This easy multigrain bread is soft, tender, hearty and flavorful. The 8 grain hot cereal mix, oats and whole wheat flour add fiber, nutrients and protein! The perfect bread for breakfast toast, sandwiches, or to accompany dinner!
A simple, straightforward homemade bread recipe that is healthy and delicious! A little butter and honey make this multigrain bread super soft and even more flavorful. It makes exceptional sandwiches like this spicy Thai veggie sandwich or toast like this healthy avocado coconut toast.
Add this bread to your repertoire of soft sandwich breads alongside this marble rye bread, whole wheat sandwich bread, potato bread and pumpernickel bread!
Table of contents
Why You Will Love this Multigrain Bread
- Hearty & filling. The addition of multigrain hot cereal mix makes this multigrain bread more robust and filling than even whole wheat bread!
- Warm, homemade multigrain bread in under 3 hours. Plus the recipe makes 2 loaves, so there are plenty of leftovers to be frozen for quick, on-the-go breakfasts or hearty sandwiches.
- Soft, tender and just a little sweet. Just a hint of honey and a bit of butter go a long way towards rounding out the flavor and turning this hearty bread into a soft and tender loaf!
Ingredients & Substitutions
- 8 Grain Hot Cereal: I used Bob’s Red Mill 8 Grain Hot Cereal, but you could also use any whole grain hot cereal mix. You could also make your own using the Mayo Clinic’s recipe pulsed in a food processor or blender. If you do not have, or do not care to use hot cereal, you should make my soft oatmeal bread, which is similar but does not use hot cereal and has more oatmeal and whole wheat flour.
- Boiling Water: The water should be boiling hot to properly hydrate the hot cereal. This is also the water for mixing the dough.
- All-Purpose Flour: This bread uses a mixture of all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour for flavor, health and texture. I would not recommend changing the ratio too drastically because you will need to adjust the water. If you want to dive into 100% whole wheat try my whole wheat bread recipe or whole wheat sourdough bread recipe instead.
- Whole Wheat Flour
- Honey: I love the classic combination of honey, oats and whole wheat, but you could also use molasses, maple syrup, granulated sugar, or brown sugar. You could also omit all sweeteners.
- Unsalted Butter
- Instant Yeast: I use instant yeast for a quick rise and to streamline the mixing process. The gluten in this dough is developed in the mixer, unlike in my no knead dutch oven bread or no knead sourdough bread, so you do not need a slow, consistent rise like that of active dry yeast. If you only have active dry yeast, add the yeast to the water/cereal mixture after it cools to 110°F and allow to bloom an additional 10 minutes before mixing the dough.
- Salt: Salt is essential to the flavor and texture of the dough. I prefer kosher salt but you could also use fine sea salt.
- Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats: Use old-fashioned rolled oats rather than quick oats for the most added flavor and texture just like in giant oatmeal raisin cookies.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Possible Variations
- Add additional flavorings or mix-ins. Add cinnamon or pumpkin spice mix to the dry ingredients or gently knead raisins, dried cranberries, or other dried fruit and nuts to the bread dough after development.
- Add additional seeds or grains. The hot cereal mix already includes a variety of whole grains and seeds, but I also love to add additional sunflower seeds, whole chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, whole flax seeds, or a mix of all four.
- Make into multigrain rolls: I do have another oatmeal dinner rolls recipe but you can certainly divide this dough and shape it into 16 multigrain rolls instead of 2 loaves, or make a combination.
How to Make this Multigrain Bread Recipe
Use these instructions to make soft, tender multigrain sandwich bread! Further details and measurements can be found in the recipe card below.
Step 1: In bowl of stand mixer with dough hook attachment, stir cereal and boiling water until combined. Let cool to 110 degrees F, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, in large bowl, whisk together flours and salt to combine.
Step 2: Add honey, melted butter, yeast and flour mixture to the cooled cereal mixture. Stir on low speed to combine.
Step 3: Continue kneading on medium speed for 8-10 minutes. You should be able to pull a window pane. It will be difficult because the grains from the hot cereal will tear the dough and look under-developed when it isn’t.
Step 4: Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise 45 minutes to 1 hour until doubled.
Step 5: Spray two 9-by-5-inch loaf pans with cooking spray. Punch down dough. Divide in half. On lightly floured surface, press one half into 9-by-6-inch rectangle. Roll up from short end into log, tucking dough under itself as you roll to create taut surface along log. Pinch seam to seal. Repeat with remaining dough half.
Step 6: Lightly spray loaves with cooking spray. Sprinkle oats on clean surface; roll loaves in oats to coat. Transfer each loaf to prepared loaf pans, seam side-down. Cover pans loosely with lightly greased plastic wrap. Let rise 45 minutes to 1 hour until nearly doubled.
