Let me get one thing out of the way here. I’m not one of those people that bakes homemade bread every week. I’m not even one of those people that makes homemade bread every month. And it’s not because I don’t like it; it’s because I like it too much. I have a lot of friends who bake several loaves each week and use it for sandwiches, etc. during the week. And that just doesn’t work for me. Because I don’t bake a fresh loaf of bread and just get it out when I need to make my my kid’s PB&J. I bake a loaf of fresh bread and slice off chunks to slather with butter and stuff in my face until it’s gone. Which is generally about 30 minutes after it comes out of the oven. My family can devour a loaf of fresh bread in a heartbeat, so for us, it’s more of a luxury than a staple! That being said, I love homemade bread. And good multigrain bread has eluded me until now. It’s just way too much effort to collect 6 or 7 different grains and then crack them, etc. I’d rather just run to a good bakery and grab myself a loaf. But I was watching an episode of Cook’s Country a while back and I watched them do the most brilliant thing- start a bread recipe with 7 grain hot cereal mix. Duh! it’s just fresh cracked grains; everything right in one little package. I was scribbling down the recipe from the show when it dawned on me to check my Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook, and sure enough, there was the recipe. My family loved this bread. It’s so super soft and packed with good-for-you grains (so you don’t feel as bad when you dip it in Nutella or something). It’s definitely going to be my new go-to wheat bread.
You can usually find boxes of seven-grain hot cereal mix near the hot cereals in the grocery store. Just make sure you’re getting a hot cereal. Bob’s Red Mill and Arrowhead Mills are two of the best to look for. My normal grocery store was out when I went (figures!) so I ran over to my local WinCo where they have an amazing bulk section, and sure enough, they had both a 7 grain and a 10 grain. The 10 looked like it had quite a bit of corn meal in it, so I stuck with 7 like the recipe called for. Look at all of those great, wholesome grains in there:
such a great shortcut! To soften the grains, you basically create a porridge mixture by soaking them in hot water. The grains soak up all of that water and the mixture thickens, like this:
That’s the base of your bread dough, and to it you’ll add some yeast (rapid rise), melted butter, and honey.
Then goes in a mix of all purpose flour and whole wheat flour. CI tested the bread with bread flour as well and found it made the bread too chewy, and all-purpose flour worked best. So if you’re used to using bread flour in your homemade bread, stick with all-purpose for this one.
Also, I feel like woman-of-the-year because I ground my own wheat. I know some of you do that all the time, but just let me have my moment, okay?? 😉 I’ve been loving my Wonder Mill wheat grinder. You can also get a grain mill attachment for your KitchenAid.
When everything comes together it’s a very soft dough. As you can see it kind of looks like cookie dough (but don’t be fooled; that would be sad. Those aren’t toffee bits, my friends.) At this point, cover the dough and let it rest for 20 minutes. I actually love recipes that require things like 20 minute resting periods. It’s just enough time to put all of the dishes in the dishwasher and wipe of the counters, etc.
After 20 minutes, add the salt and then knead with the dough hook on your stand mixer for 5 more minutes. The dough should clear the sides of the bowl, and you can add up to 3 tablespoons of additional flour, but I wanted to show you a picture. I think one the big mistakes people make when bread making is mis-judging what the dough should look and feel like and consequently adding too much flour, which makes bread dry and dense. I know because I did that a lot when I first started making bread! I thought bread dough should have the consistency of say, a thawed Rhodes roll. It wasn’t until I watched a friend of mine do it that I realized generally it should be much, much softer. So notice in my photo that it’s clearing the top of the bowl, but it doesn’t mean it’s one solid blob that’s not sticking at all. It’s still fairly sticky. And keep in mind you will be putting it out on a floured surface so that will add additional flour as well.
After the dough is finished kneading for 5 minutes, scrape it out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead it a few times and then form a nice smooth ball. Place that ball in a lightly oiled bowl and cover it with plastic and let it rise until double in size, about 45-60 minutes.
After it’s risen (don’t punch it down!) Gently scrap it out onto a lightly floured surface (I always use my Roul’Pat), divide it in two, and form each into a 9×6 rectangle
Roll it up into a log (preferably an even one, not lop-sided one like mine!) and pinch the edges closed. Spray it with cooking spray or just rub lightly oiled hands all over it and then roll it over some oats sprinkled onto the counter. They stick right on; easy peasy.
Place your two loaves into 2 9×5 inch bread pans. Cover them with plastic and let them rise about 30 minutes. Then pop them in the oven and watch your house suddenly smell like a bakery.
