Hearty and Healthy Whole Grain Bread

Making homemade bread is an easy way to save some money, plus nothing compares to a fresh loaf right out of the oven than store bought. The smells in your house will make it hard to resist stealing a slice right when it comes out of the oven. I love it smear with honey while it’s still warm.  This bread is perfect plain, toasted with jam, for sandwiches, with soups, and just about anything. This recipe also makes nice buns. I usually make 1 loaf and the rest buns.

This recipe is a balance of whole wheat and white flour. I think the measurements are the perfect balance of the two to still make the bread hearty and healthy but still fluffy and soft. Adding any more whole wheat flour will make the bread dense and not rise as much. I don’t recommend adjusting these measurements unless you want to add more white flour for softer bread.

This has been my favorite recipe for a while now. It uses a basic bread recipe and in this, I include some tips and additions from my grandmother. My grandmother grew up in a very small village with little money. Making use of what you have and alternatives to make this hearty and healthy was her forté. This recipe can be adaptable if you don’t have certain ingredients but still just as yummy!

One of her special tricks is to save water from boiling potatoes.  I typically bake bread every week, so during the week if we have boiled potatoes, I will save the water in a large mason jar in the fridge until I bake bread.  This water will give your bread extra nutrients and starch without affecting the taste.

Check out my blog post on “Potato Water – What it is and Why You Should Be Using It.” 

Instead of the typical honey or sugar, this recipe uses molasses. The molasses will give the bread an excellent caramel color and taste with slightly less sugar content than sugar or honey.

A healthy addition for extra fiber, protein, and grains is using 7-Grain Cereal or whatever number you have at your store. My local store typically sells 7-Grain Cereal but I have seen variations at different stores and they are generally the same, just different grains. I love the little seed bits in my bread, you can hardly tell they are even there just with added nutrition. If you don’t have 7-Grain Cereal, you can use grains you have such as a variation of oats, oat bran, barley, flax, etc. Regardless, make sure you soak the grains in hot water for half an hour or overnight.

That’s about it! I hope you try and enjoy this recipe just as I do!

Print Recipe

Hearty and Healthy Whole Grain Bread

Hearty and Healthy Homemade Bread. This recipe's adaptations of the traditional bread recipe add extra nutrition and excellent taste!

Servings

loaves

Ingredients

• 1 cup potato or tap water See my post on potato water
• 1/2 cup 7 grain cereal
• 1/4 cup quinoa (or other grain, oats, etc.)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp molasses (or other sweetener)
• 1/3 cup oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 tbsp instant yeast
• 1/3 cup millet optional
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 3-4 cups white flour

Servings loaves Ingredients 1 cup potato or tap water See my post on potato water 1/2 cup 7 grain cereal 1/4 cup quinoa (or other grain, oats, etc.) 1/2 tsp salt 2 tbsp molasses (or other sweetener) 1/3 cup oil 2 eggs 1 cup warm water 1 tbsp instant yeast 1/3 cup millet optional 1 cup whole wheat flour 3-4 cups white flour

Instructions

1. In a pot bring one cup potato water/tap water to a boil, add in 7-grain cereal, quinoa, and bring to a boil again.
2. Turn off the burner and add in salt, molasses, and oil. Let sit overnight or until cool.
3. Add in grain mixture to a mixer, add eggs, warm water, and yeast, and mix until combined. Optional - mix in millet
4. Mix in the 1 cup of whole wheat flour and 2 cups white flour until combined then slowly add in more flour until the dough pulls away from the sides and cleans the sides of the bowl and slightly bounces back when poked with your finger. The dough should be still a bit sticky.
5. Knead for 10 minutes.
6. Cover with a dish towel and let rise until doubled in size - about 1 hour depending on temperature.
7. Punch dough down to let out air and let rise again until doubled in size.
8. Divide dough in half and roll out into loaves and place it in greased/oiled bread pans. (This dough also rolls well into buns.)
9. Let sit in pans until doubled in size.
10. Bake at 350° for about 40 minutes. The dough should be golden brown.
11. Take out of pans immediately and knock on the bottom of the loaves - it should sound hollow inside.
12. Place on a cooling rack covered with a dish towel until completely cooled.
13. Store in airtight container or bag.

Recipe Notes

- This recipe can be easily doubled, tripled, to fit your needs.

- The potato water is the water left from boiling potatoes. If you don't have any of this, use water.

- 7-grain cereal can be omitted or substituted for a mixture of grains (oats, bran, barley, flax, millet, etc.)

- This recipe has the perfect balance of whole wheat and white flour, adding more whole wheat flour would make the bread dense and not rise so it is not recommended, add more white flour as you wish.