This incredibly light and fluffy multigrain bread is the best of both worlds – light and fluffy bread, perfect for sandwiches or toast, but with the added goodness of whole grains and a crunchy, seedy topping.
Today I’m sharing my latest daily bread of choice. It’s a light and fluffy multigrain bread, filled and topped with lots of grains. It’s a “best of both worlds” bread, with a light and fluffy texture, combined with some whole grain goodness. And did I mention the lovely, crispy, toasted seed crust?
You’ll love the great flavour and texture of this bread, together with the added goodness of whole grains. It makes great sandwich bread and is lovely toasted, as well. It’s also a fast-riser, so you’ll be enjoying it in no time!
- Key Ingredients
- Video Tutorial
- How to make your own multigrain cereal mix
- Step by step photos
- Baker’s Notes
- Add-ins for your loaf
- Storing and Freezing this bread
- Variations: Multigrain Rolls, Buns or Freeform Loaf
- Overnight Refrigerator Rise Option
- Freezing Unbaked Dough
- Get the Recipe: Light and Fluffy Seeded Multigrain Bread
- More bread recipes you might also like …
- Save or share this recipe
Key Ingredients
Cereal Mix – This loaf uses multigrain cereal mix, which is a mix that is generally used to make a hot cereal when combined with hot water or milk. This kind of mix is the most efficient way to get a variety of whole grains together. Do note though, that these mixes are 100% whole grains, with no added sweeteners etc, so steer away from the commercial flavoured oatmeal mixes etc.
The most common is a “7-grain” cereal mix. If you are in Canada, Bulk Barn sells both a 7-grain (Hard red wheat, barley, rye, steel cut oats, brown flaxseed, millet, buckwheat) and a 12-grain (Cracked wheat, cracked rye, cracked triticale, oat flakes, millet, cracked oats, barley flakes, sunflower seeds, natural sesame seeds, buckwheat grits, brown flaxseeds, yellow flaxseeds) cereal mix. Either of those will work fine. Bob’s Red Mill also has a 7-grain mix.
If you can’t find any of those mixes, look for something like a porridge mix. Rogers makes a couple of Porridge mixes – Porridge Oats and Healthy Grains (oat flakes, oat bran, wheat bran and flaxseed) or Porridge Oats and Ancient Grains (Oat, rye, barley, spelt and khorasan flakes, oat bran, millet, flaxseed, quinoa flakes). Quaker makes a mix called Quaker Super Grains Hot Cereal, that is a mix of whole grain oats, flaxseed, and quinoa.
My best advice is to browse the hot cereal/oatmeal section at the grocery store or the natural foods section and see what you can find. If you really can’t find something, see below for a homemade multigrain cereal mix.
All Purpose Flour – for the lightest loaf, use all purpose flour. I prefer unbleached all purpose flour. You can also use bread flour, though you may need a little less than specified. If you want to add some whole wheat flour to the loaf, you can replace up to 1 cup of the all purpose flour with whole wheat flour, though your loaf will not be as light as fluffy as the original with this change.
Vegetable Oil – Using oil in yeast breads helps create the soft and light texture. It is also good for anyone wanting a vegan yeast bread. That said, you can certainly replace the oil with an equal amount of melted and cooled butter.
Video Tutorial
Watch as I make this light and fluffy multigrain bread.
How to make your own multigrain cereal mix
If you can’t find a pre-mixed multigrain cereal mix, you can mix up your own with a combination of any of the following whole grains:
Rolled oats, quick oats, steel cut oats, quinoa, flaxseed meal, flaxseed, sesame seeds, oat flakes, rye flakes, barley flakes, cracked wheat, wheat bran, oat bran, millet, buckwheat.
Step by step photos
Since this dough can start with any number of multigrain cereal mixes, it may absorb the water differently. You may find you have less water in the bowl than shown here after it sits for 20 minutes. That’s ok :)
Be sure your cereal mix has cooled to just lukewarm before adding the yeast or you could kill the yeast before you get started. Test with an instant read thermometer if you have one and make sure it’s about 105F. Otherwise, test with your finger. It should be lukewarm and not feel hot at all.
