A hearty blend of whole grains come together to produce a flavorful loaf of bread that has been kissed with a touch of honey to heighten the natural robust sweetness of the grains. Perfect for slicing for sandwiches, slathered with butter or toasted. This recipe for Multigrain Bread will soon become a family favorite throughout the year.

Whole Grain Soaker – The recipe begins with soaking the whole grains in boiling water. This accomplishes two things; Firstly, the grain will soften and hydrate fully, activating the enzymes in the kernel of grain. Think of hot breakfast cereal and how it changes as it cooks. As the grain softens it becomes more digestible and releases sugars into the dough creating full depth of flavor for us to enjoy in the final baked bread. Secondly, the softened soaked grain can break down and blend into the dough helping to bind with the gluten to create the internal crumb structure of the bread and provides a beautiful burnished brown and chewy crust.

Whole Grain = Sticky Dough – Whole grain bread recipes require more water in order for the whole grains to hydrate completely. The dough will start off very sticky but as the dough sits and ferments the grains will slowly take in the water. Each time you touch the dough after the kneading you will see the dough continue to firm up. Don’t be alarmed by how sticky the dough is in the kneading process. I promise you the end results are worth sticky fingers.

All Steamed Up – This style of bread requires lots of steam in the first 10 minutes of baking. I found the best way to create and contain the steam is to place ice cubes directly on the baking stone next to the loaf of bread and covering the loaf with a large stainless steel bowl. This will create a small steamy environment that will keep the exterior of the loaf from setting too quickly allowing the dough to grow to its fullest size and creates a beautiful shiny crust. (See video timestamp: 8:06)

As with all baking recipe I recommend you weigh the ingredients for the Multigrain Bread. Weighing ensures you have a consistent dough each and every time. As bakers, we are always striving to remove any variables from the process of baking.

This blog post is sponsored by JORD® Watches

JORD® GIVEAWAY CONTEST WINNER: Bruschetta Mattia

 The full instructional video for Multigrain Bread is at the bottom of this blog post. Follow this link to “LIKE” and “SUBSCRIBE” to my YouTube Channel “Just One Bite, Please?”

Equipment: (Shop my Amazon Page for Ingredients & Equipment)

• Mixing Bowls
• Measuring Cups & Spoons/Electronic Baking Scale
• Microwave (Boiling Water)
• Plastic Scrape
• Metal Bench Scrape
• 2 – Parchment Paper (cut into ¼-sheet pan size)
• 2 – ¼-Sheet Pans or Cutting Boards
• Bread Lame (or sharp paring knife)
• Pastry Brush
• Water
• ½-cup Rolled Oats for coating the loaves
• Baking Stone
• Pizza/Bread Peel
• Plastic Wrap

Multigrain Bread (2 loaves)

Soaker

• Measured               Grams                   Ingredients
• 1 cup                            114 g.                   Rolled Oats
• 1 cup                            172 g.                   7-Grain Cereal Mix (Bob’s Red Mill)
• 2 cups                          454 g.                   Water (Boiling)

Mixing the Soaker:

1. Heat the water to a full boil in a microwave or boil in a pan.
2. In a large mixing bowl add the 7-Grain Mix, Rolled Oats and pour the boiling water over the grains. Stir if necessary to ensure the grain is fully moistened.
3. Let the soaker sit for 30 minutes to fully hydrate and cool before mixing the final dough.

Multigrain Final Dough 

• Measured               Grams                   Ingredients
• 1-¾ cups                     397 g.                    Water (room temperature)
• ¾ cup                          127 g.                    Whole Wheat Flour
• ¼ cup                            42 g.                    Whole Rye Flour
• ¼ cup                            46 g.                    Whole Cornmeal (medium ground)
• ¼ cup                            43 g.                    Flax Seeds
• ¼ cup                            83 g.                    Honey
• 1-½ tsp.                           6 g.                    Instant Yeast
• 4-1/3 cup                    617 g.                    Bread Flour (Unbleached, Unbromated)
• 1 Tbsp. + 1 tsp.            27 g.                    Sea Salt (fine)

Mixing and Kneading the Multigrain Final Dough:

