Here we go with a new bread recipe. This one has taken some work! Have you ever tried most of the 7 grain recipes out there? You might lose a tooth on some of them! As much as we love my good ole white sandwich bread
RECIPE HERE we wanted to save this luxurious bread for special occasions and start making our daily bread with less sugar and more whole grains. So the search began..... most of the recipes called for 7 grain cereal to be added with bread flour but most cereals are packaged with
Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) or slightly better
Tocopherols (unless organic you can pretty much bet it's GMO corn or soy) and those are ingredients we try to avoid for our own personal reasons. I am not here to preach about our opinions nor sway yours just letting you know why I didn't use those recipes. Our search continued and I came across this
Organic 7 grain flour so we were thrilled! (I have not received any compensation or free products, just sharing my new find!) Then the test batches started. Some were good, some were okay but after adding and tweaking we have come up with a fluffier than the usual 7 grain sandwich bread.
This bread is not any more difficult that regular bread, which isn't difficult at all, but it requires a bit more patience. The rising process is slower and really can't be rushed. Trying to rush will cause the bread to become more dense.
Ingredients (Organic or not is up to you but as shown in pictures all of these are organic)
2 TB fine ground raw sugar
2 TB yeast
2 cups warm water
1 1/2 cups unbleached bread or all purpose flour
2 TB Vital wheat gluten
1/2 TB salt
1/2 cup olive oil
4 cups (give or take) 7 grain flour
Add yeast, sugar, and warm water to stand mixer and let sit for about 10 minutes. You want your water to be warm like a child's bath. Too hot will kill the yeast and too cool will not active them.
Once yeast is activated I start by adding the 1 1/2 cups of AP or bread flour and the vital wheat gluten. Give those a minute to incorporate then add the olive oil and salt. This recipe also needs that extra kick of salt, without it the bread will taste sort of flat.
Once those are incorporated start by adding about 3 cups of the 7 grain flour. Once that is incorporated continue to add by 1/2 cup at a time until the dough becomes less sticky. (it isn't an exact amount, it can vary slightly from day to day or time of the year depending on the weather/humidity) This part was tricky to get a picture but this bread gets thick at the end and the bottom of the bowl gets drier and the top is still tacky, so I flip the top down in the mixer and give it a few whirls around.
Top picture is the tacky top, bottom picture is the bottom that has been turned to the top.
Once it whirls around it will stick to the hook and the sides of the bowl will be clean. At this point oil a large bowl, remove dough from mixer and form into a 'ball' shape.
Place in oiled bowl and cover with a towel, then place the bowl in a warm location. Set a timer for an hour because if you are like me you will lose track of time!
You really want this dough to double in size. I have left it as long as 1 1/2 hours when I forgot to set a timer and it was really fluffy that day! The only problem with letting it go longer is you run the risk of the dough drying a bit on the top. I forgot to take a picture of the risen dough but it's almost the size of the bowl. Punch it down then roll on to a lightly floured surface.
My pans are 2 different sizes so I divide the dough to fit my pans.
I turn the dough cut side up and smoosh it down.
Then I fold in both sides (hard to take a picture LOL) then roll the dough, slightly lifting as rolling to make the loaf tight.
The great thing about homemade bread is that it doesn't have to be perfect!
This will make 3 small or 1 large and 1 small. (my large pan is quite big) Once again you will cover pans with a towel and let rise at least 45 minutes. This bread will not continue to rise in the oven like the white bread does. The size this goes in will be the size and density you get when it comes out of the oven.
Here we go at 45 minutes. This is actually when I preheat the oven and give it a few more minutes rise time. However, if your oven heats slowly about halfway through rise time go ahead and preheat. I also give the oven a few minutes after it beeps telling me that it's heated to 350 that way when the door opens it doesn't drop below 350 too easily.
Now, cook time will depend on the size and type of pan you are using but generally speaking it should take 30-40 minutes. My little loaf takes about 34 and large about 38 depending on the day. The silicone pan needs no help, that loaf pops right out. The metal pan can sometimes stick a bit so let the bread stay in the pan for 5 minutes after removing from the oven, then gently slide a metal spatula around the sides to loosen the loaf. They 'should' cool completely before cutting but I rarely make it to completely cool and cut it slightly cool =) Just make sure you have a good, sharp serrated knife.
As you can see this is pretty fluffy for 7 grain bread. It also holds up well and works great for sandwiches!
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