You can make your own super healthy, nutrition packed bread from scratch with this Copycat Dave's Killer Bread recipe for the home bread baker!
Here's a reboot from the archives, friends! I originally made this recipe almost 3 years ago when I was pregnant with M. I made it quite a few times, but then a lot of you told me you were having difficulties with the recipe. So, I went back to it and played with it and adjusted it and made (and ate) a lot of loaves until I got it right. Now is it an exact copy of Dave's? No. But is it a pretty delicious, nutritious close enough to make the at home Copycat Dave's Killer Bread to make the home bread maker happy? Yup, I'm pretty sure it is.
My deep love for all things gluten is pretty evident by all of the bread we make (and eat) in this house. From our Vietnamese Baguette, Dan's Como Bread, No Knead Rosemary Garlic Bread, No Knead NY Deli Rye, and the latest, Whole Wheat Honey Oat Bread, suffice to say we love homemade bread in this house. But we also want to ensure that we're still getting all the same nutrition that I was obsessed with while preggo with both the girls. I'm still nursing our littlest babe and I am a firm believer that what I eat 100% matters to as by way of my milk, I'm setting down fundamental building blocks to good nutrition to this tiny human. Therefore, I want all the nutritional bang for the buck I can get in my food.
There's no denying how nutritious Dave's Killer Bread is. The 21 Whole Grains and Seeds is one of my (and M's) favorites. So naturally, I wanted to figure out how to make it from scratch!
From scratch, but still packing as much of nutritional punch as possible. 
Enter: Oats. Pumpkin Seeds. Ground flax seed. Black sesame seeds. White sesame seeds. Sunflower seeds. Quinoa. Wheat germ. Chia seeds.
Whole wheat flour. Kamut flour. Amaranth flour. And finally, spelt flour. Ok ok, if you're keeping track, that's only 14 whole grains and seeds. But it gets to a point where if the ingredient list becomes so insane you're going to be spending way more $ on the copycat than the the original.
Now I'm a pretty self proclaimed lazy baker. Hence all of my no knead breads. This bread though, this bread takes some work. Once you've activated your yeast, added your flours and then all of the seeds, you're going to have a super sticky dough. Which is good. It's what you want. It's what you need. Because of the seeds that will suck out a lot of moisture from the dough, in order to get a nice soft crumb (center) of your loaf, you need two things: good hydration and a well kneaded dough.
Knead it until it passes the "windowpane" test. This is when you know the gluten in the dough is well developed enough. Essentially, take a small ball of dough and then slowly spread your fingers apart while holding it, stretching it out until it's like a windowpane that you can see light through, but that it doesn't rip. If it rips, that means that the gluten hasn't been worked enough and you have more kneading to do.
Now with this bread, because it's mostly made up of whole wheat flour, which has less gluten than a standard white bread flour, you will need to work it longer to activate it. Again, your arms will be tired. You'll want to just call it good. But don't! You'll end up with a super dense loaf!
Instead, if you put in the work, you'll get a loaf that has a lovely, soft, chewy center. Not quite as airy as Dave's, but again, a pretty darn good Copycat Dave's Killer Bread.
Then, thanks to Calorie Count I can see exactly how nutritional my copycat is! Sliced nice and thin (I got about 15 thin slices from a loaf), and no, it's not as nutritious Dave's 21 Whole Grains and Seeds, but for a homemade bread, this Copycat Dave's Killer Bread is pretty darn nutritious and delicious.
Enjoy, friends! I hope you all have much more luck with this Copycat Dave's Killer Bread recipe - as always, let me know! I love hearing from you!
Copycat Dave's Killer Bread
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
- 1 tablespoon molasses
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 cups warm water
- 3 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
- 1/4 cup amaranth flour
- 1/4 cup spelt flour
- 1/4 cup kamut flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 tablespoon ground flax seed
- 2 teaspoons dry unsalted pumpkin seeds
- 1 teaspoon black sesame seeds
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
- 2 teaspoons chia seeds
- 1 tablespoon quinoa
- 1 tablespoon wheat germ
- 2 teaspoons dry unsalted sunflower seeds
- 2 tablespoons old fashioned rolled oats
Instructions
- Add yeast to the stand mixer bowl and add warm water. Let sit for 3-5 minutes until yeast is activated and foamy.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix your flours and salt together. In a separate bowl, mix together all of the seeds, quinoa, wheat germ, and oats.
