Crunchy Seed Bread

In my continuing experimentation with breads I was looking for a bread with whole wheat and found a recipe for Crunchy Seed Braid bread from King Arthur Flour. The bread was delicious with a wonderful crunchy texture. My rise was not as high as I would have expected but I will continue to investigate if it was my process, ingredients or just the way it should be. The original recipe include many KA specific products. The recipe below has my modifications.

RECIPE

10 ounces lukewarm water
1 1/4 ounces vegetable oil
8 1/2 ounces unbleached Bread Flour
6 ounces Whole Wheat Flour, white wheat preferred
6 ounces multi-seed mixture (see below, divided)
1 1/2 ounces traditional rolled oats
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
7/8 ounce sugar
1 ounce nonfat dry milk
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 large egg white beaten with 1 tablespoon cold water
Multi-seed mixture (1 oz poppy, 2 oz sesame, 1 oz golden flax, 1 oz millet, 1 oz sunflower)

Directions

1) Mix all of the ingredients (3 oz of the seed mixture) through yeast, and mix and knead into a smooth dough.

2) Place the dough in a lightly greased, covered container, and allow it to rise for 90 minutes.

3) Gently deflate the dough, and divide it into three pieces. Roll and stretch each piece into a 24″ log.

4) Brush the logs with the beaten egg white, coating them as well as you can with remaining seed mixture.

5) Sprinkle with the remaining seeds. Roll them over, brush with egg white, and sprinkle on more seeds. Roll them around a bit, to coat as completely as possible.

6) Allow the logs to rest for 15 minutes, uncovered.

7) Squeeze the three logs together at one end. Twist into a braid. When you get to the end, squeeze the three pieces together and tuck them underneath. Transfer the braid to a lightly greased or parchment-lined pan, brush with more egg white, and and sprinkle with any leftover seeds.

8) Cover the braid, and let it rise for another 1 hour. Toward the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 425°F.

9) Bake the bread for 15 minutes. Tent it lightly with foil (to prevent over-browning), reduce the oven temperature to 350°F, and bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, until the crust is golden and the braid’s internal temperature registers 190°F. Remove it from the oven, and cool on a rack.

Add butter and enjoy.