Tahini Bread
Jul 4th, 2010 by SteveB
If you’ve ever had the pleasure of sampling a piece of halvah, that sweet, dense and crumbly sesame seed-based confection, then you’ll understand why I’ve been enamored of sesame flavor since childhood. Sesame seeds and bread are a classic combination. Whether sprinkled on top of a loaf, as in the quintessential sesame bread Scali, or incorporated into the bread along with other seeds, nuts and/or grains as part of a multigrain loaf, sesame seeds add a unique, rich flavor that perfectly complements the inherently nutty character of a well-fermented wheat dough.
The objective in creating this bread was to have a subtle sesame flavor permeate the entire crumb of the loaf, rather than providing the intense bursts of sesame flavor afforded by the addition of whole sesame seeds to the dough. Tahini, a paste made from roasted sesame seeds used ubiquitously in Middle Eastern cuisine and available in many supermarkets and ethnic food stores, turns out to be ideally suited to the task. In addition to its sesame flavor, tahini also provides enough sesame oil to result in a beautifully tender crumb. For those looking for a slightly more intense sesame flavor, by all means feel free to increase the amount of tahini used.
Final Dough
- 770 g King Arthur All-Purpose Flour
- 515 g Water
- 15 g Salt
- 240 g Levain (mature sourdough culture, 60% hydration)
- 50 g Tahini
The water and 50 g of the flour are added to the bowl of a 6 quart planetary stand mixer and the mixture is whisked at speed 3 using a whisk attachment until a stable, frothy emulsion is formed, about 1 minute. The remainder of the flour is then added and the mixture is mixed on speed 2 using a spiral dough hook, just until all the flour is incorporated, about 2 minutes. The bowl is then covered with plastic wrap and the rough dough allowed to rest at room temperature (78ºF) for an autolyse period of 30 minutes.
After this time, the levain and salt are added and the dough is mixed on speed 3 using the spiral dough hook to medium development, about 3 minutes. The tahini is then added and mixing is continued on speed 2 until all the tahini is incorporated, about 2 minutes. The dough is then placed in a lightly oiled container, covered, and allowed to ferment for 4 hours, with the dough being given a turn midway through this first fermentation.
After the 4 hour first fermentation, the dough is divided into two, 1 1/2 lb. pieces and each piece is lightly rounded. After resting under a plastic sheet for 15 minutes, the pieces are shaped into boules, and the boules then formed into fendus (Shaping a Fendu video can be found here). The fendus are placed, inverted, into rice flour-coated brotformen, the bottoms of which are sprinkled with sesame seeds. After covering with Saran Quick Covers, a second fermentation is allowed to proceed at 78ºF for 2 hours.
After the second fermentation, the loaves are inverted onto a peel, loaded into the oven and baked at 425°F for 40 minutes with steam applied for the first 20 minutes (Scoring and Steaming video can be found here. Note: No scoring is necessary for this shaping). The resulting loaves exhibited an open, tender crumb with a wonderfully subtle nuttiness which doesn’t overpower the natural flavor of the levain.
Your tahini breads look delicious, Steve! I’m another sesame seed fan, especially when the seeds are used in conjunction with durum/semolina flour. The combination of toasted sesame seeds and the crisp crust so typical of durum breads is a particularly good one.
Tahini is new to me, but the thought of that roasted sesame seed flavour permeating the crumb sure is appealing! Do you know whether tahini is used in traditional Middle Eastern breads (e.g. in flatbreads)? Tahini could probably work wonders in focaccias too.
As always, thanks for the inspiration, Steve!
Hans Joakim,
Like you, when I think of bread with sesame seeds, durum flour immediately comes to mind. It’s a shame that durum flour for bread baking is not as readily available as hard red winter wheat flour is here in the U.S.
To the best of my knowledge, tahini is not used in the making of any of the more common Middle Eastern flatbreads (e.g., naan, pita, etc.), although it is used as an ingredient in hummus, the chickpea-based dip/spread eaten atop pieces of flatbread.
I made your sesame bread. It was just lovely. Beautiful flavor and texture. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Cavella,
I’m glad you enjoyed it. Bringing the recipe to you was my pleasure.
That looks awesome! Tahini can be a bit bland, but I’m absolutely sure that did wonders to the bread. You’ve got my mind thinking now! Anyway, thanks!
