Matt Lawrence Honored, and an Easy Bread Recipe-

My hard-working and dedicated spouse, Matt Lawrence, was recently honored to receive the Silver Beaver Award.  Earned through his thirty-two years of continuous leadership in Boy Scouts of America, the award was given to him on March 1, 2011.  He has served as a District Chairman, 11-Year Scout Leader, ScoutMaster, and chaired the Friends of Scouting Campaign in our Stake for a number of years. He is, of course, an Eagle Scout.  It was through the kind efforts of my brother, Nathan Millward, that Matt was nominated for the service award.  Matt loves working with boys and with the scouting organization.

Now to the bread topic.  Over the many years I have been associated with cooking, baking has always been a favorite creative part of my experience.  But my continual nemesis has been:  baking a Great Loaf of Bread. Especially precious, would be the recipe which would include whole wheat flour, honey, and a variety of healthful grains.  I wouldn't cry if it even had some crunch with sunflower seeds.  But it must be soft and easy to chew, with an open airy texture that would be great for a roast beef sandwich or even just peanut butter (my personal fav).  And it must remain soft for the days until it disappears.  Nothing worse than homemade whole wheat bread which just one slice would  hold up the sofa, to replace its broken leg.  Am asking too much?

I have tried locating the perfect recipe in fat tomes of specialty breads, Relief Society recipe books from various wards, and asked friends for their most successful recipe.  My quest extends back to my college years where I remember delving into the mysteries of understanding the properties of yeast and how it combines with flour to make a yummy, nutritious product.  Believe it or not, this was my topic of choice for a statistical research project.  I think my research included baking a number loaves, controlling for optimal rising and quality of the interior texture of the loaf.  My research included when and how much to add with sugar, salt, and other ingredients.  Some loaves baked up with a sunken middle, big holes in the texture, and/or bubbly grainy tops.  I can't say any of the loaves would be classified as excellent, but I did get some interesting results to file away in my Bread Experience File.  The quest continued over the years of raising my family, offering the kids and dad my failures and successes over the years. They would raise their eyebrows and say to each other, mom is baking bread again... 

Then one day I found It.  While reading the Deseret Newspaper, there was an article written by a woman who had always been bread-challenged (like me). (I tried to locate the article in the DesNews archives, but could not.)  Anyway, I have been using my version of her recipe for several years, and have not had a miss yet.  So, if you are in the market for an easy, no-fail, soft Multi-Grain Whole Wheat Bread, you have come to the right place:

Multi-Grain Whole Wheat Bread

1 1/4 cups multi grain hot cereal, such or 7 or 10-grain (try Winco, bulk) 

2 1/2 cups water
2 large eggs

1/4    cup olive oil

1/4    cup plus 1 T. honey

3       T. yeast

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup fresh ground whole wheat flour or old-fashioned rolled oats

     Using a large glass measuring cup, add water and multi-grain cereal.  Heat on high for 2-3 minutes in microwave.  It should resemble a thick porridge.  Place mixture in mixing bowl (great if you have a standing mixer) and allow to cool to lukewarm (about an hour).  DO NOT rush the cooling process;  if you add the yeast to a hot mixture, it will kill the yeast and the bread will not rise.

     Measure the flours into a separate bowl and do a quick combine with a spoon.  Set aside.

     When cereal mixture is cool enough, add the olive oil, then honey (use the same measuring cup--after the oil the honey will slide right out).  Add yeast.  Combine all ingredients.  Allow to stand 8-10 minutes for yeast to reconstitute.  Should look slightly bubbly.

     With mixer on low, add the flours a half cup at a time.  Continue to mix until the dough forms an elastic ball -- 4 minutes.  I use the bread hook for this.  It takes the place of hand-kneading.  Remove the bread hook, lightly spray top with Pam, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap.  In  place away from drafts, allow to rise until doubled:  1 to 2 hours.

     Grease two regular-sized loaf tins.  Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and pat into 9x12" square, 1" thick.  Cut in half, crosswise, and roll each piece into a tight log.  Place in loaf pan, spray tops of dough with cooking spray and lightly cover pans with plastic wrap or waxed paper.  Allow to rise until doubled in size, 30-40 minutes.  During the last 10 minutes, preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  

     Bake 35-40 minutes or until slightly browned.  Remove the loaves from the pan (rub tops with butter) and cool on a wire rack before slicing.