- Add honey and molasses and mix. Let sit another minute.
- Slowly add the flours and salt and using the dough hook, mix on medium until a very sticky dough forms. Add seeds and mix again until all are incorporated.
- Remove dough from mixer and on a lightly floured surface (preferably not a wood one, best case granite or marble), begin kneading. The dough will be VERY sticky - that's good! Resist the urge to add a lot more flour and knead for at least 15 minutes until dough begins to soften and come together.
- To know when the dough has been kneaded enough and gluten has been activated, conduct "windowpane" test. Take a small ball of dough and hold with your forefingers and thumbs. Hold it up to a light and slowly stretch the dough - if it immediately rips, it needs to be kneaded more. You want it to stretch nice and thin so that you can see through it like a windowpane but it doesn't rip. This will take at least 15 minutes of solid kneading. Don't give up!
- Once it passes the windowpane test, add to a lightly oiled large bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise until it doubles in size - approximately an hour.
- Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees and lightly grease a 9 X 5 loaf pan.
- When proofed, punch down and remove from bowl. Flatten to a large rectangle and fold in sides then roll into a log. Place in loaf pan, seam side down.
- Cover with plastic to let rise again. For best results, use a plastic bag to allow room for the dough to rise over the top of the pan. Put pan in bag and tie top then move the tied ends under the loaf pan.
- Let rise until almost doubled - about 30-45 minutes.
- Bake in center rack of oven for 35 - 45 minutes, until top is golden brown and when bottom of loaf it tapped, it sounds hollow.
- Let cool at least 30 minutes before slicing and enjoy!
Super excited my husbsnd buys this bread all the time. Have you ever made in the a bread machine? I love your story. I grew up following recipes and Call me to do or trying to mimic what she did but she never had the amount of anything so I had to guess but eventually kind of figured it out but this was late in life
Did you try it in a bread maker?
I don’t have a stand mixer. Can we make it in a cusinart 14 cup food processor with dough blade ? I don’t want to mix it with hands for long time. Thankyou.
Hi! Hmm I haven't tried this yet, but I think that could work! Let me know if you try it!
I've never rated a recipe or left a comment on a blog before, but I had to comment on this! I made this bread last night and it is amazing! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe!
Rhonda!! Thank you SO much for leaving the comment!! I'm so happy you enjoyed it!!
This makes a fabulous bread. Just made my first batch (two loaves, why not?) and here are some comments. You may not want to try this unless you've got a good stand mixer. As someone else commented, the Kitchen Aid with a dough hook did the kneading for me and it came out fine. Don't panic when the top crust begins looking slightly burnt 20 minutes into baking time. I pulled the two loaves out and checked their internal temperature; they hadn't gotten anywhere near the 200 degrees I look for with yeast breads, so I put them back in for the full 30 minutes. The top crust is indeed crusty but the inside is softly chewy, just the way you want a hearty bread to taste. Not sure why but the dough, even after kneading and the first rising, was more like batter. There was no patting/shaping/folding. I just spooned it into the pans and went for the second rise. With the number of ingredients here, I found it helpful to measure out everything in advance, especially if you're doubling the recipe: yeast in one bowl, honey and molasses in a second, flours and salt in a third, seeds in a fourth bowl. It would be easy to get confused without some upfront prep work.
I wrapped the second loaf up tight in plastic wrap and aluminum foil and I'm hoping it freezes well.
My husband has declared this "The best bread I've had in years" so I guess I'm committed now.
Wow Mandy GREAT tips - thanks so much for the feedback!! SO glad you and your husband enjoyed it! 😀
Copycat Dave's Killer Bread is AWESOME! It tastes just like the real thing. The methods were well explained, and I would have never guessed the dough would be workable without adding extra flour. But, I resisted the urge, and the result was fabulous! I am a fan. Thanks so much for developing this amazing recipe.
By the way, I used my Kitchen Aid stand mixer with dough hook to do all the kneading. I double-checked the manual, which said to let it work for 10 or more minutes on a speed of 2. No hand kneading, just hand shaped the loaf. Success!
Wow thank you SO much for the feedback, Bonnie!! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!!!