Whole Grain Bread

A couple of days ago I was at the mall waiting to be picked up. Of course my sister was late so I walked into Office Depot. To my surprise they had a small selection of cooking books, so I had some entertainment to pass time. One book caught my eye - it was a bread recipe book with lovely photos. The book had such great recipes! I mean, I basically wanted to make all of them. I think it was one of those books that went unnoticed, because the price was so low, 30 shekels, which is about 8 dollars. I knew I would regret it if I didn't buy the book...

When I choose the first recipe to make out of cookbook, that recipe makes or breaks the book for me. If I don't like what I've made it will forever disappoint me. Does this happen to you too? 

So this is why I was very careful when choosing the first bread recipe to bake. I wanted something healthy and delicious (don't we all??). The whole grain bread recipe sounded great, so I went to the health-food store and got all the awesome healthy ingredients and went to work. 

The bread first of all smelled amazing, second of all it looked amazing (it really looked store bought), and last but not least it tasted great! Believe me I will be making all the recipe's in the book.

I had to translate the recipe to english, so if something is unclear please let me know.

Whole Grain Bread

Adapted From Bread Only By Smadar Zorea-Barmak

Printable Recipe

Starter Dough:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon yeast

1 cup lukewarm water

Dough:

2 cups water

1/3 cup whole wheat grains

1/3 cup millet grains

1/3 cup corn flour

1/3 cup rolled oats

1 cup whole wheat flour

3 - 4 cups all purpose flour

1 tablespoon salt

4 teaspoons yeast

3 tablespoons honey

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/3 cup water

Topping:

2 - 3 tablespoons water

Rolled oats and millet, for sprinkling

Mix in a bowl the ingredients for the starter dough, and let sit in a warm place for 60 - 90 minutes.

In a small saucepan cook the 2 cups of water and whole wheat grain for 2 minutes until boiling. 

Lower the heat, and continue cooking about 10 minutes. Add the millet and corn flour and stir until thick - about 3 minutes. Let cool.

Sift both flours in a large bowl and add the yeast and salt. Add the grain mixture and the starter dough. Add the honey, oil and water. Mix with a wooden spoon until a dough is formed. 

Flour a surface and knead the dough by hand for 10 minutes. 

Oil a bowl and place the dough in the bowl. Cover and let rise for 60 - 90 minutes (until dough has doubled). Once dough has risen knead it, and place in a greased 30-centimeter loaf pan. Cover the pan and let the dough rise for 30 - 40 minutes. 

Preheat the oven to 190C. Place an empty pan on the bottom of the oven. Before putting the bread in the oven, pour water into prepared pan (this creates steam in the oven, which gives the bread a wonderful crust). 

Brush risen dough with water and sprinkle the millet and rolled oats. 

Bake for 40 - 50 minutes, until the crust has browned and hardened. Take the bread out of the pan and let cool.

Makes 1 large bread.