I love the idea of using tahini in the dough. Never occurred to me! I’ll have to try it. The loaves look gorgeous. I have never cared for halvah myself (too sweet for my taste) but I love sesame everything else! The combination of paste and seeds must be heavenly. Very creative!
Hi MC,
If you love sesame flavor, then you’ll love this bread. By adjusting the amount of tahini used, you can get a range of sesame intensities, from a subtle, nutty nuance to a bold, in-your-face, sesame flavor.
Steve,
I just discovered your site this evening, and I couldn’t be more impressed. I’m a beginner baker (just picked up baking and blogging this past year), and I have fallen in love with yeast. I also had the opportunity to travel in the Middle East last year so the flavors of that region always appeal. I imagine that this bread is astounding!
Hi Monet,
Welcome to Bread cetera. It’s always nice to hear from a fellow bread enthusiast.
Have fun perusing the site. If you have any questions, always feel free to ask them.
Very nice, breads.
Irmina,
Muchas gracias.
This would be spectacular with hummos. Thanks for the recipe!
Beautiful idea, Steve!
[…] barbecues et un pain au beurre de cacahuÁ¨te et au piment. DÁ©tonnant, ce dernier pain me remÁ©more ce pain au tahini que Steve a publiÁ© rÁ©cemment et qui me tente […]
Hi Steve- Found your blog via a conversation on scalded milk at Fresh Loaf. I’m in love with your site – I am new at bread baking, and will likely come here often for ideas and advice. Thanks for a great resource – will link to you on my site.
Peggy
Hi Peggy,
Welcome to Bread cetera! I’m glad that you stopped by and fell in love. 🙂
Please feel free to ask any questions that might arise during your bread baking exploits.
Hi Steve,
Have you experimented with greater amounts of tahini? I’m thinking I will try adding tahini to my standard Italian mix. Just a little to bring out the sesame flavor better. What a clever idea.
Hi Eric,
I’ve found that the amount of tahini specified in the recipe above gives, to my taste, the subtle sesame flavor and crumb texture that I was aiming for. However, that should not prevent you from trying the recipe with a greater amount of tahini if you are looking for a stronger sesame flavor. Everyone’s tastebuds are different. 🙂
Wonderful creative and tasty combo, Steve! I’m a big fan of duram flour and , I also wish it was more readily available. Thank you for another inspiration!
Sylvia
Hi Sylvia,
I’m glad you like the recipe. If you decide to try it using homemade tahini made from toasted sesame seeds, please let us know how it turns out.
As an aside, I hope you don’t mind that I fixed your link to direct people to your blog on TFL.
Thank you, Steve!
Sylvia
Thank you, Steve!
Sylvia,
(You’re welcome)² 🙂
I just stumbled onto your blog today. I can’t tell you how thrilled I am! I love bread, love to bake bread, love to try to recipes for bread, and love sesame seeds. And have half a jar of tahini in the fridge from making hummus. Yes, this is a good day…
Just made this Tahini bread and it doesn’t taste as much of sesame as I’d hoped, even though I added 75g instead of 50. I think what I love about sesame is the toasted flavor and tahini doesn’t really have that. I’ve used it now in several recipes and the flavor just doesn’t come through, maybe I will add a dash of sesame oil next time to give me that toasty note. That said, it was my first attempt at a sourdough based on my own starter, and it tasted wonderful regardless. I also don’t have a peel, the ability to introduce steam into my oven, or brÁ¶dformen. So, I made do with bowls with tea towels in them sprinkled with flour and sesame seeds, and cooked each loaf using a different steaming method. The first loaf went into a preheated metal dutch oven and was immediately covered for the first 20 min. then cover removed for the remaining 20 min. 2nd loaf was free form style on a paper lined metal sheet that came with my oven. I put a bit of cornmeal under it to help it come off and be a bit crunchy on the bottom. To introduce steam I heated a jelly roll style pan on the very bottom oven shelf, then when I put the bread into the oven I poured boiling water into the jelly roll pan and quickly shut the oven door. After 25 min. I removed the jelly roll pan and what remained of the water and continued cooking the loaf for the remaining 20 min. The outcome was that the 1st loaf was softer and a bit more moist, I preferred it for a sandwich. The 2nd loaf had a crunchier crust, more of that brown kind of flavor that good crusty bread has, and a chewier bread inside. I liked it best toasted and with soup. It would be awesome with a bit of olive oil and garlic rubbed on it then toasted for a few min. in the oven. Yum! Think I might have to have it that way with some lentil soup for dinner! I am just starting a cooking blog for kicks but I don’t have these pictures up yet. Thanks for the great ideas!
