Having dinner with homemade flavored bread

Homemade Flavored Bread

Homemade Flavored Bread – Outside crunchy, Inside fluffy

Two kinds of flour, diastatic malt powder, yeast, and spices turned this Homemade Flavored Bread into a side dish you can’t resist. It is helpful to have the right gadgets and prepare ingredients before starting to make the bread

Gadgets and Preparation:

  • silicone baking mat
  • kitchen scale
  • bread dough basket, to let the bread rise a second time into its shape
  • hand press sifter or fine-meshed wire sieve
  • bread slashing tool (razor blade with handle) or sharp knife, to make the cuts into the bread
  • stainless steel or plastic dough scraper
  • coffee grinder, to grind the seeds of anise, coriander, caraway, fennel
  • 2 teaspoons of bread flour mixed with two teaspoons of potato starch

Use two teaspoons of anise, coriander, caraway, and fennel. Mix the spices and grind them with the coffee grinder. Sift the bread flour/potato starch mix evenly into the bread dough basket. Place both aside.

Gadgets for making bread   Spice Mixture for the homemade flavored bread   Bread Doug Basket

Ingredients for the Homemade Flavored Bread:

  • 250 g (8.8 oz) of Navajo Pride flour, all-purpose
  • 300 g (10.58 oz) of bread flour
  • 1 pouch of dry yeast, rapid rise = 7 g = ¼ oz = 2 ¼ teaspoons
  • 2 tablespoons of diastatic malt powder
  • 1 teaspoon of sugar
  • 1 ½ teaspoon of salt
  • 2 teaspoons of mixed ground spices (anise, coriander, caraway, fennel)
  • 2 tablespoons of olive oil or cooking oil by your choice
  • 250 ml (8.45 oz) of water, lukewarm
  • 125 ml (4.22 oz) of milk, lukewarm

Preparation of the dough:

Add the flour, yeast, salt, sugar, diastatic malt powder, and spices into a stand mixer bowl and mix the dry ingredients with a spoon. Mix the water and milk and warm it up in the microwave. Make sure it is not too hot, just lukewarm.

Pour the olive oil and half of the water/milk mixture into the bowl and start kneading on low while slowly giving the rest of the water/milk mixture into the mixing bowl. When the ingredients are combined, knead on high for two minutes, turn the speed back to low, and continue kneading until the dough is not sticking to the bowl’s walls. The total kneading time is about 6 minutes. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let the dough rest for 40 minutes or until it has doubled. Flatten the dough with the fingertips, place it on the floured surface and knead with the hands to soften the dough.

Kneading the dough for the homemade flavored bread   Dough for the homemade flavored bread   Flatten the dough

Shaping the Bread:

The shaping of the bread creates the tension of the surface. Therefore flatten the dough a little and start folding one edge to the center. Continue with the outside edges while turning the dough in one direction. Pick up the dough ball in the center and turn it around with the seam down. Use both hands and stretch the outside of the ball while turning. If the dough sticks to the surface or your hands, flour lightly.

Folding of the dough   Stretching the dough   Finishing the dough ball

Place the bread with the seam on top into the floured breadbasket, cover with a kitchen towel, and let it rise for 30 minutes.

Preparation of the breadbasket                      Finishing the dough for the homemade flavored bread

Baking of the bread:

In the meantime, place a heat-resistant pot of water on the bottom of the oven and preheat to 210°C – 410°F. 

Take the bread out of the basket and sift flour on top. Place the homemade flavored bread on a baking sheet covered with baking paper. Make cuts on top of the bread either in a criss-cross or as I did in a star.

Add 3 ice cubes left and right of the pot on the oven’s bottom to create more steam and place the bread on the third rack. Bake the bread for 50 minutes. Open the door completely after 20 minutes to release steam and close it again. I leave the pot with water in the oven during baking time, but you also can take it out after opening the door.

Flour the bread  Cutting the bread    Baking the bread

Let the bread cool down on a cooling rack. If you want to try the Homemade Sunday Rolls click here, Homemade Breakfast Rolls, click here, and for the Homemade Kaiser Rolls, click here.