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Semolina Bread {Healthy, Easy & Delicious}

Semolina bread is an Italian bread made with durum wheat flour.
Also called semolina flour. It is widely used in Southern Italy for bread baking. For this reason you’ll find many different types of Semolina bread.

Some of the most popular ones are Pane Di Altamura (Altamura bread) originated in humongous town in Puglia and Sicilian Semolina bread.

semolina bread in a basket
Semolina Bread

While there are more types of Sicilian bread made with semolina flour than you can imagine, there’s one type of Sicilian bread that is the most famous.

Slightly nutty sweet taste and coarse texture paired with delicious sesame crust makes this Semolina Bread is truly unique and irresistible.

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It’s made with 100% semolina flour, water, yeast and salt.

Few people know that this type of bread was originated in small town of Monreale close to Palermo. In Sicilian dialect it’s called u pani ri Murriali.

It can be made in 3 shapes:

  • large round loaves (about 2.2 punds / 2 kg)
  • smaller round loaves (1.1 pounds / 1 kg)
  • elongated loaves of different size that somewhat resemble a baguette.

In home environment the latest are the easiest to make. You’ll also love how versatile and excellent they’re in storage.

Semolina Bread Ingredients

semolina bread ingredients
  • Semolina flour – durum wheat semolina preferably coarsely grind. Having said that you can also use fine ground semolina (semola rimacinata). What matters the most is that semolina flour has high protein content. Check the packaging Nutrition Label and make sure protein number is at least 4 g per 30 grams serving size or 12 grams per 100 gram serving size. The protein content is the key that will determine the success of the recipe.
  • Water – bottled water, room temperature
  • Yeast – active dry yeast
  • Salt
  • Sesame seeds

Tools You Need

  • Large bowl
  • Stand mixer or hand-held mixer with a dough hook
  • Baking Sheet
  • Clear plastic poly bag – optional but highly recommended
  • Scissors

How To Make Semolina Bread – Step By Step With Pictures

Prepare no-yeast starter using water and flour. This process is called autolyse.

  • Mix a little over a cup of water with semolina (reserve the remaining water for later).
  • Knead until there’s no dry flour left.
  • Cover with a plastic wrap and let rest for 1 hour.
making semolina bread - step 1

Prepare the dough

  • Add to semolina mix the remaining water and yeast. Knead briefly then add salt.
  • Knead for 4 minutes using a mixer with a dough hook or for 10 minutes by hand.
making semolina bread - step 2
  • Make a a couple of dough folds until a smooth ball of dough is formed. Initially you can sprinkle the dough with a little of semolina flour.
making semolina bread - step 3
  • Place the dough in a bowl and using a sharp knife cut a cross.
  • Cover with a plastic wrap and let rise until almost triple in size. It should take anywhere between 2.5 and 4 hours depending on the ambient temperature.
making semolina bread - step 4

In my experience with the indicated quantity of yeast the dough will rise:

  • In 2-2.5 hours at 80F or 26C.
  • In 4 hours at 72F or 22C.

You can make the dough rise faster by adding an extra pinch of yeast or placing it in a warmer place (like lukewarm oven (80F or 26C). My oven will only preheat to minimum of  86F (30C) so I will preheat it to that and then leave for a few minutes to cool down a little bit.

dividing the dough

Once the dough has risen divide it into a few pieces. Depending on the loaf size you want to make you can divide it into 9 ounces (250 g)  or 4.5-5 ounces loaves (125-150g).

  • Take each piece of the dough and flatten it out with the tips of your fingers or using a rolling pin.
  • Roll into a 2 inch thick roll. It should be no less than 2 inches or 5 cm in diameter. Thinner rolls will dry out in the oven too much!
  • Pinch the seal and place on a lightly floured surface seal down. Repeat the process with the remaining dough.
dipping loaves in sesame seeds
  • Using a spray bottle lightly spray each dough roll with water than dip wet side down in sesame seeds.
  • Arrange the bread rolls on the baking sheet well distanced apart.
  • Using scissors make a few cuts on each side of the loaf. As an alternative you can score your loaves with a knife.
loaves proofing on a baking sheet
  • Cover with clear plastic poly bag, tuck it under the baking sheet letting some air in so that the bag won’t touch the dough.
  • Alternatively you can place a couple of glasses on the baking sheet between the bread loaves and cover everything with a plastic wrap. Glasses will prevent the plastic stick to the dough.
  • Let rise for 30-60 minutes. Again depending on the room temperature.

