Easy Whole Grain Bread

First let me say I'm not a bread baker. I like to cook and I like to bake but I never seem to have the time to make bread that needs  4 to 5 hours to sit and rise. But today I had some extra time and I thought "I should make some bread"! I headed over to Google and started looking for a recipe that only made one loaf. That's where I found this multi grain bread recipe. A plus is that it was going to use some of the dry roasted sunflower seeds that have been sitting in the pantry because they don't have salt and I can't stand them.

As far as making bread goes this did seem pretty to me so if you have the ingredients on hand give it a try! For me the hardest part is telling if the bread is completely baked or not. No one wants bread that's still doughy in the center. Having small thermometer really comes in handy here. You can just stick it in the middle of the bread and once it hits 190 to 200 degrees your bread is done. Easy as that!

EASY WHOLE GRAIN BREAD

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 2 1/4 tsp  fast acting yeast
• 2 Tbsp maple syrup (you could also use honey)
• 1/2 tbsp salt
• 1 Tbsp ground flax seed
• 2 cups white wheat flour
• 1 3/4 cups unbleached white flour + more for rolling / dusting
• 2 Tbsp roasted sunflower seeds
• 2 Tbsp rolled oats

Instructions

1. Combine warm water, yeast, maple syrup, salt, flax seed and white wheat flour(2 cups) in a large mixing bowl and stir. The result will be a sticky, rough dough. If using a stand mixer, beat at medium speed for about a minute. Otherwise just use a spoon to stir until everything is well combined and when it's  to stiff to use a spoon - knead and turn it in the bowl with your hands. Add the white flour(about 1 1/2 cups) slowly until the dough is no longer sticking to the sides.
2. Lightly grease a bowl with nonstick spray or olive oil. Add the dough, cover and let it rise for 2 hours at room temperature and 2 hours in the fridge.
3. Remove dough from the fridge. Use fingers to create a hole in the dough and pour in sunflower seeds and oats. Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead about 20 turns or until elastic. Form into a loaf-like shape.
4. Place seam-side down in a lightly greased loaf pan and sift a light coating of flour over the top to help keep the dough moist. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 45-60 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 400°F toward the end of the dough resting time and place a metal or cast iron pan (not glass, Pyrex, or ceramic) on the lowest oven rack. Also have 1 cup of hot water ready(this helps keep the bread moist).
6. When the oven is preheated, slash the bread 2 or 3 times with a knife, making a cut about ½-inch deep.
7. Place in oven on middle rack, then carefully pour hot water into the shallow pan on the rack beneath. Expect it to bubble and steam; then close oven door quickly.
8. Bake the bread for 35 to 40 minutes, or until deep golden brown and risen. I ended up covering my bread with foil after 20 minutes so it didn't get to dark on top. Bread is done when the center temperature is 190 to 200 degrees.
9. Remove the bread from the oven and let rest in the pan for 5 minutes. Then carefully remove from pan and transfer to a cooling rack to cool. Let it cool completely before slicing for best results.

Or if you are like me don't wait at all for the bread to cool. Immediately cut yourself a slice, slather with butter and jelly and enjoy!! ;-)

Note: Recipe adapted slightly from Minimalist Baker