I like to add a couple of tablespoons of small seeds to my bread. Here I’ve added some poppy and sesame seeds, together with a little flaxseed meal. It’s totally optional though.
Thee secret to a light and fluffy loaf is to not add too much flour! In the photo above, you’ll see that the dough with the 4 cups of flour added is loose and wet. Yours may be a little less loose, depending on the cereal mix that you used, but it should be very moist at this point. That’s what we want. You may be tempted to add more flour, but resist the urge to add it at this stage.
Once we rest the dough for 15-minutes, the grains will continue to absorb the moisture in the dough and be a lot less loose. After that, simply remove to a floured work surface and add a bit more flour, as needed, if the dough is still a little sticky.
This bread is a FAST RISER! Don’t wander far and keep a good eye on it. This 1st rise shown here was only about 40 minutes. Be sure you just allow the dough to rise to doubled and no more.
The rise in the pan is just as quick as the 1st rise. You’ll find it will be risen and ready for the oven in 25-30 minutes (and maybe less). In a 9×5-inch pan, it should crest the pan by about 1 1/2-inches in the centre.
This bread tends to brown quickly, so be sure to cover the top loosely with a sheet of aluminum foil after about 18-20 minutes of baking, to keep the top from over-browning. Baking the loaf in the lower third of the oven (one rack position down from centre) helps to slow the browning a bit.
The early browning can also make the loaf look done before it is. A large 9×5-inch loaf like this will need a total of 40-45 minutes in the oven to bake through. An instant read thermometer is invaluable here to test the loaf for doneness. Bake until the internal temperature is 195-205F (I aim for about 200F).
Baker’s Notes
- As noted above, after you have added the 4 cups of flour, your dough may be quite loose and wet. The grains in the bread will hold a lot of moisture, so this isn’t a dough that will come together like a normal dough. Loose and wet is ok at this point. Once it rests for 15-minutes, it will become less loose and less wet. If needed, we can add a bit more flour on the bench, as needed. That said, depending on your grain mix, you dough may be less wet and loose and that’s ok, too. That just means you’ll need little more flour on the bench.
- While I love the seed topping on this bread, you can easily skip it if you prefer. Leave it plain or do the egg wash and use some rolled oats on top instead.
- This bread will be Vegan, if made with brown sugar (instead of honey) and using water on top instead of the egg wash.
- You can make this bread as one large 9×5 loaf, as two shorter, smaller 8×4 loaves. Note that baking time will be less for the 8×4 loaves. Refer to the Recipe Card below for some guidance there.
- If you go the big 9×5 loaf route, be warned that it does take time to bake through, but will look quite done before it actually is. I covered mine with foil after about 20 minutes and then baked pretty much a full 45 minutes. If you have an instant read thermometer, you can take out the guesswork. You’ll want your loaf to be at least 195F before you take it out. I aim for about 200F.
- Be careful with doubling this recipe. While it can be done, the dough is bulky and doubling may put too big a strain on a stand mixer.
Add-ins for your loaf
Additional add-ins are completely optional. They are just suggestions if you want to change up your basic loaf a bit. Feel free to leave out and just enjoy the basic multigrain bread. My favourite add-in is to add a couple of tablespoons of the small seed mix. It adds a little extra flavour and texture to the loaf. Other options are pepitas (pumpkin seeds), sunflower seeds, raisins, nuts, dried cranberries or other dried fruit. Be sure not to exceed the recommended amount, for best results
Storing and Freezing this bread
You can store this bread for several days at room temperature, stored in an airtight container.
This bread will also freeze well, tightly wrapped, for up to 3 months.
Variations: Multigrain Rolls, Buns or Freeform Loaf
If you like, you can use this dough to make multigrain rolls. Simply divide the dough into 8-16 even sized pieces, depending on the size of rolls or buns you want. Form the dough pieces into balls, rise and bake on a baking sheet. The baking time will be greatly reduced. Watch carefully and check often, as they will likely be ready in as little as 15-minutes, depending on the size.
Finally, you can make a free-form loaf from this dough. Simply shape into a boule (round) or oval and bake on a baking sheet or in something like a cast-iron skillet.
