Black Halloween Bread

Helga Glaesel de BlandingOctober 9, 2020

This post is also available in / Esta entrada también está disponible en ESPAÑOL (SPANISH)

Last year, there was a black food craze on social media, and we got on the wagon. You could find black ice cream cones, black waffles, black ice cream, black lemonade, and black bread. Of course, we wanted to try out the recipe for black bread to feature for Halloween, but we didn’t get around to posting it on time.

But we are sharing it this year! This bread uses all the usual ingredients to make loaf bread, with the added ingredient that makes it black: black charcoal powder. You have to make sure you get edible, food-grade charcoal powder. This is flavorless, so don’t worry about any weird taste in your recipes.

The result is a stunning black loaf, which looks amazing with a contrasting spread. We made carrot hummus to go with it. We do recommend you slice your bread and toast it if you want to try this recipe for fun. In all honesty, the added charcoal does give it a bit of a gritty texture that can be masked by toasting the bread.

The original recipe calls for black bamboo charcoal powder, which we did not find in our country. We found regular food-grade charcoal powder, we don’t know if the bamboo variety is less gritty. If we make this again, we would try to use 1.5 – 2 tablespoons of charcoal powder, maybe it will help with the texture to use a bit less.

It was certainly fun to make, and it makes a stunning addition to any Halloween food table!

Helga

Black Halloween Bread

Recipe adapted from Instructables

Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients:
5 cups flour
2 1/4 cups warm (not boiling) water
3 Tablespoons black bamboo charcoal powder (food grade)
1 Tablespoon active dry yeast
2 Tablespoons oil
1 Tablespoon salt
2 Tablespoons sugar
black sesame seeds, optional

Procedure:

In a bowl, mix yeast, charcoal powder, sugar, and water together thoroughly. Allow the ingredients to rest for 5-10 minutes. As it activates, the mixture will begin to bubble and foam.
Gradually add salt, flour, and oil to the foaming mix. As you mix, the dough will come together into one large lump which should be elastic but not too sticky.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly for about 2-3 minutes or until the dough is smooth and soft.
Pat the dough into a ball and place into a bowl. Cover with a damp towel and allow to rest undisturbed for 10 minutes. after 10 minutes, turn the dough out and knead for another 2-3 minutes. repeat these two steps a total of 5 times and then return the dough to the bowl.
Place a damp, clean kitchen towel over the bowl of dough and let it sit undisturbed in a warm dark corner for 4 hours to allow the yeast to rise. The dough should double in size. Once the dough has risen, place it into a well-oiled and floured bread pan.
Preheat your oven to 450˚F/230˚C. Brush the top of the bread lightly with the melted butter and sprinkle on the black poppy seeds and a pinch of salt, if using.
Cover the bread pan with aluminum foil. Once the oven is at temperature, slide in your bread pan and cook for 25 minutes.
After 25 minutes, remove the foil. allow the uncovered bread to cook for an additional 7-10 minutes. When the bread is done cooking, remove from the oven and let it cool in the pan for about 15 minutes.

Have you made this recipe?

Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and share a picture with the hashtag #thefoodieskitchen!

Want more?

You can subscribe to our newsletter and we’ll send you the monthly recipes! You can also keep up to date on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest or Tumblr.