The next bread I made after the vegetable demi-baguettes was a toasted harvest grains bread based on a recipe from Stephanie over at Girl Versus Dough. As soon as I saw her bread and how easy it sounded and how delicious it looked, I started craving it. During a visit to Vermont with a stop at King Arthur Flour on the way home, I picked up a bag of Harvest Grains Blend. I thought the mixture of sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, flax seeds, whole oat berries, millet, rye flakes, and wheat flakes would be perfect in the bread. (And I actually made the bread the same day I got back with that bag of harvest grains!)
The recipe calls for toasting the grains in butter before mixing them into the dough. How amazing does that sound?
I toasted the grains and then continued following Stephanie's recipe, using instant yeast instead of active dry and swapping in 1/4 cup of whole-wheat flour in place of the same amount of all-purpose. (This was mostly because I was running out of all-purpose and really wanted to make the bread without a trip to the store -- and don't ask me why I didn't pick up more flour when I was at King Arthur Flour. That was poor planning. But I think the whole-wheat flour enhanced the bread, and I would make it that way again.)
This is a no-knead dough, so once I mixed it together, I covered it and set it aside to rise.
Once the dough had doubled in size, I turned it out onto my counter, which I had lightly floured, and then divided it in half. (I put one half in the fridge to bake another day.)
Working with one half, I shaped the dough into a boule.
And then I covered it and left it to rise for another hour.
I scored the dough using a lame. It was so easy (unlike trying to score my vegetable demi-baguettes).
And then I baked it. (As with my vegetable demi-baguettes, I put a pan in the oven and poured water in it to create some steam for the crust, and I baked the bread on a hot stone.)
The finished bread was golden-brown, crusty, and hearty. This toasted harvest grains bread was so easy that I envision making it often and am even thinking it's going to make an appearance on the table for Thanksgiving this year.
Any bread not eaten the day it's baked is wonderful toasted and buttered. I had a couple of slices for breakfast all week long.
Head over to Girl Versus Dough for the recipe!
Do you like grainy, textured breads?