Overnight Refrigerator Rise Option
You can prepare the bread through to shaping and placing in the loaf pan, then immediately cover and refrigerate overnight or up to 12 hours. In the morning, simply remove from the fridge and allow to rise on the counter for 1 hour before baking.
Freezing Unbaked Dough
You can also freeze the shaped loaf right after placing it in the loaf pan (before the 2nd rise). I like to freeze in the loaf pan, then once solid, wrap the frozen dough log tightly and store only the dough in the freezer up to 3 months. When ready to bake, remove the frozen dough log, unwrap, place in a greased loaf pan, cover with plastic wrap and thaw at room temperature for 4-5 hours, or until thawed and risen. Bake as usual.
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Get the Recipe: Light and Fluffy Seeded Multigrain Bread
Ingredients
Basic Multigrain Bread Dough:
- 1/2 cup (113 ml) multi-grain cereal, such as 7, 10 or 12-grain cereal *see Note 1
- 2 cups (454 ml) boiling water
- 2 1/4 teaspoons (7 g) active dry or instant yeast, (not rapid or quick rise yeast)
- 4 cups (480 g) unbleached all-purpose flour , spooned and levelled *see Note 2
- 1 Tablespoon (15 ml) vegetable oil, or other neutral tasting cooking oil, or melted and cooled butter
- 1 Tablespoon (15 g) honey, or light or dark brown sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons (9 g) fine sea salt
OPTIONAL Add-ins *See Note 3 below
- 1/3 cup raisins or dried cranberries
- 1/4 cup raw pumpkin or sunflower seeds, chopped
- 1/4 cup nuts (pecans, walnuts etc), chopped
- 2 Tablespoon mixed small seeds, poppy, sesame and/or flax seeds
Egg Wash:
- 1 large egg, mixed with 1 Tbsp water (or alternately, just water, for a vegan loaf, though seeds may not stick as well).
Topping Seed Mixture:
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) sesame seeds
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) flax seeds
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) poppy seeds
- Raw pumpkin and or sunflower seeds, optional
Instructions
- Place multigrain cereal in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a kneading hook. Pour boiling water over, then let stand until mixture cools to between 105°F. and 115°F. for active dry yeast or to about 120F for Instant yeast, about 20 minutes. *Don't rush it. If your mixture is too hot, it may kill your yeast. A thermometer is handy here to make sure of the temperature before adding the yeast.
- Sprinkle yeast over cereal mixture. Add 1 cup flour, the oil, honey (or brown sugar) and salt and stir until smooth. Gradually mix in the remaining flour, incorporating and additional add-ins during the mixing. Once all the flour is added, you'll have a moist dough, that may also seem a bit loose. Resist the urge to add more flour at this point. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rest 15 minutes. The grains will absorb more of the moisture during the rest period.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Knead a few minutes, until smooth and elastic, adding more flour, as needed, if it's sticking to your hands or the work surface.
- Oil a large bowl or measuring cup. Add the dough to bowl, then flip over the ball of dough so the oiled side is up. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in warm spot until doubled in size. **Don't wander far. This bread is a quick riser and may double in as little as 35-40 minutes. It may take longer. The important thing is to make sure it rises only until doubled, no matter how long that is.
- Prepare the Seed Mixture by stirring together all the seeds in a small bowl. Set aside.
- When dough has doubled in size, remove to a work surface and gently deflate dough by pressing down the dough.
- Grease one 9x5-inch loaf pan or two 8x4-inch loaf pans. Sprinkle a bit of the seed mixture into the pan (or divide between two pans), if you like. For 8x4-inch loaves, divide the dough into two equal sized pieces. For 9x5-inch loaf, leave as one piece. Roll the dough out into a rectangle about 10 inches wide and 18-inches long. for a 9x5 loaf, or 9x16-inch rectangles each of the two 8x4 loaves. Roll up jelly rolls style, starting with the short side, then pinch seams together. Place rolls seam side down into prepared loaf pan(s).
- Cover the loaves with a clean kitchen towel or greased/sprayed plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size, about 25- 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 425F. (regular bake/non convection), with rack positioned just below centre (a little lower rack position, one down from centre, will help to keep the top of the bread from browning as quickly).
