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We Share Our Recipe for Country Granary Bread!

A highlight of any Buckhorn Inn dinner is when the basket of warm bread is delivered to your table.  You gently lift off the cloth napkin and inhale the warm, yeasty fragrance.  You select a slice and watch as the butter melts slowly into every nook and cranny.  That first bite is heaven!  One of our most popular bread recipes is below.  The aroma of fresh-baked bread will have your family gathering in the kitchen! 

Kneading bread dough is a good way to work out any frustrations! Photo by Nadya Spetnitskaya

Country Granary Bread

Preheat oven to 400 F.

2          Tablespoons active dry yeast

                        Pinch brown sugar

1 ¼      Cups    Warm water

1/3       Cup     Old-fashioned rolled oats

1          Cup     Cooked bulgur wheat, flax and/or

                        millet

2          Tablespoons       Light brown sugar

1          Cup     Whole wheat flour

3 1/3    Cups    All-purpose or bread flour

1 ¼      Cups    Warm milk

¼         Cup     Vegetable oil

1          Tablespoon      Salt

To cook the bulgur wheat, flax and millet, place the grains in a small bowl and pour in two cups of boiling water.  Let stand for about 30 minutes.  Drain.

Combine the yeast, pinch of brown sugar and warm water.  Stir to dissolve.  Let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes.

In the work bowl of a heavy-duty electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the warm milk, oil, the yeast mixture, salt, oatmeal, brown sugar, and the cooked bulgur wheat, flax and millet mixture.  Add the salt and 2 cups of the white and whole wheat flour combined.  Whisk hard until smooth, about 1 minute.  Let stand, uncovered, 30 minutes.  Add the remaining flour, ½ cup at a time, until a soft dough is formed that just clears the sides of the bowl.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until light-colored, smooth, and springy, about 2 minutes, adding only 1 tablespoon flour at a time as needed, and cover with plastic wrap.  Let rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, 1 ½ to 2 hours.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and divide into 2 equal portions.  Cut each portion into 2 uneven pieces.  Form the 2 large pieces into tight round loaves.  Place on a greased or parchment-lined baking sheet sprinkled with more oatmeal and cereal grains.  Loaves may be formed in a conventional round fashion.  If you want to make the more decorative turban shape, use your fingers to take a pinch from each of the two loaves to form an indentation. 

Roll the 2 small pieces into teardrop-shaped ovals and place in the indentation on the larger rounds, centering them.  Using a floured finger, poke into the middle of each loaf right through the middle to the bottom.  This is important to join the two sections to form one loaf.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.

Twenty minutes before baking, heat the oven to 400 F.  Gently brush the tops of the loaves with the 1 tablespoon of oil.  Refine the indentation through the center of each loaf.  Bake in the lower half of the preheated oven until the loaves are golden brown and the bottoms sound hollow.

Yield:  2 cottage loaves