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!
Can you use bread flour ? And what about sourdough starter for yeast ?
hi there! I would assume you could use bread flour and a sourdough starter, but I’ve never tried either so I can’t say for sure how it will turn out!
I have made this bread several times, and it is excellent. Great texture and very nice flavor. Plus, it’s great to stow the extra loaf in the freezer for when you need it.
Can you do this in a bread machine????
I’ve never tried that, but I’m sure you could!
I made this recipe today. I added 2 tsp vital wheat gluten because I have had bad luck with multigrain bread recipes (door stoppers). I only used 1 cup of cereal (red river along with some steel cut oats) because that’s all I had. It was the bomb!!!!!! Such a great recipe.
Hi Sara,
I’m excited about finding your recipe for the multigrain bread. I’m wondering if you have ever made and baked it in a bread machine?
thanks,
Cassia
I’ve never tried it in a bread machine- if you give it a go, let us know how it turns out!
I would like to make mini bread loaves from this recipe. Any idea on how long to bake them?
I’m not sure- you’ll have to eyeball it! I find usually it’s about half the time but I’d set your timer for a little less and start checking.
Thanks for sharing this recipe. My family loved it! I will definitely be making it again in the near future.
It sure if anyone will see threes questions since this is an old post, but I gotta try anyway!
A couple of questions: I’m making this bread right now and I’m at the 20 min rest stage before adding the salt. I weighed all my ingredients but I would not describe the dough as sticky at all. It is very stiff and more on the dry side even after adding a few T of water. It is very dry in the house so could that be why? Should I add more water?
Also, a question for any Bosch mixer owners out there: I got it main,y to make bread and larger batches of dough hoping it would handle it better than my Kitchen Aid. However, I’m not in love. I don’t feel like it kneels the dough – it just pushes the ingredients around the bowl at the same rate as the dough hook, so nothing really is happening to the dough. Does that make sense? Is it because I have the plastic bowl? Do I need the metal one? I transferred the dough from the Bosch to my KA since the Bosch wasn’t kneeding it, but the KA was having a hard time with the stiff dough.
Please help! ?
I see you! 🙂 I would say you may have been off on your ingredients if the dough was that stiff, and I don’t use a bosche so I’m not sure about that one!
This bread is great! I added Bob’s Red Mill Soft Wheat Berries and another 1/4 cup honey. YUM!
I made this today! So yummy! I couldn’t find any seven-grain cereal, so like several others, I used nine grain instead. I also used olive oil instead of butter…(my dil is lactose intolerant), and it turned out beautifully!
Thanks for a fun delicious recipe!
I live in Alberta, Canada (a higher altitude location). I halved this recipe and used it to make dinner rolls, which were excellent. For anyone else who lives in Alberta, I used 1/2 cup less flour than called for (so that would be 1 cup less for the full recipe) . I also gave the dough two risings before forming into rolls (coated dough with oil and allowed to rise in a warm location each time). I brushed the rolls with melted butter before and after baking, and baked for 15 minutes at 400 F. The 1/2 recipes makes 15 rolls, 50 grams of dough each (weigh dough with a scale for best results), and can be baked in a greased or non-stick 9 X 13 pan.
Thanks for the great recipe, I will make them again!
Note: For those in Canada, I ground Gold Forest Grain’s red spring wheat for this recipe and used Anita’s Organic Mill Cracked 7 Grain Cereal. Both products are excellent.
I have been making this bread regularly for the past few months. We love it. My granddaughter told he mom, “I want grandma’s toast.” My daughter told her grandma’s bread was all gone. My granddaughter said, “No, I don’t want grandma’s bread, I want grandma’s toast!” ?
