Here’s a reliable seeded artisan bread dough you can use for boules, batards, or even rolls—crusty outside, open crumb inside.
Seeded Artisan Bread Dough (1 large loaf or 2 small)
Ingredients
- 500 g bread flour (or 400 g bread flour + 100 g whole wheat)
- 375 g water (75% hydration)
- 10 g fine sea salt
- 2 g instant yeast (about ½ tsp)
- 75–100 g mixed seeds, toasted and cooled
Good mix: sunflower, pumpkin, sesame, flax, poppy
Optional (for better texture):
- 25 g olive oil or honey (not traditional, but nice)
- 25 g soaked seeds (see note below)
Prep the seeds (recommended)
- Toast seeds lightly until fragrant.
- For flax/chia: soak in equal weight water for 20–30 min to prevent drying the dough.
Method
- Mix
- Combine flour and water until no dry bits remain.
- Rest (autolyse) 30 minutes.
- Add salt & yeast
- Sprinkle over dough, mix by hand or folds.
- Add seeds during first fold.
- Bulk fermentation
- 3–4 hours at room temp.
- Perform 3–4 stretch-and-folds every 30 minutes in the first 2 hours.
- Dough should rise ~50% and feel airy.
- Shape
- Pre-shape, rest 20 minutes.
- Final shape into boule or batard.
- Proof
- 45–75 minutes at room temp or
- Overnight in fridge (8–16 hrs) for more flavor.
- Bake
- Oven: 245°C / 475°F
- Bake in Dutch oven or with steam:
- 20 min covered
- 20–25 min uncovered until deep brown
- Cool at least 1 hour before slicing.
Tips
- Want more seeds on the crust? Mist loaf and roll in seeds before baking.
- Want sourdough version? Replace yeast with 100 g active starter and reduce water to 325 g.
- Dough too wet? Hold back 25 g water until after first fold.
If you want, I can tailor this for sourdough, no-knead, same-day bake, or a specific seed blend.
