This recipe is an adaptation of a recipe in Harald Saul's Unvergessliche Küche Schlesien Traditionelle Familienrezept and ihre Geschichten. In 2009 I purchased the cookbook from a small giftshop in Görlitz, Germany. It's a small cookbook, 128 pages, that contains family photos, postcards, folklore, and traditional family recipes from Silesia, a cultural region that begins in eastern Germany and extends into Poland and the Czech Republic.

There are quite a few recipes I enjoy in this book, particularly this one for sesame bread. I've adapted this Schlesische Sesambrötchen for a KitchenAid mixer. If you have access to the book, you can find the recipe on 65. I'm not providing a direct translation. My alterations mainly occur in the preparation and the type of flour. The recipe calls for 500g of a white flour or a whole meal flour, I've used a combination of wheat, barley and all purpose.

Schlesische Sesambrötchen
Silesian Sesame Bread, adapted from Pg. 65

250g all purpose unbleached flour (King Arthur)
100g barley flour
100g whole wheat pastry flour
50g wheat flour
1T active dry yeast
300ml lukewarm, tepid, water
1T honey
1tsp sea salt, fine
2 whole eggs (I used organic brown eggs)
2T olive oil
100g sesame seeds, untoasted, divided
1T room temperature milk (I used oat milk, but regular milk could certainly be used)

Equipment: kitchen scale, stand mixer with paddle and dough hook attachment, pastry brush
15-20 rest
30 min rise
45 min second rising

Combine flours and dry yeast in the large mixing bowl. (Make sure your yeast is fresh before combining, I don't proof it in this recipe). Use the paddle attachment and mix until combined well. In the liquid measuring cup with 300ml of warm water add honey and stir to dissolve completely. Make a well in the center of the mixing bowl and pour the liquid. Mix with the paddle attachment, then gradually add eggs, olive oil, salt and 50g of sesame seeds, continuing to mix with each addition. The dough will be quite sticky. Blend well, between low to medium for 2-3 mins. Switch to the dough hook attachment and continue to mix until dough wicks firmly against the sides and no longer sticks to the bowl. You may need to add, as I did, 1-2 T of all purpose flour to aid in this process. Let the dough rest for 15-20 mins in the mixing bowl; cover the bowl with a cloth.

Uncover and knead at low-medium for 2-3 mins. Cover the bowl with a linen (not terry cloth) towel in a warm, draft free place for 30 mins. I placed my bowl on top of the radiator in the kitchen, but on the stove would work just as well. Remove the mass from the bowl when the dough has risen to just about twice its size. (If you want two loaves of bread, not one large loaf, separate it here). Gently knead with floured hands and shape into a large round boule without deflating the mass; place on a marble slab. Lightly cover again with the same towel, and rise for 45 mins. Toward the end of the second rising, preheat the oven to 400degrees. Place a stone on the rack.

At the end of the second rising, brush the ball with the milk, and sprinkle the loaf with the remaining sesame seeds. Gently lift the loaf without deflating it and place it on the hot stone from the oven. Bake for 15-20 mins at 400degrees. The loaf will be a nice light brown color.

The bread will also make a nice sandwich loaf, it is light and fluffy on the outside with a crisp exterior. Cool completely before slicing.