Semolina Bread is a crusty, hearty loaf of bread. It makes for the perfect addition to your dinner table. This bread recipe is made using semolina flour and is topped with sesame seeds, giving this bread a wonderful flavor. Yields 2 loaves.
Serve this crusty bread with Meatless Baked Ziti for a hearty weeknight meal!
Love baking homemade bread? Try my popular 3 Ingredient Bread and Condensed Milk Bread recipes. And for a flavor variation of this Semolina recipe made with plain flour, try my Italian Herb Cheese Bread.
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The secret to this homemade bread
Homemade bread recipes are so satisfying to make. The secret to this one is the semolina flour. It gives the loaf a wonderfully soft texture with lots of flavor. Semolina flour has a bit coarser of a texture than all-purpose flour and a more earthy aroma and flavor which carries through to the baked bread.
You may be tempted to substitute the semolina flour and/or bread flour in this recipe for all-purpose flour. I would not recommend replacing the semolina flour because of its unique flavor and texture. However, you may replace the bread flour if needed. The texture of the baked loaf may not be as chewy as with bread flour, but the bread will still be delicious.
The sesame seeds give this bread a nutty flavor that is reminiscent of the loaves served at Italian restaurants. Feel free to leave off the sesame seeds if you prefer.
The magic behind a crisp crust
The very best way to get a crisp crust is to bake this bread on a preheated baking stone. If you do not have a baking stone, use instead an overturned baking sheet.
The trick to getting lofty loaves is to place an empty baking dish (use aluminum, not glass!) on the oven rack beneath the baking stone while the oven preheats. When you slide the bread dough onto the baking stone, immediately fill the baking dish with a cup of water and close the oven door. The water will create steam helping to get a great rise on these loaves.
Note: do not use a glass baking dish. Adding cold or room temperature water to a hot glass dish is a recipe for disaster. The glass will likely shatter creating a huge mess.
How to make the world’s best semolina bread
Don't be intimidated by any of the bread making terms used in this recipe. It's not a difficult bread to make, even if it is your first time. Like most bread recipes made with yeast, this recipe does take time to make. Patience pays off because time equals flavor! No bread machine, dutch oven, or proofing basket required. So even if you are not an experienced bread baker, you can make this delicious homemade bread!
As an experienced home baker with dozens of bread recipes on my site, I can say this bread is well worth the time and patience.
Note, this recipe yields two loaves of bread.
Pro tip
As with most homemade bread recipes, pay attention to what the dough looks and feels like more than watching the clock. For instance, when kneading the dough, look for the dough to pull away from the sides of the bowl and to look smooth with some elasticity to it. These signs are an indication the dough has been kneaded enough. If this takes more or less than 7-8 minutes, that's perfectly okay. The time is a rough gauge of how long it typically takes, but this can vary based on the climate in which you live, the temperature of your kitchen, the speed at which you knead, etc
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How to store this homemade bread
This bread is best when it's consumed the same day it's made, just like Italian Herb Cheese Bread and Banh Mi baguettes. The crust may lose some of its crustiness or crispiness the next day. It'll still taste great and will make for wonderful toast or even french toast.
Store the cooled bread at room temperature in a brown paper bag or bread bag for up to one week. Transfer to the fridge and store in the fridge for longer storage. The bread may dry out slightly in the fridge.
To freeze a loaf, wrap loaf in plastic wrap and place in a freezer safe bag. Store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Defrost at room temperature.
To freeze sliced bread, place slices on a parchment-lined baking sheet in a single layer. Freeze at least one hour then transfer frozen slices to a freezer safe bag and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. The slices may dry out a little when frozen this way. Thaw at room temperature.
Here’s the best way to reheat bread in the oven to make it crisp as if it was just made.
