Multigrain Bread Extraordinaire

Multigrain Bread Extraordinaire

2020 has started, and if it’s anything like 2019, we’ll be up to our elbows in flour, butter, and chocolate in no time. But in the meanwhile, as we settle in to the new year and detox from all the treats, Streusel and I figured we would get the year off to a healthy start, grain-wise. This month we’re going to focus on baking multigrain goodness, hearty carbs that aren’t heavy, are healthy, and that don’t taste like cardboard.

 

This past weekend, I baked a loaf of this Multigrain Bread Extraordinaire. I was intrigued because it’s filled with a bunch of ingredients – like millet and brown rice – that I hadn’t put in bread before. It’s a chewy and doughy and is fantastic toasted or straight out of the oven with butter and jam. The bread has lots of healthy parts to it, but doesn’t taste like it came from the health food store – it tastes more like a delicious bread you’d be happy eat with your morning eggs or as a toasted sandwich.

 

 

 

I edited the recipe only very, very slightly, and these are the directions below. This bread has two rises, but otherwise is quite simple to make, especially with a stand mixer.

 

The only change I made in the directions was for the first rise. Rather than leaving the dough to proof in a warm spot for 90 minutes, I instead put it in the refrigerator for about 24 hours. On Sunday morning, I got it out of the oven, shaped it into a loaf, let it proof for 90 minutes, and baked it for about 35 minutes. From there, we gobbled about 1/2 the loaf with breakfast. It was perfect.

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Multigrain Bread Extraordinaire


  • Author: The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart
Scale

Ingredients

soaker

  • 3 tablespoons (1 ounce) cornmeal
  • 3 tablespoons (.75 ounces) rolled oats
  • 2 tablespoons millet
  • 1/4 cup water, at room temperature

 

dough

  • 3 cups (13.5 ounces) unbleached bread flour
  • 3 tablespoons (1.5 ounces) brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons (.38 ounces) salt
  • 1 tablespoon (.33 ounces) instant yeast
  • 3 tablespoons (1 ounce) cooked brown rice
  • 1 1/2 (1 ounce) honey
  • 1/2 cup (4 ounces) milk
  • 3/4 cup (6 ounces) water, at room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon poppy seeds, for topping (optional)

Instructions

  1. On the day before making the bread, make the soaker. Combine the cornmeal, oats, and millet with the water in a small bowl. The water will just cover the grain, hydrating it slightly. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave it at room temperature overnight to initiate enzyme action.
  2. The next day, make the dough. Stir together the flour, brown sugar, salt, and yeast in the bowl of an electric mixer. Add the soaker, rice, honey, milk, and water. Mix on low speed with the paddle attachment until the ingredients form a ball. Add a few drops of water if any flour remains separate.
  3. Switch to the dough hook, and knead for 8-10 minutes on medium-low speed, sprinkling in flour if needed to make dough that is soft and pliable, tacky but not sticky. The individual ingredients will homogenize into the greater dough, disappearing to an extent, and the dough will smooth out and become slightly shiny. Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
  4. Ferment at room temperature for 90 minutes, or until the dough doubles in size (note: this is where I put my in the refrigerator for 24 hours).
  5. Remove the dough from the bowl and press it by hand into a rectangular about 3/4’ thick, 6 inches wide, and 8-10 inches long. Form in to a loaf, and place in to a lightly oiled 9 by 5 inch loaf pan, or onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper if you are making a freestanding loaf. Mist the top of the dough with water and sprinkle on poppy seeds. Mist again, this time with spray oil, and loosely cover the dough with plastic wrap or a towel.
  6. Proof for approximately 90 minutes, or until the dough nearly doubles in size.
  7. Preheat the oven to 350, with the oven rack on the middle shelf.
  8. Bake for about 20 minutes, rotate the pan 180 degrees and continue baking for another 15 minutes for freestanding loaves and 20-40 minutes for loaf-pan bread. The bread should register at least 185-190 in the center, be golden brown, and make hollow sound when thumped on the bottom.
  9. When the loaves are finished baking, remove them immediately from the pans and cool on a rack for at least 1 hour, preferably 2 hours, before slicing or serving.
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