- Before baking, brush top of loaves with the egg wash and sprinkle the top with remaining seed mixture.
- Bake in preheated 425F oven for 18-20 minutes, then cover the top loosely with a sheet of aluminum foil to prevent over-browning. Bake a further 20-25 minutes for a 9x5 loaf or 10-15 minutes for 8x4 loaves, or until golden and crusty and have an internal temperature of 195-205F when tested with an instant read thermometer. *Bread will look done, even when it isn't cooked through. The large 9x5 loaf will need the full 40-45 minutes in the oven to be cooked through.
- Remove from oven. Run a knife around the edges of the pan and immediately remove to a cooling rack to cool. Allow to cool completely (or almost completely) before slicing, to avoid a gummy bread.
- Store bread well wrapped at room temperature for a couple of days, or freeze for longer storage. This bread will freeze well up to 2-3 months or more.
Notes
- Refer to the Ingredient Notes above this Recipe Card for some guidance and suggestions for different multigrain cereal blends you can use here, as well as how to make your own multigrain mix.
- You can replace up to 1 cup of the unbleached all purpose flour with whole wheat flour, if you like, though the resulting bread will not be as light as it would be with all purpose flour. I don't recommend adding more than 1 cup of whole wheat flour, as it will alter the hydration of the dough significantly.
- The Optional add-ins are things you can add in to the dough - one, all or none of them, if you like, to change up the bread a bit. That said, don't exceed about 1/2 cup of total add-ins.
- If you find the bread gets too dark for your liking, even after tenting it with foil for the last part of baking, try baking it at 400F instead and baking it a little longer.
More bread recipes you might also like …
Hi! I’m Jennifer, a home cook schooled by trial and error and almost 40 years of getting dinner on the table! I love to share my favourite recipes, both old and new, together with lots of tips and tricks to hopefully help make your home cooking enjoyable, stress free, rewarding and of course, delicious!
Hi,
I tried this recipe this past week and it turned out great! I switched out the yeast for a cup of my sourdough starter (its a 50% spelt and 50% white flour starter) and reduced the flour and water by half a cup. I also only used one cup of white flour, and the rest whole wheat flour… so a few substitutes, but still fluffy and really good! The sourdough flavour really adds :) Thanks!
Sounds great and I bet the sourdough flavour was awesome. I will be trying that :) Thanks!
Really happy the way my bread has turned out. Great texture and crispy crust. Love it! I am definitely saving this recipe for all time fav. and my primary go to recipe for Bread.
So glad to hear, Namrata :) Thanks so much!
At my favorite coffee shop (which is currently closed) they make these fancy toasts on this great multigrain bread, so I made this recipe to try to approximate their bread. It worked out great! I used a higher protein bread flour, and I wished I had used all purpose flour as you said to for a lighter crumb texture, but next time I will. Do you think I could increase the cereal any without messing up the dough? I have a fairly uninteresting cereal (6 grain and a lot of it is just oats) and I was just hoping for more multigrain taste? I also had no seeds to put on top which I know would also up the flavor.
Hi Ashley and glad you enjoyed it :) To get that multigrain taste you’re longing for, you probably need to get your hands on a seed mix (or a more seed-y cereal mix). Oats make a nice bread, but the crumb is moist and the flavour is subtle. It’s the seeds and other grains that have all the flavour. Check online for buying options maybe. If you are in Canada, Bulk Barn is a good option (they are offering order online, curbside pickup).
Has anyone else tried this with fully replacing the 4 c flour with 4 c whole
Wheat flour? (Not just a portion as recommended) i need to due to health issue, can’t have white or enriched flour. Any recommendations?
Hi Jasmyn, perhaps someone will weigh in for you, but I can say that you can make bread with 100% whole wheat flour, but the bread will never be “light”. It will be dense. You can counter-act that with the addition of some vital wheat gluten, but unsure if that is something you could tolerate. You might try googling 100% whole wheat bread tips to find some more options for baking bread with all whole wheat.
