Baking Recipe: Seeded Whole Wheat Overnight Bread (2024)

FAQs

Can I just add seeds to bread dough? ›

You can soak seeds overnight, strain them, and add them to a bread dough during mixing (easiest) or during an early round of stretching and folding the dough (better gluten development).

It is important to remember the higher the hydration, the looser the dough. Too much water and we would have batter, which is impossible to handle! For the 50% whole wheat loaf we increased the hydration to 85% (340g water) and increased the hydration up to 91% for the 75% whole wheat loaf (364g water).

Gluten is important for giving the dough – and final loaves – structure. Without it, loaves tend to end up flat and dense. One trick is to add some white all-purpose flour along with the whole wheat flour. Even just a little white flour has enough gluten to give the dough better structure.

If your bread is not rising at all, there is usually a problem with the yeast. It might be out of date or, often, dead due to high temperature. Yeast begin to die at 120℉ (49℃). To see if the yeast you are using is active, add a little to warm water with a little sugar and look for bubbles after 5 - 10 minutes.

Dough first, then add seeds

The other option is to add the seeds once the dough is adequately mixed and gluten has formed and developed to your recipe requirements.

Packed with omega-3 fatty acids, fiber, and antioxidants, flax seeds are not only great for your heart health but also add a great nutty flavor. Sunflower seeds are a versatile addition that brings a subtle nuttiness and a delightful crunch to your bread. These seeds are rich in vitamin E, healthy fats, and magnesium.

The solution: When substituting whole wheat for 100% of the white flour in your own favorite yeast recipe, do this: For every cup of whole wheat flour substituted, increase the liquid in the recipe by 2 teaspoons. Once you've mixed up the dough but before kneading, let it rest for 30 minutes.

1st rise (about 2 hours): After you knead the dough, cover it and let it rise in a relatively warm spot. Whole wheat dough requires a slightly longer rise time than white sandwich bread because it's weighed down with wheat germ and bran. Once it has doubled in size, punch it down to release the air.

Most commercial bakers use at least a 90-percent baker's percentage of water–that is, 14.4 ounces to a pound of whole wheat flour.

Too much water can also produce a damp loaf. Try less water with your flour. Uneven heat in your oven can be the culprit – if you loaf is nicely golden on the outside but gummy or moist in the inside, it's baking too quickly on the outside. Trying reducing the temperature you're baking at and bake for a bit longer.

What temperature do you bake bread at? ›

Pop the loaves into a 375º oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes. The loaves should be golden brown. If you want to be sure they're baked through, use your thermometer to check the internal temperature of the bread. You're looking for about 185º.

Your Bread Has Too Much Flour

Adding too much flour is one common mistake for beginning bakers. This produces dry bread with more crumbs. The key is to find a balance between the flour and liquid ingredients in your recipe. It can be tricky because bread recipes don't always give you an exact amount of flour.

If baked too soon or too late, loaves can collapse and have a dense, gummy center. “There are so many factors that affect rise time, so exact time will vary for every baker.

But almost as good as a proofing box is taking a Mason jar filled halfway up with water, microwaving it for two minutes, then putting your bowl of dough into the microwave with the jar to rise. The other thing you can do is place your lidded container or bowl of dough into a second, larger bowl of warm water.

Yeast is a microorganism that helps to give bread its light and fluffy texture and distinctive flavor. But when it comes to baking whole wheat bread, does it require more yeast than other types of bread? The answer is yes, whole wheat bread generally requires more yeast than other types of bread.

For some breads, you can use an egg wash as the glue; the seeds will stick to it. But not all breads benefit from an egg wash; crusty loaves that bake at a high temperature, for example. In those cases, the best way to get the seeds to stick is simple: Just add water. For the seediest crust, just add water.

An important factor to this dough is the need to pre-soak the toasted seeds before adding them to the dough to prevent the seeds from absorbing all the water in the dough. I usually soak the seeds in about 5% extra water right when I start with autolyse.

For seeds, and harder nuts like almonds, I definitely recommend soaking them in warm water for at least an hour (or 2 if you remember!) before adding them into your bread dough. Just like dried fruit, I soak them, strain them, then dimple them into the dough after the autolyse.

The sesame seeds throughout the bread is a nice touch, but I think I will toast them prior to adding them to the dough. All in all, a great flavor bread!