BAKING BREAD WEEK 1: Sweet bread with honey, hazelnuts and saffron

Lightly sweet, this bread is a great idea to enjoy all day long as a snack or to accompany your tea or coffee with it! The hazelnuts give this beautiful nutty flavour and light crunchy texture and the saffron this distinctive colour and taste. Surely a bread for all seasons and how nice to be done by your own hands and have the house full of the aroma of the freshly baked bread!

Cooked by Simoni Kafyri,

from a recipe leaflet of the Greek supermarket "AB Vassilopoulos"

Ingredients (for 2 loaves):
680 gr. of strong bread flour

30 gr. of fresh yeast (baker's yeast)

200 ml of boiled water

2 tsp of salt

100 gr of blanched hazelnuts, finely ground

2/3 of a cup of toasted hazelnuts, roughly ground

3 tbsp of honey

1 good pinch of saffron threads

3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 egg white, lightly beaten for the glaze

85 gr of butter, melted

extra flour for dusting

a bit of olive oil

sesame seeds (or finely chopped hazelnuts) to sprinkle

Method:
Dissolve the saffron threads in the hot water. When it becomes lukewarm add the yeast and the honey in and stir to dissolve.

In a large bowl mix the flour with the finely ground hazelnuts and the salt. Open a small well in the centre, add the yeast mixture, the butter and the eggs. Knead the ingredients with your hands, adding accordingly either a bit more flour or a bit more of water if necessary, so to end up with a soft dough that doesn't stick to the hands.

Transfer the dough on a flour dusted clean surface and knead for 10 minutes adding, in the meantime, the roughly ground hazelnuts. Gather the dough into a ball and transfer into a clean bowl which you have brushed with some oil. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and leave in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours to rise.

Knead the dough again inside the bowl using your palms this time so to free the air, cover again with the towel and leave aside for about 45 minutes so to double in size.

Preheat the oven to 220°C and grease with some oil 2 bread tins.

Transfer the dough on a flour dusted surface and knead again for 1 minute. Divide it into 2 equal size balls and shape each one into a loaf. Place the loaves in the greased tins and cover both with the kitchen towel. Leave aside to rise again for about 45 minutes-1 hour.

Brush the loaves with the egg white and sprinkle on top with the sesame seeds.

Put the tins in the oven and initially bake for 10 minutes. Turn the temperature down to 180°C and continue baking for another 40-50 minutes (depending on the oven) until the surface is nicely golden.

Take out of the oven, allow to rest for 2-3 minutes and then turn the loaves on a metal rack to cool down completely before you cut into slices and serve.