Multigrain Poppy Seed Bread

Total Time: 4 hrs 45 mins Preparation Time: 4 hrs Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients

• 1 cup prepared hot multigrain cereal (i like bob's red mill 10 grain)
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup lukewarm water
• 3 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon gluten (optional)
• 2 tablespoons powdered milk
• 2 tablespoons sugar or 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon poppy seed
• dry hot cereal or cornmeal

Recipe

• 1 to make the dough in a bread machine: put the dough ingredients in the bread pan in the order listed and running the dough cycle.
• 2 peek at the dough after a few minutes to make sure that the dough is neither too dry or too wet.
• 3 it should be somewhat sticky and soft, but it should pull away from the sides of the pan when the machine kneads it.
• 4 if it is too wet, add additional flour 2 tbsp at a time.
• 5 if it's too dry, add 1-2 tbsp of water.
• 6 if you adjusted the consistency, check it again after a few more minutes of kneading.
• 7 this sounds more complicated than a normal bread machine recipe, but i promise, it's still easy.
• 8 if you had to adjust the consistency a lot, you may want to reset the machine and start the dough cycle over to make sure it gets kneaded properly.
• 9 when the dough cycle is complete, continue to step 21.
• 10 to make the dough by hand: combine the water, sweetener and yeast, until completely dissolved.
• 11 combine the remaining dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl, and stir until mixed.
• 12 combine the hot cereal and the yeast mixture and pour into a well in the dry ingredients.
• 13 with a wooden spoon, stir the dry ingredients into the wet a little at a time, first forming a thin batter, then a dough.
• 14 when it gets too thick to stir, turn it out onto a counter and begin kneading.
• 15 as with the bread machine instructions, adjust the consistency of the dough as you're kneading.
• 16 this dough will be sticky, but should still be able to be kneaded.
• 17 knead for 20-30 minutes.
• 18 return dough to the mixing bowl, and let rise, covered, until about doubled.
• 19 this time will vary widely depending on the temperature, yeast, and other factors, but should be somewhere between one and three hours.
• 20 when you poke the dough, the hole that you make should not fill in right away, and the dough should sigh slightly.
• 21 turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and punch it down and knead it a couple of times.
• 22 preheat the oven to 450°f, with a baking stone inside if you have one.
• 23 roll the dough up into a log about 12-14 inches long.
• 24 sprinkle a pizza peel or a cookie sheet with no sides liberally with the dry hot cereal and put the loaf in the middle.
• 25 brush the loaf with water and sprinkle with the poppy seeds and cover with a damp towel.
• 26 allow the loaf to rise for about 45 minutes, or until approximately double.
• 27 slash the top diagonally with a sharp knife.
• 28 put the loaf in the oven, directly on the baking stone, if you are using one.
• 29 for a crispier crust, spray the inside of the oven with water every couple of minutes during the first 10 minutes of baking.
• 30 after 10 minutes, turn the oven down to 350°f.
• 31 bake for an additional 25-35 minutes, until the loaf is nicely browned and sounds hollow when you tap on the bottom.
• 32 cool on a rack for at least 20 minutes before slicing.
• 33 if you would like to make sandwich bread instead, do the last rise in the loaf pan, and bake in a greased loaf pan at 350°f for 35-45 minutes.