I really wanted to make this bread but 7 grain cereal is nowhere to be found. I can order some online (25 pound bag for exorbitant amount) but 7 or 10 grain…no dice. Suggestions on making this with what I have? I have rolled oats, quinoa and flaxseed…maybe some brown rice and only AP flour (all you can find at stores)
Hi Jill and yes, definitely use what you have. Go with the oats, quinoa and flaxseed. Not as sure about the rice (definitely if it was blanched or pre-cooked a bit to soften a bit before soaking). Try to keep the measurement the same, soak as directed and carry on with the AP flour. Enjoy!
I use Bob’s Red Mill 10 Grain cereal and it works beautifully!!
Glad to hear, Jen :) Thanks!
I have ten grain flour. May I use it instead of the cereal? If so, how many grams? Thank you.
Hi Monic, Yes, you could certainly use that to make this bread, though I have no idea how many grams you would add. My best advice is to skip the soaking (not needed with multigrain flour), then proceed adding maybe 1 cup or so of the multigrain flour to start, then adding all purpose flour AS NEEDED to create the soft, moist dough. Hope that helps :)
I have made this twice. The first time my daughter poked it and I could not get it to rise again but was delicious. I made it a second time and it came out GREAT!!!
So glad to hear, Laura :) Thanks so much!
My husband always keeps the heat down in the house. Will I have success it the room is 64 degrees? How would I compensate for the lower temperature, or can I just bake in the summertime? HaHa
Hi Charmaine. And those darned husbands! :) No you don’t need to wait for Summer. You just need to make yourself a mini proofing box. There are a couple of tricks I’ve heard mentioned around. You’ll have to google them to get the exact “how to” as I’ve never actually used them. One involves using your microwave and a cup of boiling water to warm and humidify the space. The other is using the oven with just the light on (or maybe doing a quick preheat, letting cool down, then using). Hope that helps :)
Now that you’ve solved my room temperature problem, let me say how grateful I am to you not only for this wonderful recipe that provides me with a great feeling of success, but I also want to say “thank you” for answering our questions. Nice of you to take the time. That said, maybe you can give me a suggestion as to how to keep those little seeds from falling off my beautiful bread. Perhaps egg white wash, egg wash, you surely have better ideas.
Thanks again,
Charmaine
Thanks so much, Charmaine :) I haven’t experimented a ton. Generally I might just lightly brush with water before sprinkling the seeds on. Milk works well, too. I will experiment with egg or egg white wash the next time I make it and report back :)
I just made this loaf and wanted to let you know how beautifully it turned out. I’ve previously had trouble with American recipes (I’m used to grams and find cup measures with flour can be so variable) but your instructions were so clear and easy to follow and meant my dough was the perfect consistency. I used quinoa, barley, rye and oat flakes for the multigrain cereal, used a mixture of milled linseed, pumpkin seed and sunflower seed for the stir ins and used strong bread flour. I got a perfect crumb and a great rise. I plan to make it again with some wholemeal flour as suggested, and to try out lots of your other bread recipes. Thank you! :)
Sounds lovely, Kerri! So glad you enjoyed it :) Thanks so much.
Do you have a heating pad? That is what I use to proof all of my yeast doughs (bread, pizza crust, etc.). For this one, I set it on LOW, placed the bowl of dough on top, and it was gorgeous and huge in one hour as the recipe suggested. I rolled it out and formed the loaf, and then set it on the heating pad again – ready to bake in 30 minutes. In my experience it doesn’t really matter what the room temperature is as long as you have the heating pad on under it. Works great!
Awesome tip, Karen! I’ve never heard that one before. Brilliant :) Thanks for sharing!
Hi,
I would really like to try your bread recipe, but I do not know what you mean by 7 grain cereal. Can you explain please or provide some brand names? Also, can multigrain flour be used and if so how would I do this?
Thanks,
Josephine
Hi Josephine, it’s simply a mixture of dry grains that is usually intended to be eaten as a cereal by soaking in hot milk or water. The 7 grain mixture I use has organic hard red wheat, organic barley, organic rye, organic steel cut oats, organic brown flaxseed, organic millet, organic buckwheat. There are also 10 or 12 grain mixtures, that might contain Cracked wheat, rye meal, cracked triticale, thick flaked oats, hulled millet, cracked oats, barley flakes, sunflower seeds, white sesame seeds, buckwheat grits, brown flaxseeds, golden flaxseeds etc. Bob’s Red Mill has a similar type grain mix. You can certainly make your own mix by combining any of the above ingredients to the amount required by the recipe.
