Bread On Tuesday ~ Week 4 {Multi-Grain Bread}

If you're looking for a bread that is packed with nutritional goodness, then this is the bread for you.  I clipped this recipe from a Better Homes and Gardens magazine in 1996.  Oh my.  Has it really been that long?  Sixteen-plus years?  It seems I am always getting these little reminders of my age.  

Back to bread-making...

This was a satisfying recipe in more ways than one.  Since I have had my stand mixer, I have rarely kneaded my dough, letting the dough hook attachment do the work instead.  But this dough kept coming up over the top of the attachment (I have a 5-quart bowl), so I removed it from the mixer and kneaded it by hand.  I had forgotten how satisfying it was to manipulate dough in your hands until it is "right."  

The other part of the satisfaction was the final product.  Although the number and amount of grains had me anticipating a dense, heavy bread, it was not that at all.  Certainly not as light as, say, white dinner rolls.  But fine-textured and chewy and flavorful.  And I could tell myself that it was good for me.  Maybe even more nutritious than coffee and dark chocolate! ~wink~ 

This recipe makes two loaves.  I used one loaf to make grilled cheese-and-apple sandwiches and served it with soup left over from the weekend.  The other will be served with dinner another night this week.  If it lasts that long.  It might end up being toasted for breakfast or sliced to make sandwiches for lunch.  We'll see...

(Makes 2 loaves) Ingredients: 2 1/2 cups warm water (105-115° F) 5 teaspoons fresh yeast 1/2 cup honey 1/2 cup cooking oil 2 eggs 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup nonfat dry milk powder 1/2 cup rolled oats 1/2 cup cornmeal 1/2 cup toasted wheat germ* 3 1/4 to 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 2 cups whole wheat flour 1 cup rye flour 1 tablespoon butter Directions: In a bowl, stir together warm water and yeast.  Allow to sit for 20 minutes.  Add honey, oil, eggs, and salt; beat until combined.  Add dry milk powder, oats, cornmeal, and wheat germ; beat until combined. Add 1 cup of the all-purpose flour and all of the whole wheat flour; beat on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping the bowl.  Beat on high speed for 3 minutes.  Using a spoon, stir in rye flour and as much remaining all-purpose flour as you can. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface.  Knead in enough remaining all-purpose flour to make a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic, 7 to 9 minutes.  Shape into a ball.  Place in a lightly greased bowl, turning once to grease surface.  Cover; let rise in a warm place till double (30-40 minutes). Punch dough down.  Turn out onto a lightly floured surface.  Divide in half.  Cover; let rest for 10 minutes.  Shape each half into a loaf.  Place in 2 greased 8x4x2-inch loaf pans.  Cover; let ruse in a warm place till nearly double (15-20 minutes).  Bake in a 375°  oven for 35 -40 minutes or till bread sounds hollow when tapped.  Remove from pans; place on a wire rack.  Brush with butter**.  Cool completely.   ~ ~ ~ MY NOTES: *  I was too lazy to toast the wheat germ.  And I was trying to mix the dough while Bekah was doing her math lesson.  So I just tossed it in straight from the jar.  It was fine.   ** If you forget to brush with butter, the bread is still good.

 He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth;

 And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man's heart.

Proverbs 104:14, 15