Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup seven-grain (5-grain or 12)hot cereal mix
- 2 1/2 cups boiling water
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (not bread flour)
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1/4 cup honey
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 2 1/2 teaspoons instant or rapid-rise yeast
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1/2 cup (1 1/2 oz) old-fashioned rolled oats or quick oats
- If you’re using salted butter, just decrease the additional salt by just a bit.
Preparation
Step 1
Place cereal mix in bowl of stand mixer fitted with dough hook and pour boiling water over it; let stand, stirring occasionally, until mixture cools to 100 degrees and resembles thick porridge, about 1 hour. Whisk flours together in separate bowl.
Once grain mixture has cooled, add honey, butter, and yeast and mix on low speed until combined. Add flour mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, and knead until cohesive mass starts to form 1 1/2-2 minutes; cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let dough rest for 20 minutes. Add salt and knead on medium-low speed until dough clears sides of bowl, 3-4 minutes (if it does not clear sides, add 2-3 tablespoons additional all-purpose flour and knead until it does. Don’t add more!) continue to knead dough for 5 more minutes. Place dough in large, lightly greased bowl; cover tightly with plastic and let rise at room temperature until nearly doubled in size, 45-60 minutes. (I use proofing mode in oven 45 min.)
Grease two 9×5 inch loaf pans (I prefer glass or ceramic). Transfer dough to lightly floured counter and divide in half. Press 1 piece of dough into 9"×6" inch rectangle, with short side facing you. Roll dough toward you into firm cylinder, keeping roll taut by tucking it under itself as you go. Turn loaf seam side up and pinch it closed. Repeat with second piece of dough. Spray loaves lightly with water or vegetable oil spray. Roll each loaf in oats to coat evenly and place seam side down in prepared pans, pressing gently into corners. Cover loaves loosely with greased plastic and let rise at room temperature until nearly doubled in size 30-40 minutes. Dough should barely spring back when poked with knuckle.
Thirty minutes before baking, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Bake until loaves register 200 degrees, 35-40 minutes.
Transfer pans to wire rack and let cool for 5 minutes. Remove loaves from pans, return to rack, and let cool to room temperature, about 2 hours, before slicing and serving.