Whole Grain Breakfast Bread

In my continuing experiments with whole grains I found a recipe for a bread on the King Arthur Flour website from a contributor. Always cautious of whole wheat breads being hockey pucks, when they are complete it appeared that this recipe might be acceptable.

The bread while having many ingredients, was not overly complex to make. We adapted the recipe for some of the ingredients in our pantry and were amazed with the flavor and texture. This is a hearty bread that is great in the morning with some butter. A thick slice will give you a good dose of healthy grains and keep you going until lunch. Even my father who was visiting ate the bread (I think he thought it was a quick bread 🙂 ). We made two loaves and froze one to test how well it would freeze and come back to life. The bread did not suffer any great loss in flavor or texture.

If you are looking to toss your pop tarts, muffins, granola bar or cereal for a quick grab and go breakfast, you won’t be disappointed in this bread.

Recipe

2 cups lukewarm water (110-115F)
1/2 cup molasses
1 large egg
1 tablespoon salt
4 teaspoons instant yeast
1/2 cup softened butter
1/4 cup milled flax seeds
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/8 cup sunflower seeds (hulled)
1/8 cup millet
3 cups 9-Grain Flour Blend or Whole Wheat flour
2 tablespoons of vital gluten
1 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
1 1/2 cups dried cranberries or craisins
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
4 cups Unbleached Bread Flour

Instructions:

Whisk together the water, molasses, and egg in a large bowl. (warming the molasses may help blend the mixture. Add the millet and sunflower seeds allow to sit for 5 minutes. Next, add the salt, instant yeast, butter, flax, wheat germ, and 9-Grain or whole wheat flour, and vital gluten stirring to combine. Stir in the walnuts, cranberries, and sesame seeds.

Add the bread flour, and mix until it is a thick mass. (I know it looks like dog biscuit mix but just keep going)

Knead the dough for about 7 to 10 minutes with a dough hook on your mixer to make a dough that feels fairly springy, but will also feel quite sticky.

Move the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover the bowl, and let the dough rise until it’s noticeably expanded, about 2 hours.

Gently deflate the dough, and divide into two parts. Shape each part into a 9″ logs. Place the logs in two 9″ x 5″ loaf pans. Cover the pans again, and let the dough rise until the center of each loaf has crested about 1″ above the rim of the pan, 1 to 2 hours. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350°F.

Bake the bread for 40 to 50 minutes, until the center of a loaf registers 200°F on an instant-read thermometer. Tent the loaf lightly with aluminum foil after about 30 minutes of the cooking time, to prevent over-browning.

Remove the bread from the oven, and turn it out of the pans onto a rack to cool. If desired, brush melted butter on the crust.

Adapted from King Arthur Flour recipe