Multigrain Bread

I love making my own bread and this one has been on my list to try for a long time now.  One of the main reasons that I love this recipe is that instead of buying a bunch of different flours of various grain types – you buy a hot cereal blend of several grains and incorporate it into the bread.  The mix that I used contained wheat, rye, triticale, oats, oat bran, barley, rice and flaxseed.   You can also add pumpkin or sunflower seeds to this mix – but I prefer my bread to not have seeds throughout – so I left them out.   This not only makes a great PB&J sandwich – you can pretty much use it for anything.  And you can feel better knowing that you are getting more grains and fiber in your diet – and you have complete control over all of the ingredients. 

This recipe makes 2 loaves – I sliced them both and froze them – they defrost super quick and taste great!  Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 6 1/4 (1 1/4 cups) ounces 7-grain hot cereal mix
• 2 1/2 cups boiling water
• 15 ounces (3 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting work surface
• 7 1/2 ounces (1 1/2 cups) whole wheat flour
• 4 Tbsp. honey
• 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 2 1/2 tsp. instant yeast
• 1 Tbsp. table salt
• 3/4 cup pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds (optional)
• 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

Directions

1. Place cereal mix in bowl of standing mixer and pour boiling water over it, let stand, stirring occasionally, until mixture cools to 100 degrees and resembles thick porridge, about 1 hour.

2. Whisk together all-purpose and wheat flours in medium bowl.

3. Once grain mixture has cooled, add honey, melted butter, and yeast and stir to combine.

4. Attach bowl to stand mixer fitted with dough hook. With mixer running on low speed, add flours, 1/2 cup at a time, and knead until dough forms ball, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rest 20 minutes.

5. Add salt and knead on medium-low speed until dough clears sides of bowl, 3 to 4 minutes, add more flour if needed, and continue to knead dough for 5 more minutes.

6. Add seeds (if using) and knead for another 15 seconds. Transfer dough to floured work surface and knead by hand until seeds are dispersed evenly and dough forms smooth, taut ball.

7. Place dough into large bowl sprayed with oil, cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise until doubled, 45 to 60 minutes.

8. Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray two 9 by 5-inch loaf pans with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

9. Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface and pat into 12 by 9-inch rectangle; cut dough in half crosswise with a bench scraper.  Shape into loaves and coat with oats. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until almost doubled in size, 30 to 40 minutes.

10. Bake until internal temperature registers 200 degrees on instant-read thermometer, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove loaves from pans and cool on wire rack before slicing, about 3 hours.

Source: Cook’s Illustrated

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