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Ingredients
Poolish
- 1 cup bread flour
- ½ teaspoon active dry yeast
- ¾ cup lukewarm water 90° to 100°F
Dough
- ½ teaspoon active dry yeast
- ¾ cup lukewarm water 90° to 100°F
- Poolish from recipe above
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 2 cups semolina flour
- ¾ cup bread flour
Egg Wash
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 tablespoon water
- ¼ cup sesame seeds
Instructions
Make the Poolish
- Stir together flour and yeast in a medium bowl. Stir in water until blended. This dough will be like thick cake batter. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for at least 1 hour, preferably overnight, in a warm spot (cold oven with only the light on works really well). The dough will have lots of little bubbles and should jiggle1 cup bread flour, ½ teaspoon active dry yeast, ¾ cup lukewarm water
Make the Dough
- To the bowl of a stand mixer, add yeast and lukewarm water. Whisk together to combine and allow to sit for 10 minutes*. Yeast mixture should be foamy at the edges. Using the paddle attachment on the stand mixer, stir in poolish from step 1, olive oil and salt until thoroughly blended. Add semolina flour and bread flour. Stir until combined. Dough will be soft and slightly sticky. Cover and let rest for 20 minutes.½ teaspoon active dry yeast, ¾ cup lukewarm water, Poolish, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 ½ teaspoons salt, 2 cups semolina flour, ¾ cup bread flour
- Switch to the dough hook and knead the dough for several minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 7-8 minutes. Place in a large bowl that’s lightly coated in vegetable oil, turning the dough to cover in oil. Cover and let rest in a warm spot for one hour or until a finger gently pressed into the dough does not immediately bounce back. If the dough does bounce back immediately, allow it to rest for a few more minutes, then check again
Pre-Shaping
- Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface. Gently press to deflate dough. Divide in half. Working with each portion separately, shape into a rough rectangle (6 x 9-inches) with the short edge closest to you. Starting with the far edge, roll the dough into a tight log. Repeat with second piece. Cover and let rest for 20 minutes
Final Shaping
- Flatten the dough again to a rough rectangle (6 x 9-inches) with a long edge toward you this time. Roll into a tight log, pinching to seal. Turn the loaf over and gently roll back and forth to about 14 inches long. Repeat with second loaf. Place loaves side-by-side on a piece of parchment paper set on top of a pizza peel or upside down baking sheet. Leave a few inches of room between the loaves to allow room for rising. Cover and let rise with seam side down for 30 minutes while you preheat the oven
- For best baking results, place a baking stone or pizza stone on the middle shelf of the oven and place an empty baking dish on the bottom shelf. Note: do not use a glass baking dish; be sure to use an aluminum baking pan. If you do not have a pizza stone, bake the loaves on the parchment on the overturned baking sheet. Preheat the oven to 475°F for 30 minutes
Make Egg Wash
- Lightly whisk together the egg with the water. Lightly brush the tops of the loaves with the egg wash (you likely will not use all of it) then sprinkle with sesame seeds. Score each loaf with 3 slashes using a sharp knife, blade or lame1 large egg, 1 tablespoon water, ¼ cup sesame seeds
Bake
- Depending on the size of your baking stone, bake 1 or 2 loaves at a time. Gently and carefully slide the parchment paper and loaves onto the pizza stone. Quickly pour one cup of water in the baking pan that’s sitting on the shelf beneath the pizza stone, closing the oven door quickly to prevent the steam from escaping. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until tops are golden brown and the internal temp is 200°F. Remove from the oven and cool at least one hour on a wire rack before slicing
Video
Notes
- *if using instant yeast, you do not need to wait ten minutes before mixing in the flours
- Bread is best the day it is made
- Store cooled bread at room temperature in a brown paper bag or bread bag for up to 4 days
- Store in the fridge for up to 1 week
- The bread may lose some of its crispy and crustiness when stored.
Nutrition
Comments
Vicki Lowe says
I made the 2 loaves but put sesame seeds on one and your cheese and herb topping on the other. Both, outstanding! I used fed sourdough starter instead of making the Poolish and it’s perfect. I will keep this in my starter discard recipe box. Also, it is so helpful that you show the ingredients under each step. Saves all that scrolling back and forth. Thank you for this wonderful, well constructed recipe!!
Kimberlee Ho says
So great to hear what you did with the recipe, Vicki! I will have to try using sourdough starter in place of the poolish next time. And thank you so much for the great feedback on the recipe itself - that means a lot!
Michael says
great tip - I am mostly a sourdough baker and was thinking this same thing about the poolish.
Kimberlee Ho says
so glad you liked it, Vicki!!
Danielle Quinones says
How much discard did you use in place of the poolish? I just asked the same question bc I didn't see this one.
I can't wait to try...
Pietro Paolo Bendotti says
Hi quick question I've noticed on the video the bottom of the bread wasn't browned, what can you do to achieve this ? I would like the bottom to match the top color
Kimberlee Ho says
You can try baking the bread directly on the pizza stone without the parchment paper.
Jennifer says
Why the empty tray underneath??? No water???
Kimberlee Ho says
The water gets poured into the tray or baking dish just after you slide the bread dough onto the baking stone to bake and just before you close the oven door to bake the bread. This is stated in the recipe. I hope that helps!
Ruth Tannahill says
I messed up from the word go. I measured out a full cup of water instead of the 3/4 cup, and that launched an avalanche of attempted corrections that ended in grossly overworked dough. If it rises, I'm going to bake it anyway because even tough, dry bread makes good croutons, panzanella, and stuffing, but I should have tossed it immediately and started again. I'm not going to rate the recipe because what ever went on in that mixer bowl, it wasn't this recipe, but I am looking forward to making it properly next time.
Kimberlee Ho says
I hope it works out better for you next time!!
