Multigrain Bread

With it’s soft texture and hearty flavor, Multigrain Bread tastes fantastic and will keep fresh for several days. You can start the dough the night before and bake in the morning to have fresh bread for lunch.

This recipe makes a loaf that is not only multigrain, it’s also mostly whole grain. There is just enough bread flour in the recipe to develop the gluten. Despite the heavier whole grains in the dough the gluten enables the bread to rise high in the oven.

The loaf comes out moist, chewy, yet not at all dense or heavy. It really is a great sandwich loaf.

Oh, If you maintain a sourdough starter, you can click over to this recipe for Sourdough Multigrain Bread.

Recipe Ingredients

• Water – Boiled water softens the bulgur wheat
• Bulgur wheat – Adds a chewy texture and hearty flavor to the bread.
• Milk – Gives the bread a soft and rich texture.
• Yeast – For leavening.
• Bread flour – Gives the bread structure.
• Honey – For a touch of sweetness. Honey helps the bread stay moist for several days.
• Salt – For flavor.
• Old fashioned oats – Oats add flavor and texture to the bread.
• Rye flour – Use whole grain rye flour for the best flavor.
• Wheat bran – For healthy fiber and great texture.
• Whole wheat flour – With the bread flour, the whole wheat flour forms the structure of the bread.
• Egg – To brush the loaf before baking.

How to make Multigrain Bread

• Pour the boiling water over the bulgur wheat and set it aside.
• The bulgur wheat will soften and absorb most of the water.

• Combine the bulgur wheat, milk, yeast and the bread flour to form a smooth batter
• Add the honey, salt, oats, bran and rye flour.
• Mix until it forms a thick batter.

• Add the whole wheat flour.
• Knead for 5 minutes. The dough will stick to the sides of the bowl.
• The dough will look very sticky.

• Turn the dough out onto a floured surface
• Knead the dough a few times to form a ball.

• Set the dough into an oiled bowl and set it aside to rise.
• Rise for about 1 1/2 hours until the dough doubles in size. At this point the dough can be refrigerated for up to 2 days before baking.

• Turn the dough out onto a floured surface,
• Pat the dough into a rectangle and roll from the short end.
• Form the dough into a tight log.

• Set the dough into a lightly oiled loaf pan. Cover and set aside to rise for approximately 1 hour.
• The loaf should fill up the pan. When the dough is poked it should slowly spring back.

• Brush the dough with egg wash. Cut a slash down the center and sprinkle with oats and bulgur wheat.
• Bake until the interior temperature is 200F.

Pastry Chef tips for making Multigrain Bread

• Make sure the water for soaking the bulgur wheat is at a full boil. If the water is not hot enough it won’t soften the grains.
• The whey in milk can inhibit gluten formation in bread dough. Scalding the milk denatures (breaks down) the whey protein.
• If measuring the flour by volume use the “dip & sweep” method. That is, dip the measuring cup into the flour bin, overfill it, then sweep away the excess.
• The dough will seem very sticky and you might be tempted to add more flour. Adding too much flour will make a dense loaf. After you remove the dough from the mixer it will knead together easily with a sprinkling of flour.
• I like to use a mixture of rolled oats and bulgur wheat for topping the bread. You can also sprinkle with sesame seeds or wheat bran.
• After the first rise, you can refrigerate the dough for up to 2 days before baking. The second rise time may be longer if the dough is cold from the refrigerator.

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