Here’s another great tip for bread making. For a long time I didn’t know how to tell if my bread was done. You can tap on the top to listen for a hollow sound, but that’s never been super accurate for me. You can’t cut into it to check, nor does a toothpick test really work all that well, so I was constantly overcooking bread, or having it turn out dough-y inside. Then I figured out, duh! Use a thermometer! Best way to make perfectly cooked bread. Most average yeast breads like this are done at right around 200 degrees.
Let it cool in the pans for about 5 minutes and then take them out of the pans and cool on a rack. If you’re going to just grab chunks and slather them in butter (uh..who does that? Not me.) then you can rip into it when it’s till a little warm. But if you’re going to use it for sandwiches (and it’s really good for sandwiches) you’ll want to be sure to let it cool completely- at least 2 hours, more if you can handle it. And thanks to a reader for reminding me about this tip: If you plan on slicing bread like this for sandwiches it’s really helpful to have an electric knife. The bread is so soft that it really helps. Or if nothing else, make sure to use a really sharp bread knife.
The inside is the perfect texture; soft and springy, with the perfect amount of grains.
It’s not overly wheat-y or crunchy, it just tastes flavorful and wholesome and the grains are a nice tender texture. My kids ate it right up.
If I was the kind of person who could make homemade bread every week, I would make this one. But alas, I am not. I’m the kind of person who can buy bread at Costco every week. And make this on the weekends simply to eat with butter and jam. Yep. That’s me.
Multigrain Bread
Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook
Ingredients
1 1/4 cup (6 1/4 ounces) seven-grain hot cereal mix
2 1/2 cups boiling water
3 cups (15 oz) all-purpose flour (not bread flour)
1 1/2 cups (8 1/4 oz) whole wheat flour
1/4 cup honey
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled*
2 1/2 teaspoons instant or rapid-rise yeast
1 tablespoon salt
Optional (I omitted): 3/4 cup unsalted pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds
1/2 cup (1 1/2 oz) old-fashioned rolled oats or quick oats
*If you’re using salted butter, just decrease the additional salt by just a bit.
Instructions
Place cereal mix in bowl of stand mixer fitted with dough hook and pour boiling water over it; let stand, stirring occasionally, until mixture cools to 100 degrees and resembles thick porridge, about 1 hour. Whisk flours together in separate bowl.
Once grain mixture has cooled, add honey, butter, and yeast and mix on low speed until combined. Add flour mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, and knead until cohesive mass starts to form (*note: some at high altitudes have noted they have not needed all of the flour, go by look and feel and stop adding flour if you need to!) 1 1/2-2 minutes; cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let dough rest for 20 minutes. Add salt and knead on medium-low speed until dough clears sides of bowl, 3-4 minutes (if it does not clear sides, add 2-3 tablespoons additional all-purpose flour and knead until it does. Don’t add more!) continue to knead dough for 5 more minutes. Add seeds (if using) and knead for another 15 seconds. Transfer dough to lightly floured counter and knead by hand until seeds are dispersed evenly and dough forms smooth, round ball. Place dough in large, lightly greased bowl; cover tightly with plastic and let rise at room temperature until nearly doubled in size, 45-60 minutes.
Grease two 9×5 inch loaf pans. Transfer dough to lightly floured counter and divide in half. Press 1 piece of dough into 9×6 inch rectangle, with short side facing you. Roll dough toward you into firm cylinder, keeping roll taut by tucking it under itself as you go. Turn loaf seam side up and pinch it closed. Repeat with second piece of dough. Spray loaves lightly with water or vegetable il spray. Roll each loaf in oats to coat evenly and place seam side down in prepared pans, pressing gently into corners. Cover loaves loosely with greased plastic and let rise at room temperature until nearly doubled in size 30-40 minutes. Dough should barely spring back when poked with knuckle.
Thirty minutes before baking, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Bake until loaves register 200 degrees, 35-40 minutes. Transfer pans to wire rack and let cool for 5 minutes. Remove loaves from pans, return to rack, and let cool to room temperature, about 2 hours, before slicing and serving.
Storage: Bread can be wrapped in double layer of plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for up to 3 days. Wrapped with additional layer of foil, bread can be frozen for up to a month.
For those without a stand mixer, Cook’s Illustrated recommends: “Stir wet and dry ingredients together with a stiff rubber spatula until the dough comes together and looks shaggy. Transfer the dough to a clean counter and knead by hand to form a smooth, roughd ball, 15-25 minutes, adding additional flour, if necessary, to prevent the dough from sticking to the counter. Proceed with recipe as directed.”
**Make sure to come check out The Scoop tomorrow, we’re going to be giving away a copy of this Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook!
