Savory Sesame Bread Rings with KAMUT®

Some of my bread baking buddies are baking through the book Flatbreads & Flavors by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid. It’s a great book with lot’s of wonderful recipes, but a bit outside the box for me so I’ve been a little slow getting started.

The other bakers have made several breads already, but I’m only on my first one. Well, second if you count the one I didn’t post about in February because it kept sticking to the Ziploc bag. I finally just ate the chili bathed pork chicken without the corn tortillas. The meat was really good! That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

These Savory Sesame Bread Rings were worth the wait.  They are really easy to make. They can be prepared and baked the same evening.

I used some KAMUT® flour instead of whole wheat flour to give the bread rings a different flair. KAMUT® is a beautiful, creamy flour so the baked bread has a beautiful golden color. Not to mention a delicious flavor.

KAMUT® flour is related to Durum.  It is high in protein, with a sweet aroma and a chewy texture. The kernels are amber in color and almost translucent.

Read more about KAMUT in my Sprouted KAMUT Bread post.

Savory Sesame Bread Rings with KAMUT®

Ka’kat

Makes: Four Bread Rings

Adapted from: Flatbreads & Flavors by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon dry yeast
• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 3 cups unbleached bread flour
• 1 cup KAMUT® flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg whisked with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash
• 4 to 5 teaspoons natural sesame seeds
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Herb blend

You will also need a medium-sized bowl and 2 large baking sheets.

Directions:

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water in a medium bowl.

 

Combine the flours and salt.

 

Add the flour mixture to the yeast, a cup at a time, stirring constantly in the same direction to help activate the gluten.  I used a Danish dough whisk for this part.

 

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it for 7 to 8 minutes, or until smooth and elastic.

 

Clean the bowl out and lightly oil it, then place the dough in it, and cover with plastic wrap.

 

Let the dough rise until doubled in volume, approximately 1 hour.

 

Punch down the dough and divide it into 4 pieces.

 

Roll each piece under your palms into a cigar-shaped rope 24 to 36 inches long, depending upon the size of your baking sheets.

I rolled the pieces out to about 12 inches to begin with, then let them rest a few minutes.

 

Then I rolled them out to about 36 inches.

 

Pinch together the ends of each rope to make a loop.  Place the Ka’kat rings on lightly oiled baking sheets, by shaping the loops into the traditional long oval shape and fitting 2 side-by-side on each sheet.  I had to gently pull and stretch the loops to get them to keep their oval shape. They kept wanting to snap back, but they finally submitted.

 

Cover and let the rings rise for 20 to 30 minutes.

 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Brush each bread liberally with egg wash. Sprinkle on the sesame seeds.

 

Bake in the upper part of your oven for 15 to 17 minutes, until nicely browned.  Bake on 2 different racks and switch the sheets after 8 minutes.  Cool slightly on racks before serving.

 

Serve the bread rings warm with olive oil and an herb blend if you like.  I made the Hazelnut Spice Blend — a blend of hazelnuts, thyme, salt and peppercorns.  It’s totally AWESOME! as my sons would say.

The Ka’kat tastes really good with or without the oil and herbs, especially warm. I ate some plain for breakfast without warming it and that tasted good as well. So anyway you slice it (or tear it in this case), you can’t go wrong with this bread. It’s a keeper!

 

Happy Baking!

Cathy