The Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge week 20: Multigrain Bread Extraordinaire.
If you are like me who loves hearty chewy bread with a bit of crunch, then this is the loaf for you. The slices are very good as they are and utterly delicious toasted for sandwiches. I spread mayonnaise on the toasted slices, piled thick slices of heirloom tomatoes sprinkled with sea salt, and had the best and satisfying sandwich ever! Seriously. This bread is just perfect, in my honest opinion. I also love it for open-faced cucumber sandwich and with the slightly sour-sweet caramelly cheese mysost.
The bread I made is loaded with a soaker combination of polenta, millet, quinoa, rolled oats, and wheat bran, plus the cooked brown rice in the dough. There was too much dough for my loaf pan so I shaped the extra into 2.5-ounce buns. I then rolled the tops of the shaped loaf and buns in white poppy seeds.
The bread is chewy from all the various grains and high-gluten flour but the extra chew comes from the brown rice; and the crunch is from polenta, quinoa, and poppy seeds. The honey and dark brown sugar, which might be too much for some but for me it is just about right, and buttermilk contribute to the bread's overall flavor and yummyness. I love soft white milky breads but this easy to make extraordinary multigrain bread is an absolute keeper; another winning formula from Mr. Reinhart. Can you tell I have a new number one favorite bread recipe from the book?
to make the seeds stick on the unbaked dough, I spread them on the counter and pressing slightly, roll the tops of the shaped dough on the seeds
Rating:
flavor 5
texture 5
visual appeal 5
ease of preparation 5
performance 5
worth 5Total: 30
Average: 5