9-Grain Whole Wheat Bread

Ingredients

Dough Rising

Finished Loaf

Ever since I started making bread in my bread machine again, I have been wanting to find a good whole wheat recipe. I found one over the weekend and tweaked it for my tastes and the ingredients I had on hand. Plus I got to use the 9-Grain cereal that I had from Vitamin Cottage. I am impressed with how this turned out. Though this is a pretty dense loaf, it still rises and makes a full and fluffy 2-pound loaf. I used it for my bread in my sandwich tonight, and it was very yummy! My husband prefers his toasted. I think this will be great with eggs in the morning - or, if you're like me, breakfast for dinner. :)

Yield: 1 2lb loaf
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 3 hours and 40 minutes (+/- depending on your machine)

INGREDIENTS
1 cup milk
2/3 - 1 cup water*
2 tbsp olive oil
1-2 tbsp honey
2 tsp salt
3 3/4 cups whole wheat flour (this can also be made with ground rye flour)
3/4 cup cereal or seeds (9 grain raw hot cereal; a blend of milled flax, millet and sunflower seeds; or just straight sunflower seeds and old fashioned oats)
2 1/4 tsp (or 1 pkg) Active dry yeast
2 tbsp vital wheat gluten (optional, but this really helps make a "fluffier" loaf)

DIRECTIONS
1. Place all ingredients in the order they are listed into the baking pan of your bread machine.
2. Follow the directions on your machine for whole wheat bread.
3. Remove from machine when done and allow to cool on a baking rack for at least one hour.
4. Slice, Toast and enjoy (toasting optional, but why not give it a try, you'll be glad you did)

*depending on the type of cereal or seeds you use, you may need to increase the water. Start with 2/3 and go up from there. Allow dough to knead for 5 minutes before adding additional water. When I used the 9-Grain cereal I ended up using a total of 1 cup of water)