This bread gets its sweet, nutty texture from the honey, sesame seeds and flaxseed meal. If you guessed that it’s healthy, you’re right. Since you make your own bread, you know exactly what wholesome ingredients you put into it. Enjoy this bread with any meal. Alternatively, slice the bread, toast it and serve it with butter and preserves at breakfast.
Active prep time: 30 minutes (mixing and assembling dough)
Inactive prep time: 50 to 60 minutes (two dough risings)
Bake time: 25 to 30 minutes
Makes: 2 loaves
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon or 1 packet Rapid Rise Yeast® dissolved in 3/4 cup warm water and set aside to rise for 10 minutes
5 cups organic, unbleached, all-purpose, white flour
¾ cup flaxseed meal
1 teaspoon salt
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup honey
¼ cup toasted sesame seeds
1 cup warm water
2 teaspoons untoasted sesame seeds
Directions:
1. Combine 4 cups of the flour with the flaxseed meal and salt in a large, shallow bowl, forming a well in the center.
2. Pour in the risen yeast and water mixture, olive oil, honey, sesame seeds and the water.
3. Using a fork, mix wet ingredients until combined.
4. With a fork, gently begin mixing in flour from the sides of the well, a little at a time.
5. Each time you mix in some flour, make sure to blend it well into the wet ingredients.
6. Keep incorporating flour from the sides of well in small amounts, until you have formed a soft dough.
7. If dough is too wet and sticky, add flour in small amounts until the dough is uniform and you can grab it. It should be soft and smooth.
8. With lightly floured hands, gently knead the dough inside the bowl, adding small amounts of flour, until it is smooth and elastic.
9. Set dough aside on floured surface while you oil the bowl. Return dough to the oiled bowl and cover it with aluminum foil or a clean kitchen towel. Set the dough aside for 30 minutes to rise.
10. After 30 minutes, punch down the dough in center.
11. Lift dough out of bowl and, with an oiled knife, cut it into two equal pieces.
12. Shape each piece into an oval loaf.
13. Place loaves, crosswise and spaced apart by 4 inches, on an oiled 18 x 12-inch baking sheet.
14. Sprinkle each loaf with 1 teaspoon untoasted sesame seeds.
15. Cover the dough with an oiled sheet of aluminum foil and let it rise for an additional 20 to 30 minutes.
Bake the Bread Loaves:
1. After 20 to 30 minutes, preheat oven to 400°F.
2. When oven is preheated, place the baking sheet with bread dough on rack and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.
4. After baking for 25 minutes, test the doneness of bread loaves by lifting the bottom with a spatula. If bottoms are golden brown, the loaves are done. If not, bake for 5 more minutes.
5. Serve bread warm. Alternatively, this bread can be stored in plastic food bags in refrigerator for up to two weeks. It can be sliced and toasted.
6. Optional: When bread has cooled completely, one or two loaves may be frozen up to one month in double freezer plastic bags.
7. To Thaw Frozen Bread: Remove bread from freezer bags; set on a wood board or cutting board to thaw at room temperature for 3 hours.
Text and Photograph ©2015 Nancy DeLucia Real
Nancy DeLucia Real is an art historian and chef. She has led culinary courses at the Italian Cultural Institute, The Getty Center and The Getty Villa and is a former member of the Culinary Historians of Southern California. Nancy's gastronomy training took place in the heart of Italy under the tutelage of her grandmother. She has taught international cuisine at Williams Sonoma and Sur la Table Stores. Nancy's art history & culinary courses are ongoing at various institutions. She also teaches private cooking classes. 
