There's nothing like homemade bread, and this rustic seeded loaf is better than you'll get from artisan bakeries

In her exclusive video for Homes & Gardens, How I Host with Clodagh McKenna, the chef and cookbook author shares her favorite recipes for fall hosting, including this crusty home-baked loaf, topped with crunchy mixed seeds, which is so wonderful alongside her Roasted Cauliflower Soup, another recipe from her new book, Clodagh's Happy Cooking.

Ingredients (makes one loaf)

• 2 ¾ cups (350 g) whole wheat flour
• 1 ⅔ cups (200 g) all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 ½ cups (350 ml) milk
• 1 cup (250 ml) plain yogurt
• 4 ½ ounces (125 g / about 1 ¼ cups) sharp Cheddar cheese, grated
• For the topping: ½ teaspoon of any of these: pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, caraway seeds, sunflower seeds, cumin seeds, chia seeds, mustard seeds

Clodagh McKenna's method

• Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C) convection or 425°F (220°C) conventional.
• Sift together the all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt (this flour sifter from Amazon is ideal for the job) into a large mixing bowl.
• Stir in the whole wheat flour and the grated Cheddar cheese, mixing with clean hands until well combined. Make a well in the center of the mixture.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk and yogurt (use the KitchenAid gourmet whisk from Amazon). Slowly pour this mixture into the well of dry ingredients. Using a fork, mix until all the flour is moistened and there are no dry patches. The dough should be quite soft and slightly sticky.
• Lightly flour your hands, shape the dough into a round loaf, and place it on a floured baking sheet.
• Using a floured knife, cut a vertical cross and then a diagonal cross across the top of the loaf, forming eight wedges (like cake slices). Don’t cut all the way through – only about two-thirds of the way down.
• Using a pastry brush (like this Walfos Silicone brush), lightly brush the top of the loaf with a little of the milk and yogurt mixture – this helps it brown beautifully.
• Sprinkle your chosen seeds evenly over the top of the loaf. The pattern of wedges and seeds should resemble a flower.
• Bake for 20 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 300°F (150°C) convection or 325°F (165°C) conventional and bake for another 15 minutes, or until the loaf is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.
• Transfer to a wire rack (these cooling racks from Amazon are ideal) and allow to cool completely before slicing.

If you love making homemade bread, we recently wrote about Joanna Gaines' bread slicer, which will make your kitchen feel like an artisan bakery. It's an investment but a seriously useful gadget if you make (and give away) a lot of homemade bread.