almost frighteningly so—but you will get a few days out of this one. Plus, it comes back to life with a quick trip to the toaster, ready for Breakfast Toasts or open-faced sandwiches.
This simple list of ingredients bakes into a nutty, wholesome sandwich bread, and it can easily be made vegan. This bread is a great way to use up partial bags of seeds in your cupboard, or you can use a blend of your favorites. Here’s what you’ll need:
At one point I fell into a rhythm of baking bread on Sunday afternoons to use throughout the week. I’m not suggesting everyone has the time for this—I admit baking is both my job and my hobby. But it can be a treat to break the routine when you can, especially when the reward is freshly baked bread! Here are the steps:
I typically use a blend of flax, sunflower, and white sesame seeds in my whole wheat bread recipe because of their flavor, and because I always keep them stocked for adding to my weekly batch of Granola.
By switching what seeds you use, you can vary the flavor and texture of the loaf and adapt the recipe to what you keep stocked in your cupboard. You can try black sesame, pumpkin, chia, poppy, or hemp seeds. I toast the seeds that will be mixed into the dough, but I use untoasted seeds for topping the bread since they’ll toast while the bread bakes.
Kneading the dough develops the gluten, a network of proteins that activates when mixing flour and water. Gluten gives the dough structure and the ability to trap the gasses produced by the yeast for a well-risen, light loaf.
Lately, I’ve been kneading more doughs by hand, either on the countertop with doughs like this one or in the bowl using periodic folds for slacker doughs like Focaccia. I like to feel the dough transform from a sticky mess to a smooth, structured mass.
The dough is ready when it has lost its stickiness, though it may still feel tacky. The dough will stretch easily without tearing. It will look smooth, but not perfectly so because of the seeds and the bran from the whole wheat flour.
This seeded whole wheat bread recipe is perfect for all kinds of sandwiches, open-faced sandwiches, and toast. While it’s fresh and soft, use it for this Chickpea Salad Sandwich or this Veggie Sandwich. After a few days, the bread will begin to stale—but don’t fret. Toasting it breathes new life.
Start the day with a hearty breakfast toast, like this Mediterranean-style Breakfast Toast or Egg Toast with Veggies. For a quick lunch or light dinner make this Vegetarian Smashed Chickpea Toast.
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]]>Some of my favorite baking happens when I’m just ready to embrace fall, but not quite able to let go of summer. It’s the time of figs, plums, grapes, and apples.
Walking around Barcelona recently, I noticed figs peeking out from behind the leaves of some of the trees on my street. A few had even fallen onto the sidewalk! I suddenly realized it was time for fig cake, fig jam, and this fig bread recipe.
I make this tender tea cake with nutty whole wheat flour, fruity olive oil, and a touch of honey dotted with sweet and earthy figs. A few final touches make all the difference: a topping of quartered figs get nicely jammy and makes for a beautiful presentation. I also sprinkle on a handful of chopped hazelnuts, which toast until crunchy and aromatic as the bread bakes.
Make this easy fig bread recipe in the morning if you have a couple of hours to spare before brunch, or prep ahead the night before. If there are leftovers, I like another slice with my afternoon coffee.
Nutty whole wheat flour and floral honey bring out the best of the sweet and earthy figs. Overripe figs would add too much moisture to the batter so look for fresh figs that are tender to the touch but not splitting and very soft. Here’s what you’ll need:
Generally speaking, you don’t want to mess too much with a loaf cake recipe as it can affect the moisture levels and lead to an overly dry or undercooked cake. That said, there are three ingredients you can tweak in this fig bread to make it your own:
The batter for this fig bread recipe mixes together by hand in just minutes. You don’t need a mixer or any special equipment. The loaf will slice much easier after cooling it completely, 30 minutes to an hour. Here’s how to make it:
The peak season for fresh figs is late summer through fall, but you can usually find them in the grocery store from May to December. While you can use green or black figs for baking, my favorite are Black Mission figs for their sweet and fruity flavor.
Outside of fig season, you can substitute dried figs for fresh. Add 1 cup of chopped dried figs to the batter in place of the chopped fresh figs. Skip the fig topping, and sprinkle the top of the batter with chopped hazelnuts before baking.
I like to serve this loaf cake as a sweet breakfast or for brunch on the weekend, and maybe have another slice later with my afternoon coffee or Black Tea.
Serve slices with a slather of nut butter and extra figs or berries. Or spread a slice with Fig Jam for extra fig flavor. A dollop of honey-sweetened Greek yogurt on the side adds tangy richness.
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]]>My dad is quite the food critic in our family. When he likes something, you know about it, and when he finds a favorite he is the first to email everyone in the family with links and pictures. When he tried this sesame breadstick recipe, it immediately won his stamp of approval both for taste and nutrition!
These crispy breadsticks are egg, sugar, and dairy-free! The crisp texture makes them great for dunking into dips like Hummus, Whipped Feta, and Tzatziki. You can also include them in your mezze spread, or enjoy them as a quick snack on the go. They have a slightly nutty flavor from the tahini and sesame seeds and a subtle sweetness from a touch of honey.
You can indulge without worry like my Dad did when he found a jar of these homemade sesame breadsticks on my counter! He was immediately enticed and asked where I bought them. When I shared that I had made them, and did so without butter or sugar he decided to snack on a few more! Eventually, that batch disappeared, and while Kritsinia may translate to “breadstick,” but I translate it to, “snacking with joy!”
Kritsinia, pronounced “kri-tsi-nia,” are breadsticks coated with sesame seeds. They are reminiscent of Italian grissini, which are often(but not always) without sesame seeds and slightly thicker. Kritsinia are easily shaped and stretched by hand; no rolling pin required.
