New Fall Bread Recipe

One day this last week, I bought some Bob's Red Mill 5 grain rolled cereal.

I love really hearty grain mixtures.  This one is a blend of coarsely rolled whole wheat, rye, oats, flax seed, barley, and triticale.

I love these sorts of grains even more in the fall, just as the weather turns, which makes something instinctual in me want to bake bread.

I've been counting calories and attempting to behave, so have been making far less bread products.
With only two of us home most days, I really can't rationalize baking multiple loaves of bread, or multiple times a week.

In an effort to find a recipe for bread that worked with the cereal blend in the 5 grain cereal, I went to the website for Bob's Red Mill and spent a happy hour reading recipes.  Then, I printed off a recipe entitled 'Freckles and Warts' and proceeded to alter/change/exchange ingredients until I had what I now consider a perfect fall afternoon bread, that also makes perfect fall morning toast, and with which  I will make a positively yummy bread pudding or some fall morning french toast, depending on which way the wind blows this afternoon!

The bread is a mid density bread, with a barely sweet flavor and a pleasant chewy texture.  It has remained soft for several days and is so very fragrant.

This is a remarkably poor photo of the bread, but it does give you an idea of texture.

This is MY version of the recipe!

  And I'm not a fan of the descriptive name 'Freckles and Warts', so I'm going to be every so creative and call it 5 grain cereal bread!

Five Grain Cereal Bread

1 1/3 cup of warm water (I used it right from the tap)
2 1/2 teaspoons active dried yeast
1 cup of Bob's Red Mill 5 grain rolled cereal
1/2 cup orange juice
4 Tablespoons of demerara sugar
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
pinch of cloves
1/2 teaspoon of ginger   (all spices are ground spices and I didn't actually measure... I'm a spice tosser!)
2 1/2 cups bread flour
3 tablespoons of buttermilk
1/2 cup of dried, sweetened cranberries


In a large bowl, pour the hot water, the juice (at room temp), the buttermilk and the oil over the 5 grain cereal.  Add the yeast and the sugar.  Let it sit about 15 minutes for the yeast to begin working and the grains to soften.
Add all other ingredients and stir until it comes to a ball of dough.  I needed to add a couple more handfuls of flour. Amount of flour always depends on moisture in the flour and in the environment, and practice teaches you what good bread dough 'feels' like.

I kneaded in the large bowl for four or five minutes, then tossed in the cranberries and kneaded till they were mixed into the dough.  I greased it lightly with a little olive oil and let it rise for about an hour, or until doubled.

I then shaped it into a loaf and put in a well greased glass loaf dish (because I couldn't find my best metal one)
and covered it to rise, until it was a good inch over the top of the loaf dish.

Bake at 325 degrees for 35 minutes and check it for doneness.  Mine was done to utter perfection.
Had I found the metal pan (which has a shape that I prefer) I'd have cooked it at 350 degrees and checked it at about 32 minutes.

Here's the printable recipe:  5 cereal bread