[…] have wanted to try making my own sourdough bread for a long time. This tahini bread recipe from Bread cetera inspired me to finally do it […]
Hello Steve:
Just pulled out a loaf of Tahini bread out of the oven, I can’t believe how awesome this bread is. And yes the sesame seed flavor is very subtle and absolutely delicious. I wouldn’t want to add any more than 50g of Tahini paste to the recipe, its perfect.
I was very pleased with the crumb it produce very light and airy batards with super crispy crust and a beautiful gringe. The color of the batards (beautiful golden brown) crust.
Loved handling the dough it was so soft and light it must be the Tahini paste.
The dough had risen in 4-hours and 2 hours later it was ready to bake. Just as you suggested.
Flour—I used Premium Wheat Montana Natural White All-Purpose and fresh milled Garbanzo bean flour 30g. The Lavain was also made with White Wheat Montana.
Batard was baked in a hot roaster pan for 20 minutes, then removed batard from the roasting pan and baked directly on a baking stone for 20 minutes more. I didn’t mist the loaves for I don’t like a tough chewy crust. Produced a very crispy crust.
Can’t believe how soft the crumb is, and its not tough and chewy. This bread will make awesome toast and sandwiches.
I’m very pleased with the recipe. Love!…Love!…The bread.
YOU are an awesome “BAKER”
Holly
Could any advise where you can buy Tahini Bread in the Bankstown area. Many Thanks
Steve,
Your bread is making me very hungry.
When you come for visit to Mystic, you will have to bake one.
Keep up good work and what a great example of chemistry @ work.
Antonio
Hi Antonio,
The next time we come down to visit you in Mystic, we’ll be sure to bring a loaf of freshly baked bread. I sure hope Melanie Griffith will be around this time to have a taste! 🙂
Hi Steve,
This is absolutely a fantastic web site!!! All the breads you baked look amazing. I love homemade breads. Nothing can compare to them.
I’ve always wanted to bake sourdough breads. Last week, I made mother starter using a recipe from BBA. Now that I’ve got starter, how do I make levain as mentioned above? I’d really love to try this bread. It looks tempting!
Thank you.
Hi Boonk,
Thank you for your compliments on the blog. I’m glad to hear that you’re enjoying it.
If you’ve got an active starter at 60% hydration, then you could use that starter directly as the levain when it’s reached maturity. If you keep your starter at any hydration other than 60%, then you can still use your mature starter as the levain as long as you make the appropriate adjustments to the amount of water used in the formula and the length of the fermentation.
steve, i’m a fan of your page from brasil and an amateur baker myself. do you have some post about the oven you use?
Hi Cynara,
The oven I use is a conventional (non-convection), natural gas-fueled Viking residential oven. It can be seen in the video here.
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Hi there,
I’d love to make this bread, and was just wondering whether you could advise an alternative using dry active yeast instead of levain? I’m not sure whether this request is slightly heretical, it’s just that I’m a very keen bread baker but have never had much success with sponges etc. Would it be possible to keep the tahini/flour/water ratio but just add the necessary % of yeast? I’m thinking that I could do cold fermentation in the fridge for a few days to let the flavour ‘approximate’ the results from a Levain. Thanks Steve 🙂
Hi Ilmat,
The recipe above can, indeed, be modified to use active dry yeast instead of levain, but be aware that the flavor will not quite be the same. Try using 1% (baker’s percentage) active dry yeast to start. When performing your calculations, don’t forget to take into account the flour and water that would normally be contained in the levain. Fermentation and proofing times will probably need to be shortened as well.
I just love your breadcetera. Thank you for the nice recipes which always surprise my guests. I am from Syria, so our favourite is always flat.
I came accorss this recipe as I was looking for a traditional east Syria tahini bread recipe. and yes we do have a flat tahini bread that includes tahini, sugar(or honey) and cinamon.
If you like I will provide the recipe.. which I am sure will come out beautiful with your expertise in baking.. I am still a beginner.
Hi Rana,
I’m glad that you enjoy reading the posts here.
By all means, feel free to send me the recipe for your tahini flat bread. Use the ‘Contact Me’ tab at the top of the page.
[…] I especially like the Tahini bread recipe at Bread cetera. […]
[…] bread is either tahini sourdough or green tea […]