Christmas Notebook

This is a recipe DH and I tried this week. It is delicious. Tastes great fresh, makes wonderful toast and very tasty hamburger buns.

The loaf slices perfectly for sandwiches. DH baked the bread in a cloche.

We used the recipe at this link as the basis for our own recipe. Harvest Grain Bread

Harvest Grain Bread

• 2 1/2 cups bread flour
• 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup blend of grains (We used 1/4 cup rolled oats and added enough flax seed, ground flax, and toasted sesame seeds to make 1/2 cup total.*)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons yeast
• 1/4 cup dry milk
• 1/2 cup buttermilk (Warm water may be substituted for the buttermilk.)
• 3/4 cups warm water
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and stir to combine. Knead the dough for about ten minutes by hand. Or, place the dough in a mixer with a dough hook and knead for about seven minutes.

Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover with a cloth and allow to rise for an hour.

Punch down and shape the dough into a loaf. Place the loaf into a greased 8 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ loaf pan. Or make twelve sandwich buns, or 18 dinner rolls and place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Allow to rise 30-40 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°F and bake the loaf for 35 minutes. Buns and rolls should bake about 15 minutes.

Take the bread out of the oven, remove it from the pan and allow to cool on a rack.

Adding Whole-Grain Bread Improver or Vital Wheat Gluten may help the rise and texture of whole grain loaves. We left this out and the bread is fine.

*Sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and/or poppy seeds could also be added to the whole-grain mix.

Can’t say enough about this delicious bread!

~~Rhonda