Multigrain Bread II

I've been playing around with bread recipes, trying to make it the right blend of grains to be healthy, still taste good and have a nice texture.  A tall order for sure, but since I make bread just about every other day, I had plenty of opportunities for practice.  Finally, I got to the point that the taste was right, and it had a decent texture but it just wasn't "fluffy" enough for me.  I hope you know what I mean because I just don't know how else to describe it.  I love the light texture of bread but I love whole grains and sometimes those aren't exactly easy to accomplish in the same loaf.

Until...I feel like shouting "ta-da" like the kids would do.  This loaf really was perfect.  I had a slice, or two, today and it was equally good plain or covered in some creamy peanut butter.  True test of any bread - does it pair well with peanut butter???

So, really all I did was tweak my oatmeal bread recipe. Funny, the answer was right there all the time and I kept trying recipe after recipe after recipe.  Well, you get the idea.   Either way, stroke of genius was just a bit late on this one.

Here's my bread after the second rise, just ready to pop into the hot oven!  I think the grains are showing through a little more easily and you can see the texture of the bread as well.  I can usually tell by the second rise whether a loaf is going to be light or dense.  Just  reading the dough without even touching it.  I think as you become more experienced at bread making those sorts of signs can pop out at you.

I've been helping a friend as she is transitioning to making her own bread and I feel helpless at times that I can't be there and see what's happening or tell her exactly what went wrong.  I know that trial and error is a part of the process but just the same, I've invited her to join me in the kitchen to make bread so when she joins me, I am thinking of making a step by step tutorial on making bread.  I'd love to hear if that's something that anyone out there is interested in!

Anyway, on to this recipe...before I start listing ingredients, I wanted to mention that this bread can EASILY be adapted to whatever grains you have on hand.  Don't feel that you need to get some obscure grain to make it work.  Just use what you have and go from there.  Some things to avoid though are things that contain high protein amounts like ground flax seed.  It will change the recipe.  A lot.  Just keep that in mind.  Also, I use a bread machine set on the dough cycle.  It can be done by hand, and it can be done in the bread machine.  I just like the loaf size of baking it in the oven.

Multigrain Bread II

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 c hot water


• 2 T butter


• 3 T honey (or sugar, maple syrup, agave nectar, etc.  Pretty flexible)


• 1 1/2 t salt


• 1 c oats (regular rolled oats are fine. I use quick cooking)


• 2 c bread flour


• 1 c whole wheat flour


• 2 T each: ground kamut, ground millet, ground buckwheat, quinoa, sesame seeds, flax seeds


• 4 T sunflower seeds (I've used pumpkin seeds with good results as well.)


• 2 1/2 t yeast

Directions

1. Add hot water, honey, butter, salt to bread machine pan.


2. Add oats and flours on top of water. Do not stir in.


3. Gently sprinkle yeast on top of flour


4. Set machine to dough cycle and start cycle


5. When add in beep occurs, add quinoa, sesame seeds, flax seeds and sunflower seeds.


6. As dough cycle finishes, sprinkle kneading surface with flour and turn dough onto it.  Punch down dough and knead a few times, adding flour if needed.  Don't overwork the dough but be sure to press out as much air as possible.


7. Roll the dough into a rectangle, roll up like a jelly roll and turn ends over to be a loaf shape.


8. Put in oiled pan, and cover until risen about 1" above pan top


9. Preheat oven and bake at 375 for about 22-25 minutes.  Be sure oven is to temperature before putting bread in.  It needs that hot shot of air to finish the rise before baking.  Otherwise, it may fall flat.

Enjoy!

Sheri