I just made this bread today using 12 grain cereal and it was the best multi grain bread I have ever had. My husband who is my biggest critic loved it. I am going to make this again soon. We ate a half of loaf already. Thank you so much for the recipe. Love your sight.
I am so new again at bread making and want to make this bread so badly! I have a “new to me” grain mill. I’d like to use my milled flour…do I use only that flour or do I need to use all purpose AND my milled flour as the whole wheat?
You still need to use part all-purpose and then the whole wheat can either be store bought, or milled with your new grain mill. But no, don’t use ALL whole wheat flour from your mill.
Has anyone ever waited 2 hours before slicing? Just wondering. 🙂
NO! About 5 min is the most I could stand it…
This recipe looks wonderful and I can’t wait to try it out! I’m a newbie in the bread world and was wondering why white and wheat flour is used? Could I just use wheat flour?
Mandy, using 100% whole wheat flour in this recipe (and most breads) will result in a dry, tough texture. The best combo is a mix of the two!
Made this dough today in my bread maker and baked it in the oven. It is amazing and easy.
I only baked one loaf and put the other in the fridge to bake in a few days as there is only two of us. Hope that works out.
This bread is DELICIOUS! I’ve been making all our bread for the past year, and this recipe is at the top of my favorites list. A friend recommended adding Vital Wheat Gluten to my recipes. I add 5 teaspoons to this recipe, typically 1 teaspoon per cup of flour. I also like using Hodgson Mill yeast in my bread. I originally started using it because I wanted yeast manufactured in the U.S. and now I use nothing else. I want to try Stephanie’s suggestion of steel-cut oats for the next batch. This recipe is absolutely a keeper!! Thank you, Sara!
Ok… I just have to say… This is my favorite bread recipe of all time. I made a couple very slight tweaks and we literally do not buy bread from the store anymore, I just make a recipe and a half of this (which beautifully puffs up over two 9×5 bread pans) every few days as needed, freezing the 2nd loaf until we’re ready for it. I decided to try swapping out the 7-grain cereal for steel cut oats, and it makes an OUTSTANDING oatmeal bread. Was even able to get a bunch of the steel cut oats on sale for half the price, so we are only paying about $0.75-$1.00 per loaf with all ingredients! Seriously, brilliant. And sooo tasty.
Also, for anyone curious, we use King Arthur flours. Wonderful.
I’m just about to try your recipe for the first time – look great. However, I’m not sure about the measurements. I prefer to cook by weights rather than volumes (I grew up in the UK). King Arthur Flour say that All Purpose flour is 4.25 ounces per cup and Whole Wheat is 4 (http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes2008/master-weight-chart.html). That gives 12.75 ounces and 6 ounces respectively, which is quite a difference from the 15 ounces and 8.25 ounces that the recipe gives. I’m planning to start with the low end KAF measurements. Any suggestions?
This recipe, and all of its measurements, come straight from the Cook’s Illustrated test kitchens. I can’t make any comparisons to King Arthur, sorry!
Thanks for the reply. Do you use the weights or volumes that you list? My dough was a bit too sticky so I think I need more flour.
delicious! we ate both loaves in one day! thanks bunches!
I made these last night as rolls (just baked them for about 20 min). They turned out SOOOO good! My kids, hubby and our friends LOVED them! Delicious with some honey butter too! (I live in north Texas and I used most of the flour but not quite all of it.)
Thanks so much Sara and Kate!!! You are the BEST! I can’t wait to meet you both in Arlington next month!!!
So, my husband and I are some of those people who make all of our own bread. And this is our new go-to recipe. We’ve made over a dozen times and it has turned out so soft and delicious every single time. We’ve tried other multigrain recipes before and this is far better. So, thank you for sharing. You’ve helped us put good, wholesome bread on our table.
I’m having problems with the second rise (and i’m definitely a novice breadmaker). The first rise doubles no problem but the second rise is not as fantastic and does not reach even the top of the bread pan after waiting an hour.
I’ve tried letting it rise in a warm oven (sub 100 degrees), but it’s still the same results. Any suggestions or do i need to tame down my visions of nice tall-sized sandwich bread, and settle with what i’m getting?
It’s really hard for me to trouble-shoot without knowing all the details and seeing it myself Wendy. You might try a new package of yeast? And definitely don’t punch it down after the first rise, keep as much of that nice airy dough as you can. It certainly should be nice and fluffy so I’m not sure what to tell ya.
Oh, and btw… I am at high atlitude, and you’re spot-on. I don’t have to use the whole flour mixture.
