Easy Farmhouse Multi-grain Bread (for Bread Machine)

Total Time: 2 hrs 45 mins Preparation Time: 2 hrs Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients

• 1 cup milk, warmed but not boiled (a little less than a cup is perfect)
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened or cut into pieces
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 lb bread flour (about 3 and a quarter cups)
• 1 cup multi-grain hot cereal, uncooked
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons bread machine yeast (heaping)

Recipe

• 1 place all in bread machine pan in order given unless instructed otherwise by your machine's manufacturer. bake on regular setting, medium or light color.
• 2 either use a scant cup of milk or add a couple or three tablespoons of flour to this to get the doughball the right texture. keep your flour out and handy just in case, and watch the doughball after it's kneaded for a few minutes.
• 3 tip: if you have a kitchen scale, measuring flour by weight instead of by volume is not only much more accurate, it's faster and easier too.
• 4 tip: never just throw the ingredients into a bread machine and leave it, if you can help it. let the doughball form, then let the machine work it about five minutes more, then see what it looks like. if the paddle smushes through the bottom of the dough with every turn your dough is too wet. if your dough just spins around on top of the paddle or doesn't form at all, your dough is too dry. the ideal texture is soft enough to smush some of the time but firm enough to spin sometimes, then go off-center and smack the sides of the bread pan a lot.
• 5 enjoy!