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Multigrain Porridge Bread

lightly adapted from America’s Test Kitchen via Cooks Illustrated
Keyword bread, sandwich, whole grain
Prep Time 4 hours
Cook Time 35 minutes
Cooling Time 1 hour
Total Time 5 hours 35 minutes
Makes 1 sandwich loaf

Ingredients

7-Grain Porridge Mix

  • ¾ cup quick oats
  • ¼ cup wheat germ
  • ¼ cup bulgur wheat
  • 2 tbsp. teff or teff flour
  • 2 tbsp. millet
  • 2 tbsp. quinoa
  • 2 tbsp. cornmeal or stone-ground grits

Bread

  • 3 oz. 7-grain porridge mix (between ½ and ¾ cups)
  • 1¼ cups boiling water
  • 1¼ tsp. active dry or instant yeast
  • 2-3 tbsp. honey
  • 2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • 1½ cups plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup white whole wheat flour or whole wheat flour
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 4 tsp. mixed seeds and/or finely chopped nuts, such as flax, walnuts, sunflower, hemp
  • salted butter, for top of baked bread

Instructions

  • Place the porridge mix in a stand mixer bowl. Pour the boiling water over the cereal and let stand for 1 hour to come to room temperature.
  • Sprinkle the yeast over the cooled porridge mixture. If you used active dry yeast, stir and let stand for 10-15 minutes. If you used instant yeast, no need to wait!
  • Stir in the honey and butter.
  • In a separate bowl, whisk the flours together. Using a dough hook, stir the flour into the wet ingredients, about ½ cup at a time, until all the flour has been incorporated.
  • Knead with the dough hook for 5 minutes. Dough should form a somewhat sticky ball. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 20 minutes.
  • Stir in the salt. If the dough does not clear the sides of the bowl, add a few tablespoons of flour. If the dough is dry rather than tacky to the touch, add a tablespoon of water.
  • Spread seeds and finely chopped nuts on a clean work surface. Turn the dough ball out onto the seeds and knead until the seeds are worked evenly through the dough.
  • Place the dough in a lightly oiled 4qt. bowl. Roll the dough to coat in oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
  • Turn the risen dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Gently spread into a rectangle about 10″x8″. Roll up into a log and pinch the seam to seal.
  • Lightly oil an 8″x4″ (1.5qt.) loaf pan. Transfer the log to the loaf pan, seam side down. Spray or barely baste with oil and cover lightly with plastic wrap. Let the loaf rise for 45-60 minutes, until domed over the edge of the pan.
  • Heat oven to 375°.
  • Bake the risen loaf for 35-40 minutes.
  • Remove from the pan immediately and place on a wire rack. Brush or rub the top with butter until it glistens.
  • Let the bread cool completely before slicing, at least 1 hour.

Notes

*Note: Making your own porridge mix is a totally optional step (you could easily buy a 7-grain hot cereal mix such as Bob's Red Mill or Arrowhead Mills). However, it's very easy to make your own porridge mix, and you technically don't even need to measure. Just aim for about half oats and then throw in whatever other whole grains you have on hand by the spoonful! If you don't have all the grains I use, you could substitute brown rice, barley, spelt, farro, or anything else you may have on hand! Pulse any large grains in a food processor a few times to break them down. If you do follow the recipe I shared as I wrote it, it makes enough porridge mix for 2-3 loaves of bread!