This makes a good, nutritious sandwich bread. It slices very well and has very good keeping qualitites and freezes very well. The recipe makes 3 very large loaves…usually about 3 pounds each, or a little over sometimes.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Servings: many
Prep Time: 30 minutes Cook Time: about 55 minutesIngredients
GRAINS:
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup rolled wheat
1 cup cracked wheat
1 cup untoasted wheat germ
1 cup wheat bran
2 1/2 cups very warm water
DOUGH:
1 tablepsoon sugar
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast (optional)
1 1/2 cups raw sunflower seeds
5 cups Sir Lancelot flour
7 cups bread flour
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup honey or molasses
or 3/4 cup Sucanat plus 1/2 cup water
4 1/2 teaspoons salt (less in winter)
1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons active dry yeast
3 eggs
2 cups water
Directions
To soak the grains:
Mix the very warm water with the grains in a large-enough covered container. Cover and aside on the counter top overnight to soften.
For the dough:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Combine the flours, sunflower seeds, salt, and nutritional yeast in a large bowl. If you are using Sucanat, add it to the flour mix and put the extra 1/2 cup of water with the butter/water/sugar.
Put the soaked grains into a very large mixing bowl. Measure the 2 cups of water into a sauce pan. Add the butter and the 1 tablespoon of sugar; bring to a boil. Pour the water/butter/sugar over the soaked grains and stir to combine.
When it has cooled down enough, add the active dry yeast and stir to combine. Allow the yeast to proof for about 10 mins, until foamy. Stir in the honey or molasses. Beat in eggs. Begin mixing in the flour/sunflower seed mix with a large wooden spoon. When the dough gets too thick to stir with a spoon, start using your hands. I mix it in the bowl for as long as possible and then turn it out onto the counter to knead it when I cant’ use the spoon any more.
Knead until nice and elastic. Grease a large bowl, put the dough in and turn it over to coat it. Cover with a damp towel and set it aside to rise…the time depends upon how warm it is in your kitchen…maybe an hour to 2 hours. Punch down the dough and divide into 3 portions. Shape into loaves and put into greased 9×5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise until the top of the bread is about 1 inch over the edge of the pans. I measure with the first joint of my index finger.
Make a slash down the center of the unbaked loaves that is about 1/4 inch deep. I find a tomato knife works well. Put the loaves into the oven. Immediately turn the oven down to 350 degrees. Bake the bread for about 55 minutes. When it’s done, turn it out onto a cooling rack and grease the tops of the loaves while they are still hot to keep them soft. Cool and store.
Categories: Breads, Freezing, Yeast Breads
Submitted by: helene on December 23, 2010
Helen says:
Whoever moderated this has made a mistake. I specified Sir Lancelot Flour and I meant Sir Lancelot flour…NOT all purpose flour. Using All Purpose flour will cause this recipe to fail. Sir Lancelot flour is needed because it has a very high gluten content, which is needed because of the large amount of grains and seeds. Sir Lancelot Flour is King Arthur Flour’s brand of very high gluten flour.
On December 23, 2010 at 5:59 pm
Suzanne McMinn says:
Sorry, Helen. I’ll fix! We generally remove brands unless there’s a specified reason.
On December 23, 2010 at 6:43 pm
Helen says:
Oh, I didn’t know that, Suzanne…sorry…I won’t mention brands from now on. The kind of flour I’m refering to has a gluten content higher than bread flour, but not as high as vital wheat gluten.
On December 23, 2010 at 6:50 pm
Suzanne McMinn says:
Helen, that’s fine, I just didn’t know there was a reason! (It’s good to note why if there’s a reason so we know to leave it!)
On December 23, 2010 at 7:19 pm
Helen says:
p.s. The correct recipe reads: 5 Cups of Sir Lancelot Flour. NOT…I repeat NOT…all purpose flour.
On December 23, 2010 at 6:08 pm
Helen says:
p.p.s. This recipe calls for two kinds of high-gluten flour…Sir Lancelot flour AND bread flour. I have tried many combinations of flours in this recipe and this is the only one that works.
On December 23, 2010 at 6:26 pm
Pete says:
In any case, whatever the brand or brands of flour used, I am glad to have another recipe for sprouted bread to try! This volume will be a serious challenge, but I will give it a try at least once, then attempt to reduce the amounts down to a more manageable level. (Yes, I really rather make the larger amount, and have done it in the past, but alas, the hands no longer allow such.)
On December 30, 2010 at 8:06 pm
Helen says:
I’m sorry, but this isn’t a sprouted grain bread recipe, Pete.
On January 6, 2011 at 5:22 pm