Bake in a preheated to 465 F (240C) oven for 10 minutes. Then lower to  390F (200C) and bake for another 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

semolina bread

Storage Suggestions

Semolina bread will keep for a few days stored in your bread bag. However if you want to truly taste freshly baked bread at every meal it’s best to freeze as soon as it has cooled to room temperature.

semolina bread crumb

Reheating Instructions

These loaves thaw really fast. Simply take them out of the freezer an hour before the mealtime and keep on the counter. You can also place them in a preheated oven and warm them up once they thaw.

crostini

These Semolina Bread loaves make excellent crostini!

More Italian Bread Recipes To Try

Full Recipe

semolina bread crumb
5 from 2 votes

Italian Semolina Bread {Easy & Delicious}

Semolina Bread with sesame seed crust is truly irresistible! It has slightly nutty sweet taste, bight yellow color and unique texture.
Print Pin Rate / Comment
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Proofing time4 hours
Course: Bread
Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients

  • 2 ⅓ cups durum wheat semolina flour (high protein) , 420 grams
  • 1 ¼ cup water , 294 grams
  • ½ tsp instant dry yeast , 2 grams
  • 2 tsp salt , leveled teaspoon 8 grams
  • ½ cup sesame seeds , 75 grams

Instructions

Prepare no-yeast starter

  • Take a little over a cup of water from the total amount and mix with semolina. Reserve the remaining water for later.
    Knead until there’s no dry flour left.
    Cover with a plastic wrap and let rest for 1 hour.
    2 ⅓ cups durum wheat semolina flour (high protein), 1 ¼ cup water

Prepare the dough

  • Add to the starter mix the remaining water and yeast. Knead briefly then add salt.
    Knead for 4 minutes using a mixer with a dough hook or for 10 minutes by hand.
    ½ tsp instant dry yeast, 2 tsp salt
  • Make a couple of dough folds until a smooth ball forms. Place it in a bowl and cut a cross with a knife.
  • Cover with a plastic wrap and let rise until almost triple in size. It should take anywhere between 2.5 and 4 hours depending on the ambient temperature.

Shape the loaves

  • Once the dough has risen divide it into a few pieces. Depending on the loaf size you want to make you can divide it into 9 ounces (250 g) or 4.5-5 ounces loaves (125-150g).
  • Take each piece of the dough and flatten it out with the tips of your fingers or using a rolling pin.
  • Roll into a 2 inch thick roll. It should be no less than 2 inches or 5 cm in diameter. Thinner rolls will dry out in the oven too much!
    Pinch the seal and place on a lightly floured surface seal down. Repeat the process with the remaining dough.
  • Using a spray bottle lightly spray each dough roll with water than dip wet side down in sesame seeds.
    ½ cup sesame seeds
  • Arrange the bread rolls on the baking sheet well distanced apart as they’ll almost double when cooked.

Scoring & final proofing

  • Using scissors make a few side cuts on each side of the loaf. On bigger loaves I like to make classic slit cuts with a sharp knife.
  • Cover with clear plastic poly bag, tuck it under the baking sheet letting some air in so that the bag won’t touch the dough. As an alternative you can place a couple of glasses on the baking sheet between the bread loaves and cover everything with a plastic wrap. Glassed will prevent the plastic stick to the dough.
  • Let rise for 30-60 minutes. Again depending on the room temperature.

Bake

  • Bake in a preheated to 465 F (240C) oven for 10 minutes. Then lower to 390F (200C) and bake for another 15-20 minutes until golden brown.
Liked this recipe?Follow @italianrecipeb for more!

If you haven’t tried semolina bread yet, you’ll be pleasantly surprised with your new discovery.

Buon Appetito!

Recipe Rating




Maria D

Sunday 15th of January 2023

Hi Marina! Love this bread, I bake a lot! Still maintain my mother's sourdough starter, which will have its birthday March 31, 2023 and will turn 72 yrs old! It seems that some confusion is generated by "starter" vs the actual dough. In my experience, a starter is any kind of prefermented dough, which is then added to the actual dough mix to help it rise. Depending on the type of "bread", it will be, sourdough starter, poolish, biga, sponge and so on. It is added to the flour/water dough mix after proving, (bubbling, rising and falling etc). The entire mixture is then left to autolyse, salt added last. OR: prepare starter, aka levain w/1-2 Tbs flour, yeast and enough water to form thick batter. Proof until yeast is foamy. In separate bowl sift together flour and salt, add warm water to incorporate all the flour. Cover/ autolyse 45'-60'. Add yeast mixture kneading with dough hook at low speed about 2-3 min. Finish kneading on floured bench and proceed with remaining steps. This method has always worked for me in all kinds of weather and altitudes. I do hope this clarifies a thing or two. Never stop baking!!!!!

