Homemade Bread with Cracked Wheat

I am not exactly sure how this happened, but today, I opened my pantry and found bags of cracked wheat. Yes, I use it for salad. Yes, I eat it as hot cereal. Yes, it is healthy and high in fibre. But really, 2 kilos of it? What in the world am I going to do with all of this?

Then I found this recipe for Cracked Wheat Bread. I love to bake fresh bread. In fact, I do it every week. (Although my journey with bread has been a long a grueling one....). So, perhaps adding cracked wheat to my weekly routine could just be the answer to my problems.

The bread rose really well and despite the few extra steps compared to my regular loaf, was very very easy to make. And, to top it all off, it turned out to be so delicious, that I might have to buy some more cracked wheat....

Homemade Bread with Cracked Wheat

Adapted from recipe at http://www.dianaskitchen.com/page/bread/cwbread.htm

Makes 2 large loaves of bread

1/2 cup Cracked Wheat

1 1/2 cups Water

2 1/4 tsp Active Dry Yeast

1/3 cup Warm Water

1/4 cup Butter

1 tbsp Salt

4 tbsp Honey

1 cup Milk

2 cups Whole Wheat Flour

3 cups Flour

Add the cracked wheat and 1 1/2 cups water to a pan. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring constantly. When the cracked wheat is soft, remove from heat and stir in butter, honey, salt, and milk. Let cool to room temperature.

Meanwhile, add the warm water to a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle in the yeast and let sit for about 10 minutes in a warm, draft free place.

Add the cooled cracked wheat mixture to the yeast. Slowly stir in the flour to form a soft dough. Turn the dough onto a generously floured board and knead for 10-15 minutes until smooth and elastic. Form into a ball, return to the bowl, cover, and let rest until doubled in size (about 1 hour). Punch down the dough, divide into two, and shape into two loaves.

Place the two loaves onto a baking sheet and slash with a knife. Let rise for another 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 degrees Farenheit). Bake the loaves for 35-40 minutes, until the loaves sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Cool completely on a wire rack.