Rustic Seeded Bread

Circle B Kitchen

This recipe turns out an amazingly delicious loaf of bread with a dark, crisp crust and soft, flavorful interior. I have used italics to note the changes I made to the recipe. If you would rather not bake this in a crock, you can simply place the loaf on a parchment-lined baking sheet for the second rise and then place that in the oven for baking. Easy peasy. Feel free to leave out the seeds or add your own blend or K.A.'s Harvest Grains Blend. I've given you the recipe for the seeds that I added.

Sponge

1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) cool water

1 teaspoon instant yeast

1 1/2 cups (6 1/4 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

1/2 cup (2 ounces) pumpernickel flour (I used rye flour)

Dough

2 teaspoons salt

2 1/4 cups (9 1/2 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

1/2 cup (2 3/4 ounces) Harvest Grains Blend or mixed seeds of your choice (see below for my seed mixture)

My Seed Mixture

2 1/2 teaspoons poppy seeds

2 teaspoons of caraway seeds

1 teaspoon dill seeds

3 teaspoons flax seeds

2 teaspoons sesame seeds

Combine the seeds in a small bowl and set aside.

To make the sponge: Mix the sponge ingredients together, and let rest at room temperature, covered, for 3 to 4 hours, or overnight.

To make the dough: Stir down the sponge, and add the salt and flour. Mix and knead the dough until it's smooth and elastic. Knead in the Harvest Grains Blend or your choice of seeds. Place the dough in a greased bowl, turning to coat its surface with oil. Cover and let rise in a warm spot for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until doubled in size.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly greased surface, and form it into a ball. Place on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet, or into an ovenproof crock (I placed it in a parchment-lined bowl). Cover and let rise for about 1 hour. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 450°F. (I placed my empty cast iron pot with the lid on in the oven for at least 20 minutes to get really hot.

Gently but firmly slash the dough across the top, then spritz it with water. (At this point I removed the cast iron pan from the oven and removed the lid. Grab the edges of the parchment paper and transfer the dough to the hot pan. Place the lid on the pot and bake the bread, covered, for 15 minutes. Remove the lid and let the bread continue baking for another 15 to 20 minutes or until it's deep golden brown). If using a baking sheet, bake the loaf for 30 to 35 minutes. Remove it from the oven and place it on a rack to cool. Cool completely before slicing. Yield: 1 loaf.