Courtesy of Maren Longfellow, YMCA Customer Service

 

This yummy recipe – a modified version of a recipe originally featured on Cook’s Country PBS cooking show – makes one 10-inch loaf, but could also be divided it into two smaller loaves. 

Ingredients

  • 2 cups warm water (110 degrees)
  • 1½ cups (7½ ounces) seven-grain hot cereal mix (I use Bob’s Red Mill)
  • 2-3 tablespoons honey
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 3½ cups (19¼ ounces) bread flour
  • 1¾ teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast
  • 3 tablespoons raw, unsalted pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
  • 3 tablespoons raw, unsalted sunflower seeds
  • 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
  • 1 teaspoon poppy seeds
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten

 Instructions

  1. Grease large bowl. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. In bowl of stand mixer, combine water, cereal, honey and oil and let sit for 10 minutes.
  2. Add flour, salt and yeast to cereal mixture. Fit stand mixer with dough hook and knead on low speed until dough is smooth and elastic, four to six minutes. Add two tablespoons pepitas and two tablespoons sunflower seeds to dough and knead for one minute longer. Turn out dough onto lightly floured counter and knead until seeds are evenly distributed, about two minutes.

Note: If the dough is still sticking to the sides of the mixing bowl after two minutes, add more flour one tablespoon at a time, up to three tablespoons. Be sure to use hot cereal mix, not boxed cold breakfast cereals, which may also be labeled “seven-grain.”

  1. Transfer dough to greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let dough rise at room temperature until almost doubled in size and fingertip depression in dough springs back slowly, 60 to 90 minutes.
  2. Gently press down on center of dough to deflate. Transfer dough to lightly floured counter and shape into tight round ball. Place dough on prepared sheet. Cover dough loosely with plastic and let rise at room temperature until almost doubled in size, 60 to 90 minutes.

Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lowest positions and heat oven to 425 degrees. Combine remaining one tablespoon pepitas, remaining one tablespoon sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, and poppy seeds and a few pinches of the dry seven-grain cereal in small bowl. Using a sharp knife, make ¼-inch-deep cross, five inches long, on top of loaf. Brush loaf with egg and sprinkle seed mixture evenly over top.