Thank you so much for explaining. I will look for this when I go grocery shopping and I look forward to trying this recipe. Thanks again and take care.
No worries! Enjoy and take care :)
Thank you Jennifer. I made the bread and it is fantastic. Will definitely make it again. Thanks for the recipe and your help.
Take care,
Josephine
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks :)
I had a hard time finding this at my local grocery store. I ended up going with Publix brand Organic Instant Oatmeal Multigrain In individual packs. One pack worked perfectly. It’s so good!
So glad to hear, Brittany and that was a perfect substitute! So glad you enjoyed it :) Thanks!
My husband and I live on our sailboat full time and I am always looking for new bread recipes. When I decided to try this one he was not impressed…the comment was I like the other one if it’s not broke don’t fix it….lol
Needless to say I made it anyway and he loves it. I add sunflower and pumpkin seeds to it and then a super seed mixture with sesame, poppy, chia and flax. I have been making it every day for the last week and am thrilled with the texture. Today I am adding garlic, parmesan and my own chili flake mix.
Thanks for a great , user friendly recipe.
So glad you are enjoying it! Loving the sound of the garlic, Parm loaf! Thanks so much :)
I am about to try this recipe. But I have no cereal mix. I ground up some unleavened seed crackers and added some oat bran. Will this work as a substitute?
Hi Karla, it’s worth a try :) Definitely don’t do the soaking part at the beginning of the recipe, as it isn’t needed with the crackers and the oat bran is small enough it doesn’t need a soak, either. Just add with the flour and go from there. Let me know how it works out :)
Bread turned out amazing!!
So glad to hear :) Thanks for letting me know!
I made it few hours ago and it’s super easy, soft, and amazingly delicious.
So glad to hear! Thanks :)
Love this recipe for while grain rolls. I make them on a weekly basis now. I do them all by hand, use honey, no mix ins, brush lightly with butter and bake at 425 for 12-15 mins. Perfect every time (and great for freezingl! Thank you!
Sounds delicious, Christina! Thanks so much :)
I used oatmeal since u dont have the 7 grain cereal and it came beautifully! Thanks for the recipe definitely will do it again !
So glad it worked well for you! Thanks so much :)
Thanks for sharing this! Having trouble finding the cereal now at the stores, but I have oatmeal! I will try that.
Oatmeal will work just fine, Jeanette :) Enjoy!
I have to say this is the absolute best bread I’ve ever made! It is so fluffy and tasty we just can’t get enough. I use the Bobs Redmill muesli cereal because I misread the instructions the first time, but it taste great so used it again today for this weeks loaves. I used dried blueberries and pumpkin seeds as my add ins so every once in a while there is a pop of sweetness, very enjoyable. I also used 3 cups of bread flour and 1 cup of whole wheat as well as a couple tablespoons of vital wheat gluten and honey. Thanks so much!
So glad you enjoyed the bread Jody! Thanks so much :)
This recipe is a keeper!! This will now be my forever go to for a delicious multigrain seeded bread!! Made it yesterday for the first time and 2 more loaves this morning! My daughter loved it & it was easy compared to many other recipes I have tried. I also did everything by hand as I don’t have a mixer, but it was still and easy and beautiful loaf! Wish we could add pictures!
I am wondering how it freezes as I would like to Slice and freeze one loaf to have for the week. I saw it only stays fresh 3-4 days? I would love some freezing techniques! Thanks for this beautiful recipe!
So glad to hear, Hannah! It’s a favourite loaf of mine, too. And it freezes beautifully, so don’t hesitate to freeze some for later. I freeze my bread in plastic freezer bags (squeeze as much air out as possible). If you don’t have freezer bags, wrap in plastic wrap, then in foil to freeze. Thaw it on the counter still wrapped, until thawed. Enjoy :)