Nancy says
I have made this recipe twice and both times have had the same problem. While the taste is wonderful, the proportions of flour to water seem off. Or am I doing something wrong? The dough is so soft that it will not hold its shape and I ended up with loaves that were about 2 inches tall when baked. The dough rose in the bowl for the first rise but when shaped into loaves, they just spread out, rather than rising up. The second time I made the recipe, I increased the flour by about a cup but it was still too soft and spread rather than rising. That is why I only gave it 3stars, even though the flavor is good. Should I just keep adding flour until the dough will hold its shape?
Kimberlee Ho says
Hmmm... it's hard to say what the issue is without seeing how you made it. I've made this recipe many times and it comes out well every time, so I'm not sure what the issue is. I hope you can figure it out!
Jon says
Sounds to me like you may be over-proofing your dough. This can happen easily if your temperatures are higher than the recipe was written for. The higher temperatures make the yeast more active and the dough rise quicker so it would require less of a proofing time.
Leia says
This is our new favourite bread recipe. It was my first time using semolina and it produced exactly the Italian crusty bread we were craving. The flavour is delicious and the fine soft dense crumb and crusty sesame crust is amazing. I made one loaf, sort of narrow and baguette-ish and 4 small mini ones to use for meatball subs we made. I tore up some of the crumb from the loaf to use in the panade for the meatballs and it was perfect. I’m so happy with this bread recipe, thank you so much for sharing it.
Kimberlee Ho says
This makes me so happy, Leia! Thanks for sharing your feedback.
Wk says
If I leave the poolish in the oven overnight… but want to make the bread late the following day- do I refrigerate the poolish until ready for it? Do I need to let it warm to room temp before mixing into the dough? Thanks
Kimberlee Ho says
I would refrigerate it after leaving it out overnight, as this will slow the fermentation process considerably and prevent it from rising then falling. I would recommend removing it form the fridge about 30 minutes prior to mixing the dough - cold ingredients tend not to mix well with other ingredients.
WK says
Just to let you know….I wound up leaving it in the refrigerator for 1.5 days because something came up. Bread turned out amazing anyway and was a big hit!!!
Kimberlee Ho says
That's great to know, thanks so much for sharing!
Bob says
Kim, would it be OK to add some honey to your recipe? Thanks.
Kimberlee Ho says
Hi Bob, I haven't tried this recipe with honey, so I can't tell you for sure how it would turn out.
Stella C. says
I made 1/2 the semolina bread recipe just to be sure I followed the recipe correctly. It came out perfectly. The taste and texture was exactly what I was looking for. I’ve been baking breads for years but never had the opportunity to make a semolina bread. I would highly recommend this recipe. I can’t wait to make more.
Kimberlee Ho says
How wonderful! Glad you could find a good recipe to add to your bread making repertoire 😊.
Ahti says
My first time making bread, I'm on step 1 of making the dough and the dough is very dry, not sticky as you described. Is this going to be a problem? - I'm certain all of measurements are accurate, i checked and double checked before adding anything. The poolish seemed to proof nicely. I didn't see very much foam for the step 2 part.
Kimberlee Ho says
I would check to make sure you didn't add too much flour. It sounds like that's what could have happened.
jim says
Had a great time with this recipe. I am a "by weight" kinda person so i can repeat my results over an over. below are the measurements I used for dry ingredients for anyone else that wants or needs them. I used the King Arthur weight chart. Also ending up using 1 tsp of instant yeast since it was a bit cold and my water is filtered...less minerals, less of the rise. This worked beautifully for me.
Ingredients
Poolish
1 cup bread flour - 120 grams
½ teaspoon active dry yeast
¾ cup lukewarm water 90° to 100°F
Dough
½ teaspoon active dry yeast - 1 tsp due to cooler temps and purified water
¾ cup lukewarm water 90° to 100°F
Poolish from recipe above
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 ½ teaspoons salt
2 cups semolina flour - 326 grams
¾ cup bread flour - 90 grams
Kimberlee Ho says
This is wonderful, thank you for writing this out and sharing it with other bakers! So glad you loved this recipe 😊.
Patrick Christensen says
Spot on. Follow to a T. My first journey into this type of bread was successful! Mobile version of the page the recipe is on is a bit annoying to use due to adds and such.
Kimberlee Ho says
So happy to hear this! (PS those ads help support the work I do to provide free recipes to you. I get that they can be annoying - you can hit the 'print recipe' button to view a clean version without the ads).
Bonnie Katz says
Love this bread. I would like to form it into a shape for sandwiches. I checked over sites and its seems I could make one loaf. What about the time and temp. What I checked out had the oven at 400 for 35 minutes. What do you think?
Kimberlee Ho says
I think it's worth a try! I have not made it into one loaf, so I cannot say for sure what the proper temp and time to bake would be.