This recipe is extra delicious, as the dough has the added ingredient of tahini paste. The paste gives the breadsticks a unique nutty flavor, enhancing the sesame flavor from the outer seeds that coat the breadstick.
To add to the complexity of flavor, the sticks are dipped into a honey and water solution before being coated in the seeds. The honey helps the seeds to stick to the breadsticks and creates a mild sweetness — the combination of sweet and sesame flavors with a crisp texture is hard to resist. Try and stop at one!
Greek-style breadsticks use mostly pantry staples that you likely have on hand, with tahini paste for an added richness and depth of flavor. You’ll need:
The recipe for these breadsticks includes yeast for a lighter texture, but it’s also possible to make them without yeast. The non-yeasted version will produce a slightly denser texture than the yeasted variety, as the yeast contributes to its lightness.
The shape and thickness of these breadsticks play a crucial role in their texture. A thinner shape results in a crunchier texture when cooked. It is essential to monitor them closely as they cook to prevent the ends from burning and ensure the center bakes crispy. Traditionally, most kritsinia are made slightly shorter, but I like to make them longer because the extra length makes them more visually appealing and enjoyable to eat.
You can easily double the breadstick dough and freeze half for up to one month. Wrap it with cling wrap and place it in the freezer. When needed, defrost the dough, divide it into portions, shape it, and bake.
This crispy breadsticks recipe is easy, but keep these tips in mind as you go:
These breadsticks are so versatile! You can get creative and try out various delicious topping combinations. Here are some ideas to get you started.
Breadsticks are best enjoyed within the first few days after they are made, as they are at their crunchiest. However, a way to retain their crunch is to leave them on the countertop in an open jar. As they dry out, the crunchiness remains. They also look impressive and inviting to snack on.
Alternatively, you could store them in an airtight container (once cool) at room temperature for up to one week. You can re-crisp them in a hot oven for 5-10 minutes.
This crispy breadstick is a simple side or snack that can be enjoyed in various ways:
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]]>I often make a last minute Veggie Pizza with a quick-rising Whole Wheat Dough. But when I want a dough that’s extra fluffy and tender–and have the forethought to plan the night before–I absolutely love this Neapolitan Pizza Dough recipe.
Living in a city, I don’t have an outdoor kitchen with a brick wood fire pizza oven, or even any outdoor space for a portable version. But even so, baking this dough on a pizza stone is the closest approximation to my favorite pizzerias.
It’s beautifully simple, made with just flour, yeast, salt, and water. It doesn’t require a stand mixer or hand kneading. Just mix until all the flour is moistened, cover, and leave it overnight.
The long, slow fermentation time gives the crust a tantalizing flavor as the yeast has time to develop a buttery, earthy depth. Double zero (00) pizza flour produces a soft, fluffy texture with a light chew. Combined with the slow fermentation, it makes a crust with a crisp outer shell that shatters into the soft, airy interior, all while having enough strength to shoulder the toppings of your choice.
Neapolitan pizza is known for its flavorful crust that is fluffy, tender, and slightly chewy. It uses white 00 pizza flour and doesn’t rely on any oil or sugar.
Believe it or not, Neapolitan pizza is a protected product in the European Union and considered a UNESCO cultural heritage. To ensure quality and authenticity, the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (the True Neapolitan Pizza Association) has strict requirements for what qualifies as Neapolitan pizza, including the type of flour you can use, how thick the dough can be, and what you can top it with.
While this Neapolitan pizza dough recipe might not comply with their strict definition, it is based on that famous style of dough. So while I won’t be getting out my measuring tape to make sure it’s less than 11.8 inches wide and 0.1-0.12 inches thick, I believe this home-style version embraces the same flavor profile and spirit of the original. That’s Neapolitan enough for me!
Traditional Neapolitan pizza dough has just 4 ingredients: flour, yeast, salt, and water. Classically, 00 pizza flour gives the best texture, but you can use bread flour in a pinch. Here’s what you’ll need:
Doppio zero flour, also known as 00 flour, double zero flour, or “double O” flour, is a finely ground Italian flour most commonly used for pasta and pizza. In Italy, you choose flour not only based on the composition and protein content but also on the grind size. The grind size ranges from 00 to 2, with 2 being the coarsest and 00 the finest.
This means you can find different types of 00 flour, like pastry flour or semolina flour. The fine texture of the classic 00 flour, or the kind used for this recipe, creates a dough that is soft, tender, toothsome, and has just the right amount of chew.
With such a short and simple ingredient list, Neapolitan pizza dough relies on overnight fermentation to develop its characteristically flavorful, soft, and chewy crust. Plan on starting the dough the night before you intend to bake the pizzas, or first thing in the morning at the latest. Here’s how to make the dough:
Pizza stones are excellent at retaining heat, and the direct heat from the hot stone cooks the crust evenly creating a crisp bottom. If you don’t have a pizza stone, you can still use this Neapolitan pizza dough to make delicious home-baked pizzas on a baking sheet or in a cast-iron skillet. Things to keep in mind If you use a baking sheet or a cast-iron skillet:
To make a quicker version of this Neapolitan pizza dough recipe, you can double the yeast and mix the dough in the morning on the same day you plan to bake the pizzas. Let the dough rise at room temperature for about 8 hours.
The flavor and texture of the dough is best with a long, slow fermentation. If you’re looking for another easy pizza dough that is ready to bake in about an hour, try this easy whole wheat pizza dough recipe.
Pizza is a full meal in and of itself, but you can serve some light sides like salad or veggies to round things out. There’s no denying that Caprese Salad is a classic, or for a crowd you could make a big bowl of Italian Salad.
Serve veggies on the side, like Sautéed Asparagus, along with Strawberry Bellinis to sip on while the pizzas bake. End your Italian evening with a scoop of sweet and tangy Lemon Sorbet.
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