Multi Grain Bread

Vegan Mofo Day 16:

OK Guys... Finally after a lot of deliberations & discussions, we've added a Kitchenaid Stand mixer to our ever growing kitchen appliances list. I had to take the storage space available, usage and the price into consideration. I do bake almost every week and I thought I can re-organize my counters to accommodate the new arrival, but the price was still an issue.

So when I saw Kohl’s had it on sale for $199.99 ($259.99 Retail), got another 30% off for using Kohl’s credit card; so I ended up paying $150 (that’s including tax), with another $20 mail-in rebate. So I’m a happy to get a Kitchenaid that is 2nd in Consumer Reports rating for less than $150.

For my first attempt, I made “Multi-Grain Bread” using Peter Reinhart’s recipe from “The bread baker’s Apprentice”. The recipe called for kneading for 10 minutes in the stand mixer, but I took it out after 5 minutes and kneaded it by hand for another 7 minutes.

Ingredients:

For the Soaker:

Coarse cornmeal (polenta) or quinoa or millet or amaranth – 3tbsp

Rolled oats or wheat or buckwheat or triticale flakes – 3tbsp

Wheat bran – 2tbsp

Water – ¼ cup

For the Bread:

Bread flour – 3cups

Brown sugar – 3tbsp

Yeast – 2tbsp

Salt – 1½tsp

Cooked Brown Rice - 3tbsp

Milk or Buttermilk – ½ cup (I used Soymilk. You can also use water instead)

Water – ¾ cup, at room temperature

Honey – 1½ tbsp (omit if vegan)

Method:

• Prepare the soaker the night before you plan to make the bread: Mix all the ingredients in a small bowl. Water is going to just cover the grains and helps in hydrating. Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature overnight.
• Next day make the bread: In a mixing bowl or in the stand mixer bowl, add flour, sugar, yeast and salt. Stir together using the paddle attachment.
• Next add water, milk and honey. Stir until ingredients form into a ball. Change to the dough hook and knead for 8-10 minutes. Alternately knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 12 minutes.
• The dough is quite sticky to begin with; after kneading it is tacky but not sticky and becomes smooth with a shiny surface.
• Transfer into a large oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 90 minutes or until doubled. One tip from the Kitchenaid manual that helped me with proofing the dough in this cold temperature is to turn on the oven at 400°F for 1 minute and turning it off. Then put the bowl (covered with a kitchen towel) in the center of the oven.
• After the first rise, take the dough out and roll it into a ¾ inch thick rectangle of 6” wide and 8 – 10” long. Then roll it from the short edge to form into a loaf, pinch the edges to seal and transfer into a lightly greased 9” x 5” bread pan.
• Spritz lightly with cooking spray; cover loosely with plastic wrap (and a kitchen towel) and let rise for another 90 minutes. At this point, you can also make individual rolls instead of making into a log.
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake on the center rack for 20 minutes. Individual rolls should be done baking by then. If baking the log, turn the pan 180° and bake for another 15 minutes.

Bread should have a golden brown crust and should make a hollow sound when thumped on the bottom. Remove bread from the pan immediately and let cool for at least 1 to 2 hours before slicing or serving.

The bread has a slightly crunchy crust and the interior has a nice texture from the added grains.

It is perfect for breakfast with some peanut butter and jelly or with any sandwich accouterments or just to to dunk in soup . Well worth the effort I must say.