House Seeded Multigrain Loaf

House Seeded Multigrain Loaf

I’ve been working on creating the perfect multigrain loaf that works well as toast and also as a sandwich bread. My criteria was that it had to be not too light, not too dense, tons of flavor, healthy and easy to make with limited command of my time. I also wanted it to be a loaf that I could eat regularly without getting sick of it. This is the resulting loaf.

Ingredients

• 1 - 3/4 cups (390g - 75% hydration) warm water around 98F

• 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast

• 12g honey or brown sugar

• 40g millet

• 40g flax seeds

• 312g bread flour

• 154g whole-wheat flour

• 27g rye flour

• 27g spelt flour

• 13g fine sea salt

• 1/2 teaspoon diastatic malt powder (Optional - This gives larger oven spring and chewier texture)
  I use this one

  Toppings -

• Sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, poppy seeds,

Additional Notes

• I found that the rise and fermentation times varied day to day based on weather, temperature etc. With a few bakes under your belt you’ll get a good sense for when to wait and when it’s ready to bake.

• This loaf freezes really well

• If possible, use the weighted measurements as the cups are approx. Weighted measurements is going to give you a more accurate result.

Tools

• large mixing bowl

• bench scraper (like this)

• food scale

• 9”x5” loaf pan

• razor blade to slash bread or bread lame (like this)

• small spray bottle

Building the dough

1. Add the yeast, honey or brown sugar, toasted sunflower seeds and millet to the warm water and mix to dissolve.

2. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and use a whisk to mix it all together.

3. Add the water/yeast/honey/seed mixture to the rest of the ingredients and mix with your hands or large wooden spoon until no dry bits are left and it looks like a shaggy ball of dough. Cover with a clean dish towel and let rest for 30 mins-1 hr.

4. After the rest period you will start a series of turn and folds by grabbing a corner of the dough and pull and stretch it over the entire dough, turn and repeat until you’ve done 4 turn and folds. This will help build gluten and create structure for your dough.

5. Cover and let rest for 30 mins then repeat the turn and folds 4-5 more times. After the last turn and fold leave on counter in room temp for 1 hour.

6. At this point you could move on to shaping your loaf or you can transfer the dough to the fridge for a bulk fermentation for a few more hours or overnight and then proceed to shaping the loaf.

Shaping the loaf

1. Transfer dough onto a lightly floured surface and shape a 7” square. Fold the top edge towards the middle, then the bottom edge into the middle. Pinch the middle. I like to grab an inch on the right and left side of the dough and fold it in as well. This helps build strength in the dough.

2. Place the log seam side down in a lightly greased 9” x 5” loaf pan and cover the pan loosely with lightly greased plastic wrap or a reusable cover.

3. Let the bread rise for about 2 hours until the center has crowned about 1" above the rim of the pan. What you’re looking for is a nicely crowned loaf that when pressed with your finger doesn’t immediately spring back.

Baking the loaf

1. Preheat oven to 425F and set rack to the middle.

2. Just before putting in the oven, spray the top of the loaf and sprinkle on your desired seeds.

3. Using a razor blade or super sharp knife score the top of the loaf from the longest edge

4. Lower the oven temp to 400F and bake for 35 - 45 mins. It should be nice and dark on top and an instant read thermometer in the middle should read 200F

5. Remove the finished bread from loaf tin and let cool on a wire rack. Don’t be tempted to cut into it until it’s cooled completely (ok, slightly warm). I made the mistake of not waiting once and the bread collapsed when I cut into it :(