Crunchy Cracked Wheat Bread

Sharon123's Note:

A delicious bread and very healthy too! I adapted this from Oprah magazine.

• Total Time: 3 hrs
• Prep Time: 2 hrs 15 mins
• Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 3 small l ...

• 4 cups cracked wheat (fine cracked wheat works best) or 4 cups bulgur (fine cracked wheat works best)
• 2 (1/4 ounce) packages active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
• 1/4 cup unsulphured molasses
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 cup sesame seed
• 1/4 cup unsalted sunflower seeds (plus extra for tops of loaves)
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 1/2-3 cups all-purpose flour (or bread flour)
• cornmeal, for dusting

Directions:

1. Pour 1 1/2 cups boiling water into a bowl with the cracked wheat and let stand about 45 minutes to soften. Drain and squeeze out the excess water.
2. Sprinkle yeast and sugar into a bowl with 1/4 cup warm water. Stir to dissolve and let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes.
3. Mix the buttermilk, molasses, honey, and 4 tablespoons butter in a small bowl.
4. In a large bowl, combine salt, sesame and sunflower seeds, and whole wheat flour. Add yeast and buttermilk mixtures and stir until smooth. Add drained cracked wheat and stir to combine.
5. Using a wooden spoon to mix, add all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup at a time. Stir until soft dough forms (you may need to use your hands to blend it well). Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead until dough is soft and springy, about 7-8 minutes. Add more flour, 1 tablespoons at a time, if needed. The dough will be a little bit sticky.
6. Place dough in a greased bowl; turn it in the bowl to grease the top. Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
7. Prepare 2 baking sheets by lightly greasing and sprinkling with a thin layer of cornmeal. Set aside.
8. Preheat oven to 350°.
9. Gently punch down dough; turn out onto lightly floured surface; divide into 3 equal portions and shape into 3 round or oval loaves. Place on prepared pans. Melt and cool remaining tablespoons butter and spread over tops of loaves. Sprinkle with a few sunflower seeds. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise 30 minutes.
10. Bake in preheated oven for 35-45 minutes until brown. Cool on racks and eat warm. Enjoy!

Reviews

[duonyte]

This ended up as a delicious but rather heavy loaf for me. I made half the recipe, using coarse cracked wheat, and will try fine next time - I really had nothing to squeeze out after soaking, as it had absorbed all the water. I made the dough in the bread machine, and ended up adding almost a cup extra of flour. It never really looked like a customary dough. I turned it out onto an oiled surface, and it shaped really easily into a loaf and about 6 rolls. After about 35 minutes I pulled out one of the rolls, which was delicious, rather like a pumpernickel in texture, with the texture of the wheat being very evident. But it wasn't crunchy. So I left it in the oven for a total of almost an hour of baking time. The rolls are crunchier on the outside, but still quite soft and moist on the inside. Delicious with salami and cheese. I am giving the loaf to a friend tomorrow, hope he likes it!