Love this bread recipe. Every other time I tried to make any type of whole wheat bread it turned out too dense. This one is light and so tasty! Thanks a million for this recipe!
I buy the SAF yeast at Costco and put it in an air-tight bag/container in the freezer and pull it out anytime I make bread. It lasts a good year with me making bread once a month and breadsticks/rolls every other week. I think it is less expensive for me this way. But in this recipe you have to make up a place to soak/proof the SAF yeast and you have to use about 25% more…so nearly 1 T. I actually proofed it on its own in an extra 1/2 cup of warm water for 10 minutes and added it in when it called for the other yeast. It will probably work since it sounds like there isn’t a lot of moisture to work with after soaking the 7-grain.
How much hot cereal.? 6 1/4 ounces is not 1 1/4 cups
It’s probably your specific mix. When in doubt- for this recipe I’d go with the cup measurement and not the weight.
Gah! I want to make this so bad, but I cannot for the life of me find any 7-grain hot cereal. So disappointing. 🙁 Do you know of any possible alternatives that might be worth trying?
You can use a different number of grain (5,10,etc.). Check a health food store, or if all else fails- online!
Thanks for the tip! I managed to find a 5 grain version (though it appears to be mostly oatmeal) and will post here again to let you know how it turns out!
This bread is my nemesis! The first time I made it, it turned out beautifully. I have since made it 2 more times and both times it has fallen. I (very carefully) put it in the oven and it seems to fall once it starts cooking. Any ideas?
No idea, sorry!
I just found this recipe last week. I loved the idea of a shortcut and in the photos the bread looked soft and light. I Made it this weekend ( I could only find 5 grain at my local grocery-) It was awesome–and rather easy!–I made it in between my cookie making sessions..
Just wanted to tell you that I made this bread yesterday with the Bob’s 7 grain and it was AWESOME!!Thanks so much for sharing this recipe!
Rush ladies to Winco and fill out the sheet at the customer service and lets get the 7 gain cereal back in the bulk section!! They are no longer carrying it and we cannot let this happen. Request to get it back!!!! I love the mult-grain bread and have traveled 70 miles north to get the 7 grain cereal at the Orem Winco’s.
You can get it at the health food store in the bulk section as well. Good Earth. They just had a sale on the six grain rolled cereal in 50 lb. Bags, which works great for this recipe as well.
How much is a “bit” for decreasing the salt? Leaving out 1/4 tsp? 1/8? Thank you!
I don’t really measure, I just eyeball it! But maybe about 1/4 teaspoon?
I love this bread! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
I made this yesterday and I have to say it is amazing! It was so easy to make and came out perfect! I will definately be making this on a regular basis. Thanks for sharing!
Made this tonight with my bread machine and it came out looking just like yours! I soaked the cereal mix in the hot water for an hour, then transferred it to my machine’s baking pan. I added all the other ingredients and then started the dough cycle. Once it was done I did everything else like the recipe said, including letting the loaves rise for 30 minutes before baking off. I also brushed a little melted butter on the crusts when they were done to keep them from getting too crusty. The oats didn’t stick to my loaves so next time I think I’ll skip that step. And how does the bread taste? I’m sitting here at 11 p.m. eating bread and butter. It’s THAT good. Just wanted to let you know this recipe works great with a machine! thanks for sharing it. :o)
I added 1 TBSP vital wheat gluten flour to my third batch of this bread. While the first two were super yummy, the third batch was a lot lighter in texture.
I am liking all of the grain in this bread and it looks amazing!
This bread is delicious! I used the 10-grain cereal mix, because I had it in the pantry. The dough did, though, nearly max out my stand mixer. My mixer is about 40 years old (I talked my mom into giving it to me, since she never used it any more 🙂 ), the “classic” before there was a classic. And the bowl was FULL. But, success!
http://alottabitfun.blogspot.com/2012/01/i-like-butter.html
I made this tonight and it was so delicious! I don’t have much experience baking bread and I really appreciate your pics and thorough descriptions- thank you! I too ground my own wheat flour, but if needing to grind wheat on a small scale a little coffee grinder does the trick (at 15$ it’s easy on the wallet and doesn’t take up hardly any space in my tiny kitchen!)
I’m one of THOSE people who bakes bread all the time. It’s just so much cheaper and I have a good recipe that only takes an hour, start to finish. This recipe, however, had to be tried. I made it two days ago (and doubled the recipe) and it is some of the best bread I have ever eaten. And I have eaten way too much of it. It’s so good that I don’t even need to slather it with butter! I’ll definitely be making it again, but probably with more whole wheat flour next time.