1. Stir the cooled soaker to loosen it up.
2. To the cooled soaker add the water, whole wheat flour, whole rye flour, whole cornmeal, flax seeds, honey, and yeast. Stir until the ingredients are well combined.
3. Add the sea salt and bread flour and mix until the dough is a shaggy mass.
4. Scrape out the bowl and turn the dough onto the work surface. Use your scraper to scrape out any bits of dough from the bowl.
5. Compress and knead the dough to incorporate the ingredients into a dough. The dough will start off dry and then will become sticky.
6. Knead the dough by hand for 5 to 6 minutes. The dough will be sticky. “Do not add any flour to the work surface.” Use the plastic scraper as necessary to keep the dough together while kneading and to scrape the dough from your hands and fingers.
7. Once the kneading is complete form the dough into a ball.
8. Lightly oil or spray a bowl with non-stick spray and place the dough into the bowl and cover with plastic.
9. Ferment the dough for 1 hour.
10. After 1 hour, uncover the dough and flour the work surface.
11. Turn the dough out of the bowl and degas and fold the dough. (see video timestamp: 4:16)
12. Place the dough back into the bowl and let ferment for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven and baking stone to 425°F (218°C) for 1 hour before baking the Multigrain Bread.

Dividing, Pre-shaping, and Final Shaping the Multigrain Bread loaves:

1. After 30 minutes uncover the dough and lightly flour the work surface.
2. Turn the dough out onto the lightly floured work surface and divide into equal 2 pieces weight approximately (1053 grams).
3. Gently shape each piece of dough into a round ball and leave seam side down on the work surface.
4. Cover the rounded dough pieces with plastic wrap and let rest for 15 minutes.
5. After 15 minutes uncover the dough and lightly flour the tops of the dough rounds.
6. Turn each piece of dough over (seam side up) onto the work surface and gently degas and form the dough into an oval.
7. Roll and form each piece of dough into a bâtard (football) shape and set aside.
8. Sprinkle cornmeal onto two pieces of ¼-sheet of parchment paper that have been placed on ¼-sheet trays.
9. Place the shaped loaves seam side down onto the cornmeal topped parchment paper.
10. Cover the shaped loaves with plastic wrap and place one loaf into the refrigerator to slow the fermentation.
11. Leave one loaf at room temperature and proof the loaf for 50 minutes to 1 hour before baking.
12. Uncover the proofed dough and use the finger test to test the proofed dough. The dough should spring back slightly and leave an indentation. (see video timestamp: 7:32)
13. Lightly brush the proofed loaf with water.
14. Use a lame, straight edge razor or a sharp knife to cut 4 diagonal cuts down the center of the loaf.
15. Slide the loaf onto the 425°F (218°C) preheated oven onto the baking stone and carefully place 3 ice cubes on each side of the loaf and then place the large stainless steel bowl over the loaf. (see video timestamp: 8:06)
16. Bake the loaf covered with the bowl for 10 minutes.
17. Remove the second loaf from the refrigerator and continue proof at room temperature while the first loaf is baking.
18. After 10 minutes, remove the bowl covering the loaf of bread using tongs and kitchen hot pads.
19. Continue to bake the loaf for 35 to 40 more minutes or until the exterior of the loaf is a deep golden brown. Turn the loaf to get even browning and remove the parchment paper.
20. Using the peel. Remove the baked loaf of Multigrain Bread from the oven and place onto a cooling rack to cool.
21. Continue steps 10 through 18 with the second loaf of bread.
22. Cool the baked Multigrain Bread loaves completely to room temperature before slicing.
23. Slice the loaf using a serrated bread knife. Slather the slice with butter or toast if you like. The Multigrain Bread makes great sandwiches too!
24. Enjoy!

Note: Store the loaves of Multigrain Bread in brown paper bags at room temperature for 5 days. If you like you can freeze the extra loaf by wrapping it in plastic wrap or placing into a large plastic freezer bag. Thaw the bread in the bag at room temperature and either toast or reheat the loaf in a 375°F (190°C) preheated oven for 12 to 14 minutes to refresh the crust.

(Leave your questions or comments below!)