Make artisanal breads at home the easy way: Bread blended with wild rice, onions

This delicious bread from Peter Reinhart's "Artisan Breads Every Day" is studded with wild rice and onions and requires just a few minutes of kneading. It can be made into sandwich loaves, baguettes, round loaves or rolls. Fresh or dried onions can be used. If you use dried, add an extra 30 to 60 ml (2 to 4 tbsp) of water while mixing.

Wild Rice and Onion Bread

1.5 l (6 cups) unbleached bread flour

11 ml (2 1/4 tsp) table salt or 17 ml (3 1/2 tsp) coarse kosher salt

30 ml (2 tbsp) instant yeast

250 ml (1 cup) cooked wild rice or another cooked grain

50 ml ( 1/4 cup) brown sugar

375 ml (1 1/2 cups) lukewarm water (about 35 C/95 F)

125 ml ( 1/2 cup) lukewarm buttermilk or any other milk (about 35 C/95 F)

50 ml ( 1/4 cup) minced or chopped dried onions or 500 ml (2 cups) diced fresh yellow onion (about 1 large onion)

1 egg white, for egg wash (optional)

15 ml (1 tbsp) water, for egg wash (optional)

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except egg white and 15 ml (1 tbsp) water for the egg wash. If using a mixer, use paddle attachment and mix on the lowest speed for 1 minute. If mixing by hand, use a large spoon and stir for 1 minute. The dough should be sticky, coarse and shaggy. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes.

Switch to dough hook and mix on medium-low speed, or continue mixing by hand, for 4 minutes, adding flour or water as needed to keep the dough ball together. The dough should be soft, supple and slightly sticky.

Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface. Knead for 2 to 3 minutes, adding more flour as needed to prevent sticking. The dough will still be soft and slightly sticky, but will hold together to form a soft, supple ball.

Place dough in a clean, lightly oiled bowl, cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and immediately refrigerate overnight or for up to 4 days. If you plan to bake dough in batches over different days, you can portion the dough and place it into two or more oiled bowls at this stage.

When ready to bake, remove the dough from the refrigerator about 2 hours before you plan to bake.

Shape dough into one or more sandwich loaves or into freestanding loaves of any size, which you can shape as batards, baguettes or boules, or into rolls.

When shaping, use only as much flour as necessary to keep the dough from sticking. For sandwich loaves, let the dough rise in greased loaf pans. For freestanding loaves and rolls, line a sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone mat and let the dough rise on the pan.

Mist the top of the dough with spray oil and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise at room temperature for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until increased to about 1 1/2 times its original size. In loaf pans, the dough should dome at least 2.5 cm (1 inch) above the rim.

To make the rolls shinier, whisk egg white and water together. Brush tops of rolls with the egg wash before baking.

About 15 minutes before baking, heat the oven to 180 C (350 F) or 150 C (300 F) for a convection oven.

Bake loaves for 10 to 15 minutes, then rotate pan; rotate rolls after 8 minutes. The total baking time is 45 to 55 minutes for loaves, and 20 to 25 minutes for rolls.

The bread is done when it has a rich golden colour, the loaf sounds hollow when thumped on the bottom, and the internal temperature is above 85 C (185 F) at the centre. Cool on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes for rolls or 1 hour for loaves before slicing.