Seeded Multi-Grain Bread

This dense hearty bread is packed with nutrition and goodness. You can almost taste the sun and wind and rain caressing the grains and seeds its made from. You can exchange equal amounts of whatever grains and seeds you have on hand, so the recipe is very versatile. It’s naturally a vegan recipe and is fabulous with my homemade hummus recipe I'll share next. I adapted this recipe from Rustic Cracked Wheat Bread from A+ Recipes from Hickory Hollow Christian School.

• 1 Cup Course Cracked Wheat
• 1/4 Cup Ground Flax Meal
• 1/4 Cup Raw Sunflower Seeds
• 1/4 Cup Raw Pumpkin Seeds
• 1/4 Cup Whole Flax Seeds (Could use wheat germ instead since there’s already ground flax included.)
• 1/4 Cup Buckwheat Flour
• 1/4 Cup Rye Flour
• 1/4 Cup Old Fashioned Rolled Oats
• 1/4 Cup Corn Meal
• 5 to 7 Cups White Whole Wheat Flour
• 1 Tablespoon Raw Sugar
• 1 Tablespoon Active Yeast
• 2 Teaspoons Himalayan Pink Salt or Sea Salt
• 2 Cups Warm Water (Plus 3 cups boils water to soak the cracked wheat.)
• 2 Tablespoon Wheat Gluten (Optional, but helps it raise.)

1. In large bowl, pour 3 cups of boiling water over the cracked wheat. Let stand for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, in another large bowl, combine the seeds and three cups of flour, including the 1 cup of varied flours such as the buckwheat, rye, oats, and cornmeal. With that full cup and two cups of the white whole wheat flour, you should have three full cups of flour. Add the yeast, sugar, salt, and gluten. Add the 2 cups warm water and mix thoroughly. Cover with plastic wrap and let sponge for 30-40 minutes. (Save plastic wrap to use again.)

   After letting the dough and cracked wheat rest for 30 minutes each, stir down the dough. Add the cracked wheat mixture, liquid and all and stir well. Add enough remaining white whole wheat flour to make the dough not sticky.

   This dough will not feel smooth and elastic simply because it is a very dense bread, but you’re going for that idea.

   Cover with saved plastic wrap and let rise until double, about an hour.

   Punch down and shape into loaves. I made three loaves, but they are not tall. You might prefer two large loaves. Place loaves into greased bread pans. I use plant butter and coated the pan with cornmeal as well.

   I added extra seeds on top of the loaf for decoration, but they don’t stick very well. You can also brush the tops with melted plant butter, oil, or an egg wash, which would make it non-vegan.

   Let rise again until double in the pans. Another 45 minutes or so.

   Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake another 30 minutes more.

   Release bread from pan and tap the side for doneness. It should sound hollow.