This savory Poppy Seed Bread has a light, tender crumb and a perfectly golden crust. Riddled with poppy seeds, it's the perfect bread for toasting, making sandwiches, or just enjoying on its own.
*This bread can also be made in a bread machine. Follow your machine's instructions for the order in which to add the ingredients and use the normal setting with medium crust. Brush the egg wash on just before the beginning of the baking cycle.
** You can purchase poppy seeds online, in bulk, which seems to be a much better deal than you often find locally.
***You can also knead the dough by hand, but I recommend using a dough hook if possible with this dough; kneading by hand will take a little strength. If you choose to go the hand route, you'll need to knead the dough for a bit longer than you would with the dough hook, about 10-15 minutes.
****It's always helpful to use a bowl (for rising) that's about double the size of the unrisen dough, so you can easily gauge when the dough has risen enough.
*****You could probably also make two 8-1/2" x 4-1/2" loaves with this recipe, but you will need to increase the baking time.