Kim Smith

Tuesday 27th of December 2022

HELP! I love semolina bread. This recipe was my first attempt. I bought fresh yeast and semolina flour from a reputable mill. It is winter in Michigan and my home temp is set at 71. Once I got all the ingredients added and set to rise for the 1 - 4 hours it didn’t seem to be rising at all. I turned the oven on and set the bowl on the front burner of the stovetop so it was getting some additional heat. It did begging to rise at that point but it had already been nearly 4 hours. I separated into 3 loaves which were pretty wimpy even after they were baked. Why didn’t my loaves rise properly? Yeast, temp? The finished product seemed far more dense than I am used to. Flavor was good but the loaves weren’t larger after baking than what I put in the oven. Any advice would be welcome. Total rise time before forming into loaves was about 5 1/2 hours. Let rise an hour after forming into loaves. They had risen some but not much. Finished product was a few millimeters larger than what had risen. Please advise.

Maria

Saturday 8th of April 2023

@Kim Smith, Hi Kim, I thought this might be helpful. If not the yeast, flour or temperature, it could be over mixing the dough when using a kitchen aid mixer. I know because I've done this myself. I couldn't figure it out since I bake a lot of bread. I used to knead by hand and then got a mixer and found less success with my usual recipes. Over kneading is easy to do with a kitchen aid. So if you find your dough is very stiff after kneading, it's probably over kneaded and won't rise.

Maria D.

Sunday 15th of January 2023

@Kim Smith, I've been baking this bread, since I was a young girl with my mom, in Crete, Greece. The best rising spot in my kitchen, is the oven middle rack with the oven light(s) on!!! In very cold weather, I add a small bowl with one cup of boiling water on the bottom oven drip pan. The moisture with the gentle "heat" has done the trick. Make sure your dough is covered tightly with cling wrap. I do hope this works

Italian Recipe Book

Thursday 29th of December 2022

Hi Kim, thank you for trying my recipe and providing all the details. I'll be happy to troubleshoot with you. Could you tell me the protein content of the flour you used? You can find it on the nutrition label on the package. Please let me know Serving size (usually it's 30g or 45g) and then the protein number indicated at the bottom.

Tuesday 15th of November 2022

I followed recipe exactly but my dough will not rise I placed it in oven after it was room temp for 90 minutes Now after another hour doesn’t seem like much improvement. Help please JS

Italian Recipe Book

Tuesday 15th of November 2022

Hey JS, if the dough is moving too slow here what you can do: Fold the dough and let it rise for the second time in the bowl. To perform the folding, pull the dough from the side stretching it out without reaping and fold it in the center, rotate the bowl and repeat the process. Once you've folded the dough this way all around the bowl, flip it over folding in half and let rise in the bowl for the second time. You can see how this folding process is done step by step with pictures in this Ciabatta Rolls recipe. If your yeast didn't go bad (which could also be the case!) you'll see it'll rise faster the second time. Then you can proceed with the recipe and shape the loaves. Let me know how it goes! May I ask if you used coarse semolina or fine (remilled) semolina flour?

lyn

Sunday 23rd of October 2022

I want to echo William Lundy's comment. I've been baking since my 50 + year old kids were born and it is still an easy delight that I hope everyone would try. Have fun, lyn

Italian Recipe Book

Wednesday 2nd of November 2022

Wow, that's a true passion! I hope to say the same one day in the future :) Thank you, Lyn

William Lundy

Saturday 22nd of October 2022

I am a professional baker. That said, I appreciate the thoroughness of your instructions and know that whether someone is highly experienced or just beginning, you have loaded your recipe for success. Recipes like this, i.e., with lots of details and images, helped me get my start over a decade ago; I hope that by encountering success with your recipe -- and to reiterate, it should be quite easy -- there will be more happy, successful bakers and happy, well-fed families thanks to you. Bravo!

Italian Recipe Book

Wednesday 2nd of November 2022

Thank you William, you're making me blush It means a lot to me knowing that all the hard work put into creating these detailed step-by-step recipes is useful and helpful. I truly believe that nothing feeds our bodies and souls better than homemade goods.

Marina

Wednesday 26th of October 2022

@William Lundy, Then possibly you can explain the confusion I came across. It states mix just over one cup of water to the flour. The recipe calls for a total of one and one fourth cup which IS just over one cup. What remaining water is the recipe referring to where it states add it with the yeast after autolyse? Thanks.