Week 2 - Five-Grain Buttermilk-Cranberry Bread

 Five-Grain Buttermilk-Cranberry Bread

Recipe 2 of 52 in 2022

Bread #1

    This week's category was "Bread" and I chose this Five-Grain Buttermilk-Cranberry Bread from the Betty Crocker: The Big Book of Bread, published in 2013.  I tend to gravitate towards old and/or well used cookbooks. I've only made a couple recipes from this book (the Zesty Cheddar Bread on page 124 is a favorite), but I really like this book.  The cover, the pictures and everything. It's just a pretty book and includes more traditional recipes with gluten-free and bread machine recipes.  

  So, what did I think of this bread? I learned that the crust was a bit 'crumbly' when I cut pieces, but otherwise the texture of the bread was good and I liked the flavor.  I served myself warm bread with butter. This bread would be good as is or cut slices and use it for flavorful French Toast.  Let me know if you try it and what you think.   

Ingredients:

1 cup 5-grain rolled whole-grain cereal or old-fashioned oats (I used oats)

3 cups white whole wheat flour

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup cold butter, cut into small pieces

1/2 cup sweetened, dried cranberries, cherries or raisins (Although I actually have home-dried cherries, I used store-bought cranberries)

1 egg

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Directions:

Heat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and grease a cookie sheet with shortening or cooking spray. I used cooking spray and a Pampered Chef stoneware pan. Save and set aside, 1 tablespoon from your cup of oatmeal/whole-grain cereal. In a large bowl, mix your cereal/oatmeal, flour, brown sugar, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt. Cut in butter using a pastry blender or a fork, until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Stir in your cranberries/cherries/raisins. 

In a small bowl, beat the egg and buttermilk, using a whisk or fork, until well blended. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the buttermilk and egg mixture. Stir the rest of the buttermilk and egg mixture into your dry ingredients and stir until mixture is moistened. The dough will be soft. Remove the dough and on a floured surface, knead the dough 5 or 6 times on a floured surface. *Note: the dough was really sticky and I 'kneaded' it a few times, but didn't really concentrate on the 5 or 6 times, because of how sticky and messy it was. In my humble opinion, it wasn't 'kneadable' (I just made that up), so I just mixed it around on my floured surface a few times and shaped it.* Transfer the dough to your cookie sheet and shape into a 7-inch round loaf. Use a sharp knife to cut an "X" into the top of the loaf. Brush the reserved buttermilk and egg mixture on top of the loaf and sprinkle the oatmeal/cereal mixture you set aside at the beginning. *Note: I forgot that part, but it was fine.*

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the top is golden brown. I did 35 minutes. Remove to a cooling rack and cool for 30 minutes.  Use a serrated knife to cut slices.  You can get about 12 slices or wedges. 

   

Five-Grain Buttermilk-Cranberry Bread

Five-Grain Buttermilk-Cranberry Bread w/butter

Betty Crocker "The Big Book of Bread"