A mini loaf of bread is a fabulous option when it comes to bread.
Today, I am sharing my signature recipe for Italian sesame seed bread in the form of mini loaves.
Why You Will Love Mini Loaves of Italian Sesame Seed Bread
Rather than a large, loaf of bread, I created the mini loaves of Italian sesame seed bread for portion control and leftovers.
If you prefer, you can use the dough to create 1 big loaf of bread, because this recipe is simply about preference and 1 great recipe that is versatile!
Mini loaves can be eaten in portions or consumed all at once, or even used as sandwich buns for hoagies if you love a bigger portion of bread.
In essence, mini loaves of Italian sesame bread allow for frozen leftovers for smaller families or a loaf for each in a party of 6!
You will find that the exterior of my Italian sesame seed bread is crunchy, while the interior is light and airy.
Jump to RecipeMy Mini Loaves of Sesame Seed Bread Have Been Kitchen Tested
When I began baking bread, I relied on my grandmother’s tips and tricks to understand what I was doing.
I’ll be honest, I thought that yeast was the devil sent to destroy me, and every recipe I created that involved baking and bread!
Ast time moved along, I began to understand its properties, how to better work with it, and naturally, I found success.
So to assure you that my recipe will work, I wanted to make sure that I shared that tidbit of failure with you because now I can take the learning curve out!
Whatever mistakes I’ve made, I make sure you skip.
How my recipes have been used at least 100x in my test kitchen.
In fact, I make so much bread I am always handing it out to family and friends.
In brief, that assures you that multiple loaves have been made and that I know what I am doing.
Moreover, if it is on my website, I’ve made it, with my own recipe and perfected it or it does not make an appearance.
Top. Bottom. How Do You Make It Look Like That?
The mystery stops here and trust me I’ve worked on these over and over to perfect the recipe for you.
First I always use sesame seeds, and I don’t toast them.
Use black or white sesame or combine them!
The bread is baked WITH the sesame seeds on while baking and yes they do stick!
How to make bread with sesame seeds on top stick!
This is the one area, you will work with until you find which method YOU like best.
I use a different one of these methods each time I make mini loaves of Sesame seed bread.
So try one of these to get your sesame seeds to stick to your bread!
- use a whipped egg wash, as it does stick a bit better and there will be a nice shiny finish.
- water and a pastry brush
- try a spray bottle filled with water, spritzing the bread because it will absolutely hang on to the seeds.
- a damp, clean baking cloth
- spray and roll into seeds
The Recipe With Sugar + What I Do Differently Than Most
I often challenge myself and my recipes when it comes to reinventing or going deeper for more balance, or taste.
Here I’ve used the great debate of: do I use brown sugar or white sugar?
The bottom line: I use brown sugar more often than white.
What I will tell you for a fact is that brown sugar has more glucose in it and it feeds the yeast better which is WHY I do use it.
Want proof of that? Check here for the scientific explanation.
While it is ‘rumored’ that brown can make something baked moister, I’ve done comparisons and I can’t concur.
What I can tell you is that I struck a balance and landed in the middle when adding the ingredients, just jump to the recipe if you want to see what I am talking about.
In fact, the only distinguishable thing I can explain is a bit more depth in color and less sweet.
Truly the sugar content in my bread recipe is meager, I still don’t like sweet, therefore, brown sugar does its thing best in this recipe.
That said, remember you can swap out evenly brown for white and white for brown in my recipe.
Quick Overview
The recipe for Italia sesame bread will use the bread machine for dough making.
However, you will finish the process for the second rise on your own.
It’s easy and so don’t shy away from the recipe, you will love how your bread turns out!
Use the recipe and video to help you. It’s super easy!~Dana XO
Italian Sesame Seed Bread Mini Loaves
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1/2 Cup of Water 110°F
- 1/2 Cup of Milk 110°F
- 2 Tablespoons of brown sugar
- 2 Tablespoons of Italian Seasoning OPTIONAL – I used it in mine that is the flecks you see
- 1 Tsp of Salt
- 1 Tsp of Garlic Salt Seasoning
- 3 Cups Bread Flour
- 2 1/4 Tsp of Yeast
- Sesame Seeds
- Cornmeal for trays when baking
Instructions
- First, add olive oil to bread maker liner.
- Next place in the water, and milk.
- If you are adding in optional Italian Spices add now.
- Then put in the brown sugar.
- Now add in the salt. (garlic and regular)
- Flour.
- Then make a well in the middle of the flour and add the yeast.
- Close lid on the bread machine.
- Program for DOUGH setting (1 1/2 hours)
- While the dough is making in bread machine prepare a pan.
- Dress pan with parchment paper or Silpat.
- Dust the paper or Silpat with cornmeal (this crisps the bottom of the bread when baking)
- Cut an additional sheet of parchment paper to cover the dough (or you can use a bread cloth)
- When dough in bread machine has 1/2 hour left preheat the oven.
- Preheat oven to 150° F and turn off once the temperature is reached.
- Keep the oven door closed.
- Once the bread machine cycle for the dough is complete, open bread machine lid and remove the liner.
- Sprinkle a light (and that is LIGHT) dusting of flour on your work surface (cutting board, counter, etc) and a little on your fingers. Too much flour will dry your bread out on the interior, YUCK!)
- Portion the dough into 6 equal pieces (as equal as can be this is not an exact measuring process, just eyeball it, that is what I do!)
- Once cut, fashion into a rectangle-like form, tucking the bread dough from the bottom, a few times, but don’t overwork the dough.
- Place each mini loaf onto the cornmeal-dusted tray.
- Spray/Spritz each loaf, and then dress with sesame seeds. (or see blog post for more options for seeds atop the bread)
- Follow by cutting 2-3 slits in each, diagonally.
- Cover with parchment and place in oven or atop oven.
- Allow bread to double in size for about one hour.
- During the rising cycle, preheat oven to 400° F with 20 minutes left to rise.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
- The bottoms will crisp nicely.