So you have had this up for a while, but I thought I would tell you it is still getting some use. First time for me to ever make homemade bread, and I used regular yeast and put it with a cup of flour and water overnight to activate it, and then proceeded as directed just cutting out a little of the water. I did have to add more flour than you have, but it might be because this was just my first time to make bread. I gave a loaf to my neighbors since it is just me and my husband and we don’t tend to go through bread. Well they LOVE it and so do we. I made the bread Sunday and already I think I might make a couple more loaves this week. SO GOOD!!! You made me look like quite the bad ass, so thank you!
So glad it was a hit!
Love this bread. A few comments:
I throw the un-melted butter on top of the cereal about 10 min before it’s cooled to 110, that saves the step of melting and pouring it in. I also add about 1/4 c of vital wheat gluten, with great results – better rise and improved inner texture. Alas, though, I cannot get the rolled oats to “stick” to the loaves – it falls off immediately after removing from bread pans.
This is an excellent recipe. It is very precise and easy to follow, and it behaves as written (I’m a beginner at bread making). The result is a superb, tasty bread, good for eating warm or using later for sandwiches. I did add the pumpkin seeds and will do it in future.
Thank you, for sharing this wonderful bread recipe. I, made this bread recipe as you stated and did not change a thing and it came out perfect. I was happily surprised how much lighter than I was expecting, plus texture, fragrance and oh so yummy.
First try, bread was delightful. Next three batches have been max of 2.5″ tall. What am I doing wrong?
Hi Crystal, I’m not sure! I would try a fresh container of yeast and see if that helps. Good luck!
Thank you so much for this recipe. I have made it twice so far and am making again tomorrow morning. I use Bob’s 10 grain hot cereal and it comes out perfect with a lovely texture. Freezes beautifully too. The tip to use a thermometer is probably the best advice for bread baking, I’d never heard of that before. No more guessing when the bread is done! Just love this recipe!
I have been trying various whole wheat bread recipes and I often had problems with it rising. I made two batches of this Bob’s Red Mill 7-Grain cereal and it rose beautifuly. Absolutely the best bread I’ve ever made. Everyone at work loved it too and needed the recipe. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Note: I tried it with Bob’s Red Mill 8-Grain recipe and it was a flop. It didn’t raise much. Never again. Only Bob’s Red Mill 7-Grain will work on this recipe.
Keith
Glad to know you had such success!
I gave this a try and converted to bread machine recipe, mixing by ingredient order accordingly (wet in first, then dry) Used my own version of 7 grain multi-grain mixture. (wheat berry, buckwheat, millet, amaranth, oats, coarse ground corn and flax seed. This loaf not only turned out beautiful but not too heavy, very moist, delicious, the crust was perfect…I will definitely be making this one again! Thanks, I had tried finding a good multigrain recipe but something was always off…this is my new go to multigrain recipe!
Did you now that we even read your bestbites in Europe?
It would be nice to add the possibility to use metric units (grams).
The ‘cup’ system is difficult to Europeans.
Just an idea….
This sounds so good! I have 7 grain mix but it is whole not a cereal, will it work the same? Or should I grind it up first? Sorry I’m so dumb in the grain department. Any thoughts or suggestions would help. Thanks.
The multi grain cereal that i have does not look anything like the ones in your picture. The cereal is more like the regular breakfast cereals you take with milk. but it says whole grains and nuts. Sigh! should i experiment making this bread with it or NO?
Would really appreciate your input.
I am looking also for help. I tried to bake this bread twice and followed the recipe step by step, but once in the oven, the bread collapsed a little on the top. What went wrong ? Thanks.
hector.
Hi!
This question may have been asked and answered already but if I make the recipe after work one evening, is it okay to allow the dough to rise overnight and bake it the next morning? Some nights I get home late and I don’t always have time to make and bake the recipe all at once.
Another question, is there ever a proper time during the recipe where I can freeze the dough to bake at a later time? I’ve read that sometimes its not good to freeze the dough once yeast has been added but I’m not sure if thats correct.
I’ve made this recipe a couple of times and it is by far the best multigrain bread I’ve ever had!
Thanks!!!