Step 7: Meanwhile, heat oven to 375 degrees F. Bake loaves 35 to 40 minutes until deep golden brown and baked through (an instant read thermometer inserted in center of each loaf should read 185 degrees F).
Step 8: Cool in pans 5 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Store fully cooled loaves tightly covered with plastic wrap up to 3 days at room temperature; if freezing, cover with plastic wrap and foil. Freeze up to 2 months.
Since this recipe makes 2 loaves, I usually use one fresh and then freeze the second loaf. Allow the loaf to cool completely at room temperature, wrap well in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 3 months. I like to slice my sandwich bread loaves before freezing for easy single serving use later!
If you enjoyed this recipe, please leave a star rating and let me know how it goes in the comments below! I love hearing from you and your comments make my day!
Multigrain Sandwich Bread
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups 8 grain hot cereal, such as Bob’s
- 2 ½ cups boiling water
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- ¼ cup honey
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast, 1 packet
- 1 tablespoon salt
- ⅓ cup old-fashioned rolled oats
Instructions
- In bowl of stand mixer with dough hook attachment, stir cereal and boiling water until combined. Let cool to 110 degrees F, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in large bowl, whisk together flours, instant yeast and salt to combine.
- Add honey, melted butter, and flour mixture to the cooled cereal mixture. Stir on low speed to combine.
- Continue mixing on medium speed for 8-10 minutes.
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise 1 to 1 hour 15 minutes until doubled. You can also transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl.
- Spray two 9-by-5-inch loaf pans with cooking spray. Punch down dough. Divide in half. On lightly floured surface, press one half into 9-by-6-inch rectangle. Roll up from short end into log, tucking dough under itself as you roll to create taut surface along log. Pinch seam to seal. Repeat with remaining dough half.
- Lightly spray loaves with cooking spray. Sprinkle oats on clean surface; roll loaves in oats to coat. Transfer each loaf to prepared loaf pans, seam side-down. Cover pans loosely with lightly greased plastic wrap. Let rise 45 minutes to 1 hour until nearly doubled.
- Meanwhile, heat oven to 375 degrees F. Bake loaves 35 to 40 minutes until deep golden brown and baked through (an instant read thermometer inserted in center of each loaf should read 185 degrees F).
- Cool in pans 5 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.
Notes
Presentation – Top with additional rolled oats!
Recipe Origin – Adapted from Our Best Bites
To mix by hand – If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can form the dough in the following method: Stir wet and dry ingredients with spatula just until dough comes together. Transfer dough to clean surface and knead by hand 15 to 25 minutes, adding more flour mixture as needed until dough is soft, smooth and elastic. Proceed with recipe as directed.
Storage – Store fully cooled loaves tightly covered with plastic wrap up to 3 days at room temperature; if freezing, cover with plastic wrap and foil. Freeze up to 2 months.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this recipe? Rate & comment below!Before You Go
I hope you enjoyed this sandwich bread recipe. Check out our other delicious yeast bread recipes or dive into sourdough recipes starting with my sourdough starter recipe!
I made this with all whole grain flours because I prefer density and chewiness instead of the softness that AP flour provides, although that was good too. I substituted soft white wheat flour (La Palouse) for AP. The final internal temp was 199°F. Served it with a little extra butter and jam. I’m just a beginner but all my breads so far (spelt, rye, oat) taste like biscuit or pancake batter. Must be the whole grains.
Hi Ronald! Using 100% whole grain flours will affect the texture and crumb like you described but they shouldn’t make bread taste like biscuit or pancake batter! Are you adjusting the hydration when you change the flour? Whole grain flours, such as whole wheat, require more hydration, though they take more time to hydrate, meaning to say the dough might initially feel wet but, after 20 minutes, it might feel dry or perfect. You cannot substitute whole wheat flour for AP 1:1 without adjusting the water. Also, spelt, rye and oat do not have the same gluten content as wheat flour, so substituting those flours 100% will absolutely result in gummy bread that tastes unbaked especially when used without wheat flour of some kind. They cannot create the gluten network to trap the air produced by the yeast, which makes for dense breads. If you do not adjust the baking temperature and time for rye flour, especially, or let it cool completely, it will be gummy no matter what. Baking with different percentages of rye flour was a whole separate unit in bread school. ~Lindsey
This is a pleasing bread to eat but I would like to know if it can be made 100% whole grain because all that AP flour makes it a little thin tasting. I enjoy the chew of whole grains so maybe I could use soft or hard white wheat flour in place of the AP? What do you suggest? Thanks for your help and anyone’s comments are welcomed.
Hi Ron, I replied to your other comment above. I apologize for the delay, we had a content and update freeze on the site as we were testing and launching a new site design. Unfortunately we were not able to respond to comments at that time. ~Lindsey