Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Soft Multi-Grain Sandwich Bread


Finally we have been blessed with a break in the weather!  It has been unusually hot this summer, with too many days over 100 degrees.  I seem barely able to get a passable dinner on the table, much less provide freshly baked anything for my family!  Besides, who want to heat the house up even more when the thermometer reads 108?

With the slight dip in the mercury, I finally managed to get at least a little baking done.  Having subsisted on nasty cardboard bread for far too long, the first thing on my baking list was a hearty batch of whole wheat bread. 

Bob's 10 grain cereal

Covered in boiling water

Thick, like porridge
One of my very favorite breads is a crusty multi-grain bread.  I have tried numerous recipes over the years, all of which fell short of my expectations.  Recently I came across a recipe that looked promising and with a minor tweak or two, turned out a batch of two large loaves.  Oh, this bread was delicious!  Finally, a multi-grain bread that was flavorful, soft, chewy and full of  whole wheat goodness!

And so, without further ado, the recipe...

Multi-Grain Sandwich Bread
1 1/4 C 10 grain hot cereal mix (or 7 grain)
2 1/2 C boiling water
3 C all-purpose flour (or whole wheat)
1 1/2 C whole wheat flour
1/4 C honey (or 1/2 C brown sugar)
4 T butter, melted and cooled
1 T yeast
1 T salt
1/2 C thick cut oats (optional)

Place the cereal in a bowl (or Bosch mixing bowl) and cover with the boiling water.  Let stand, stirring occasionally, until the mixture cools to about 110 degrees, about 1 hour.  The mixture will resemble a thick porridge.

Once the cereal mixture has cooled add the honey, butter and yeast and stir (or mix on low until combined).  Add half of the flour and the salt and stir until a cohesive dough begins to form.  Continue adding the flour, 1/2 a cup at a time, until a soft dough forms.  It will pull away from the bowl but still be slightly sticky.  Continue to knead for 5 minutes. 

Place your dough in a large, lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a tea towel and set in a warm place to rise.  Allow to rise at room temperature until doubled in size (about an hour).

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Lightly grease two 9x5" bread pans.  Without punching the risen dough down, carefully cut the dough into two pieces, gently form into loaves and place in the prepared bread pans.  If you would like, you can sprinkle oats on the tops of the loaves. 

Cover loaves loosely with a tea towel and allow to rise until nearly double (about 30 to 40 minutes).
Slide the loaves into your preheated oven and bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until golden brown.  Transfer to wire racks and allow to cool (don't cut too soon or you will smoosh the loaves).

NOTE:  I doubled this recipe and made two industrial sized loaves.

In a greased pan, ready to rise

Risen and ready for the bread pans (Look at all of those wonderful grains!)

Risen in the pans

Fresh from the oven!


A cooled, sliced loaf

And that, my friends, is my multi-grain bread secret recipe!

Until next time,

Enola

17 comments:

  1. Enola,

    Now this bread looks delicious!!! I'm going to borrow this recipe, I'll need to pickup some of Bob's cereal at the store next time I'm out. I can't wait to try this bread with some homemade jam.
    Thanks Enola :-)

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  2. Yep. We go through the same routine at our house. My husband refers to hot summers as the time of the homemade bread famines. ;-)

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  3. It's been an unusually cool and wet summer here (Kentucky), with real summer days just starting. 108! That's waaayyy too hot for my tastes. If I had my hand on the planetary thermostat, no part of the planet would ever be hottet than 70-and low humidity. About 45 at night...that would be just about right.

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  4. Try a solar oven next time. Being in a house with no air conditioning and upper 90s during the summer was my final push to try one. I still haven't tried yeast bread, but I've made one pot dinners, cornbread, cakes and cookies.with success. We were above 7000 ft but an oven with reflectors was enough.

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  5. Thank you for sharing your recipe! Our weather is supposed to be a bit cooler this weekend so maybe I too can do a bit of baking.

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  6. is one yeast packet the same as "1 T" yeast?

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    1. Yes, 1 T is equivalent to 1 yeast packet!

      Enola

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  7. When you doubled the recipe, what is the size of the loaf pan? Are the pans cast iron? I have Lodge bread pans but I think they are much smaller. The bread looks wonderful and I can't wait until it cools off again.

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  8. The bread looks great. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

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  9. What mixer do you like/trust the best? I'm looking for one to make whole grain breads with, but the reports out are so conflicting. I would appreciate any advice. Thanks! nysher

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    1. I have had two Kitchen Aid mixers. My last one was a 600 Professional Series. I make this very recipe, and the KA mixer would get overheated. I finally found the Bosch, like the one in the picture, and gave my KA to my college-aged daughter. I can double this recipe with no problems in the Bosch. That is just my experience, but I would never go back!

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  10. Man that bread looks wonderful! One question, does it make good toast? Sometime great 10-12 grain bread make crumbly toast. Either way I will be making a loaf or two this weekend. Thanks Ms Enola for a wonderful recipe!

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  11. I make this exact same bread. HOWEVER, I cheat. When I set the cereal in the boiling water, I also add the honey and the butter. The butter melts (and cools). I usually add the honey to the boiling water simply to save myself from getting another measuring cup dirty :)

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    Replies
    1. Great idea! I make this recipe, too. I do wish I could make it without any white flour at all, but it just doesn't seem to rise well enough. I don't know enough about baking bread to really experiment with a recipe.

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  12. This might seem like a silly question, but I just want to clarify if the "T' 's for the yeast,
    butter , honey and salt stand for Tablespoons or teaspoons?; also could I use granulated sugar
    for the sweetener instead of honey or brown sugar? also would this bread still work without the multigrain cereal, as its not something I usually have on hand. thank you from lanyuk61@gmail.com

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    1. Yes, the T stands for tablespoon (not a silly question at all!). And yes, you can use granulated sugar instead of the honey or brown sugar. The bread will work without the multigrain cereal, just substituted flour instead. I also regularly use oatmeal (either thick cut or quick oats) in place of the multigrain cereal and it is lovely. I hope your bread turns out beautifully!

      Enola

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  13. I have made this bread multiple times since you posted it. It is fantastic! Thank you so much!

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