Peggy says
This is by FAR the BEST semolina bread I have ever made! The taste is like my local Brooklyn Italian Bakery! The recipie is spot on! I doubled it the second time and the loaves lasted amazingly in the fridge in a zip lock after they were out of the oven for 1/2 day so I knew they were cool! Reheated slices for dinner in my toaster oven on air roast! Thank you! 🥰
Kimberlee Ho says
This is fantastic to hear, Peggy! Thanks for sharing your tip for reheating it - so helpful for other bakers!
MarkV says
I was worried when the dough seemed a bit too dry after using the dough hook to bring it all together but pressed forward. The results were amazing following the recipe exactly as you have it. This recipe has replaced my old recipe for semolina Italian which always defeated and left me with flat loaves no matter how gingerly I treated the dough. Thanks for the recipe!
Kimberlee Ho says
This is fantastic to hear, Mark! Thanks for sharing your review!
Amaya says
Can I make these without a mixer and knead the dough by hand?
Kimberlee Ho says
Sure! You may have to take some breaks while kneading, but it should work just fine.
Dell says
Hello,
Does the oven temperature need to be turned down after the preheating time before baking?
Or do you bake the bread at 475 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes?
Thanks so much for clarifying!
I'm looking forward to making these this weekend!
Kimberlee Ho says
No, no need to turn down the temp. These bake at 475ºF for the entire time. Enjoy!
Laura Carter says
I made this because my brother, whom I hadn’t seen in almost a year, came for a visit and lives semolina bread. He said it was the best loaf of any bread he’s ever eaten. Then my sister tasted it and tears welled up in her eyes, said it reminded her of our grandfather’s semolina bread. So … THANK YOU for this recipe.
Kimberlee Ho says
Your comment brought tears to my eyes! I made everyone in my family read it - thank you for sharing this!! ♥️
Kelly Crews says
My baking dish exploded into a million pieces when I added the water??
Kimberlee Ho says
Oh no! Was the baking dish glass? If so, that can definitely happen with the extreme change in temperature. The baking pan should be aluminum. I will make sure to add a note to state that clearly in the post. I'm sorry this happened to you....
Kelly Crews says
Yes it was Pyrex. New baker here. It was going to be wonderful! I’ll try again tomorrrow.
Kimberlee Ho says
Ugh I'm sorry you had to go through that... But really glad you're going to try again!
J says
This was a fantastic recipe, we finished the whole thing in one night and my husband requested I make it again tomorrow. I followed the recipe with just a few tweaks: I made this into one huge braided loaf instead of two, I added a tablespoon of honey into the mix, and I did an egg wash and sprinkled "everything bagel" seasoning on top because I was out of regular sesame seeds.
Kimberlee Ho says
I will have to try it this way! Thanks so much for sharing.
Kathryn says
Fabulous recipe: fun to make, and delicious to eat. I especially liked using a poolish, and semolina flour, in this recipe. Both give the bread a lovely texture and taste. Yum!
Kimberlee Ho says
So so happy you loved it Kathryn!!
Joanie Barrett says
Have you ever used 100% very fine Italian imported semolina flour? The recipe came out great but I was hoping for a more yellow color. Please let me know- Thanks!
Kimberlee Ho says
I have not tried it with 100% very fine Italian imported semolina flour, so I cannot say how it would turn out.
Jaime says
Should I press the air out of the dough after the first rise? I’ve seen that instruction elsewhere and just curious on your thoughts. Thanks!
Kimberlee Ho says
Yes! The instructions state to gently deflate the dough before pre-shaping, just after the first rise. Good luck and enjoy!
Chris B says
We have used this recipe 3 times so far and have found it an amazing reference! Baking bread and sharing it is one of the oldest forms of community. It's wonderful! Thank you to the author, and bakers who tested this, so we can bake bread to perfection!
Kimberlee Ho says
Thank you so much for sharing this great feedback!!
Cynthia Christensen says
This bread looks as good as any bread I’ve gotten from professional bakery! I can’t wait to make it!
Kimberlee Ho says
Cynthia, that makes me so happy to hear! Thank you so much! I'm looking forward to you trying it, too - you're going to love it!
Lisa says
I just made this recipe. I followed everything to the letter. The only thing is that I burned it. The recipe says to cook for 20-25 minutes. I set the timer for 15 figuring I would be safe. Thank God I did!! It was almost burnt to a crisp. I'm hoping it tastes good despite the mahogany crust and burnt sesame seeds. Next time I'll check it after 10 minutes.
Kimberlee Ho says
Oh wow! I wonder if your oven runs hotter than mine? I typically bake the bread for 25 minutes and it comes out the way it shows in the photo. I guess every oven really is different!