Körnerbrot
German Bread with Seeds and Nuts
Germany is known for its amazing bread recipes. But not many people know that there are more than 3.200 different trademarked bread specialties offered in German bakeries. In this video I will show you how to make a healthy seed bread, named “Körnerbrot” in German. It contains valuable vitamins, minerals and trace elements, and is rich in dietary fibers. This recipe will show you how fast you can make this flavorful healthy bread with very little work.

Ingredients
- 2 cups dark rye flour
- 3 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp. bread spice
- 1 tbsp. instant yeast
- 2 cups very warm water
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1/3 cup honey
- 2 tbsp. brown sugar or molasses
- 1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp. salt
- 1 cup mixed seeds and/or nuts i.e. pumpkin, sunflower etc.
Instructions
- Add flour, bread spice and yeast to a large bowl and blend.
- Mix water, oil, honey, brown sugar or molasses, vinegar and salt.
- Gradually add the water mixture to the flour and knead on a medium low setting for about 5-10 min.
- Cover the dough and let it rise for about 20 - 30 minutes. The dough will NOT double in size.
- Add seeds/nuts and knead briefly into the dough.
- Knead briefly and shape to a ball.
- Add to a floured banneton or bowl and allow to rise for about 30 - 60 min.
- Preheat the oven to 450 Fahrenheit. Add a heatproof bowl of water.
- Turn dough out of the banneton on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and slash with a sharp knife.
- Bake for 10 - 15 min. on 450 F.
- Reduce to 350 and bake for additional 30 – 40 min.
- Add to a rack to cool completely.

Do I need molasses in this recipe because in the ingredients section it doesn’t mention it but when I read the instructions it does mention molasses to be added. And if I need molasses how much ? Thanks
Hi Gabor, thank you for catching that. The recipe asks for 2 tbsp. of brown sugar or molasses. I adjusted the recipe. I hope you will give it a try, it always turns out great.
What is bread spice ??
Can I not use rye ?
Here is a recipe for bread spice: https://alltastesgerman.com/german-recipes/bread/german-bread-spice-blend/. Do you mean rye flour?
How big a banneton is needed for this recipe?
Hi Shahnon, I use a 9-inch banneton, that works for most recipes quite well.
What is in the bread spice?
Hi Sally, you can find the recipe for the bread spice here: https://alltastesgerman.com/german-recipes/bread/german-bread-spice-blend. It is very easy to make and stores for years in an airtight container.
Danke für das Rezept! Ich lebe in Kalifornien und vermisse deutsches Brot! Ich werde versuchen es diese Woche zu backen 🙂
Viel Spaß beim Backen und guten Appetit!
Looks amazing!
Thank you, it tastes very good too 🙂
What is the purpose of the bowl of water in the oven?
Do I place the ball of dough into a particular baking dish or container?
The bowl of water creates a light steam. This is important during the oven-spring period so that the surface of the loaf remains moist and expands.
If you are having an oven with steam function, you can use this for about the first 15 min. and then shut it off if you like a crunchy crust like German bread usually has.
You can place the bread directly on a with parchment paper lined baking sheet, no container needed.
It seemed like the liquid ingredients made the dough too wet!
Hey Betsy, the recipe calls for 5 cups of flour in total and the rye flour usually needs more liquid. I made the bread a lot of times and it always turned out great. I am sorry to hear yours was to wet, but I can´t really explain why. Did you knead it long enough and added the liquid gradually? You can see in the video the consistency of the bread perhaps that helps and you can adjust the liquid.
Thanks for the Recipe. It came out looking and tasting great. I ended up having to use the longer of the 2 times for rising and baking. Also your recipe calls for 1 Tbsp of Instant Yeast, the Red Star packets of Instant Yeast say they are only equivalent to 2 1/4 teaspoons of Instant Yeast, which is a little shy but seems to work without issue.
Thank you for your feedback and your tips, Norm. I am glad your bread turned out to your liking. It is one of my favorite breads.
Is it possible to include grams for ingredients for those of us who are using a digital scale? Thank you
Thank you for the suggestion, I will try to incorporate it over the next weeks.
I followed this recipe with a couple of deviations, I proofed active dry yeast in the bowl with a little of the honey and kneaded by hand for about 5-6 min. since I don’t have a mixer and I enjoy kneading. It was a messy process, but in the end it was wonderful! Mine wasn’t quite as pretty because the flour didn’t stick much to my bowl, so it settled a bit at the bottom of the bowl, leaving big patches of flour on my bread but it didn’t affect the taste one bit! I’m at the beginner level in bread baking. I found this recipe to be easy. So far it’s my favorite recipe! Thank you.
Thank you so much for the nice feedback. It´s wonderful that you liked the bread. I hope you will try out more of our bread recipes. I am always happy to help in case you run into questions.
You call for 3 cups of wheat flour. Are you using all whole wheat or some bread or AP flour?
I used all whole wheat flour, but you could go half and half with bread or AP flour if you prefer that.
Thankyou