Nothing beats the smell of freshly baked bread coming out of the oven. This hearty muesli bread is begging to be slathered with some butter and enjoyed warm!
A few weeks ago, we watched the Michael Pollan series on Netflix.
I freakin’ adore Michael Pollan.
He single-handedly changed my outlook on food back in 2009 when I was on a mission to lose 15-20 pounds, get healthier and start running (you can read all about that journey on my about me page) with his book, In Defense of Food.
To this day, I still think his coined phrase “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” is a great one to live by and the simplicity of it all is a refreshing change of pace in this time of crazy detoxes, niche diets and other food fads that pop up seemingly every other day.
Thanks to partner, Bob’s Red Mill for sponsoring this post.
From the buzz I’d heard surrounding the four-part series focusing on the basic cooking techniques of fire, water, air and earth, air was apparently the most inspiring episode.
People were all “I’m going to make my own bread every day!” after watching it and of course, being the skeptic I am, I told myself that while I’m sure it would be a great episode, there’s no way I’d fall into that trap.
Well, I was wrong.
It was the one episode Ulysses happened to watch with me and we both were completely inspired after just 60 minutes of talk about real, fermented artisan sourdough bread.
The kind of bread our ancestors made, not the quick breads of today ready in 30 minutes or the box mixes you add an egg and some oil to.
He even turned to me while the credits were rolling to say “I really think you should give this a shot”.
In my head the response was “haha, thanks, babe, I’ll just add that to my daily to-do list, no prob” but truthfully, I was interested too.
A few days went by, I googled all the things, talked to a bunch of people and was convinced I was ready to make my own starter from scratch and be the kind of person who has one of those fermented blobs living on her kitchen counter for the sole purpose of baking bread the real way.
But then life kicked in, we went to Florida for a week, schedules got hectic and here we are a month or so later and I still haven’t done it.
To be honest, I’m not sure it’s in the cards.
I can barely keep myself together enough to accomplish the work I have in a given day, dedicate 2 hours to the gym, still have time to spend with my husband and sleep a solid 8 hours (I’m not pleasant without at least that much) let alone, deal with bread baking and a living, breathing starter that needs to be “fed” daily.
The only person in this world I can promise to feed is myself.
2020 update – I finally got into sourdough baking and while I religiously use other people’s sourdough bread baking methods and recipes, my one-ingredient sourdough pancakes have truly become a favorite!
So, I made a compromise.
One which involved store bought yeast for this muesli bread.
No, it’s not fermented and doesn’t have all those lovely gut-happy probiotics but it’s still fresh bread, from scratch without the crazy ingredient list you find in store-bought loaves and that’s something good enough to consider a win in my book.
There’s really nothing quite as intoxicatingly delicious smelling as freshly baked bread coming out of the oven and when you add a hearty muesli, like Bob’s Red Mill old country style muesli to said bread, the result is something out of this world addictive.
I dare you to bake this and resist slathering some butter (I’ve had a maple sea salt one from Vermont Creamery hanging out in my fridge for months just waiting for an occasion like this) on a slice immediately.
I’m telling you, it’s impossible.
Muesli is basically like oatmeal and granola combined into one amazing cereal mixture and while it’s great eaten hot on its own for breakfast, worked into freshly baked bread, it provides the perfect hearty artisan texture you crave from a scratch made loaf.
I also love it prepared like overnight oats in this overnight muesli recipe with strawberry and lemon. That’s a great refreshing spring breakfast.
Love this Muesli Bread recipe?
For more freshly baked breads check out this sweet potato raisin bread or this roasted peach cinnamon swirl bread (<–a great summer one!)
Muesli Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm milk
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 1 package fast acting yeast, 2 1/4 teaspoons
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat white flour + a little more while mixing if needed
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup Bob’s Red Mill old country style muesli
Instructions
- Combine the milk, water, yeast and honey in the bowl of a stand mixer. Stir gently and let yeast proof, about 10 minutes.
- Add flours and salt to the mixer bowl and mix with dough hook on low-medium speed.
- Dough will be sticky, use additional flour if needed to pull it together just enough so that you can transfer it to a greased bowl.
- Cover dough in greased bowl, set aside in a warm place and let rise for 1-2 hours until at least doubled in size.
- Remove dough out onto a floured surface, knead the muesli into the dough until well incorporated throughout. Reshape into a loaf and place on a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet. Cover, set aside and let rest for 30-45 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
- Score the top of the dough with a knife and place into the oven to bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown on the outside.
- Remove from oven, transfer to a cooling rack and let rest for a bit before slicing.
- Best served warm with butter.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.
What could be better than fresh muesli bread? This recipe was perfect!
Excellent!
Great recipe! I made this bread and it was amazing! Thanks for the recipe!
Can you add the muesli in before the first rise?
You probably can, although usually when things are added to bread, it’s after an initial rise.
Bread should NEVER be cut warm. It just is not done. Warm bread is not good for you. We all love fresh bread, but you should wait until it is cooled off.
Can I used manual mixing instead of hand-mixer? I don’t have it 😅
Of course!
Great recipe. I tried this today and really enjoy the texture and taste of the added muesli. I’m toying with upping the honey by another TBS or adding some brown sugar next time. I admittedly have a sweet tooth. My bread didn’t rise up as much as yours- it spread out more than up. Maybe I needed more flour? I think I’ll also cover it with foil halfway through next time so the top doesn’t get quite as crusty before the inside is done. Thank you for this fun recipe!
4 years worth of comments, and it looks like nobody has tried the recipe. I tried it today, and it’s not bad. Goes together quickly. I use SAF instant yeast, so it rises much faster than what you wrote.
Ok, the first one was made to your recipe. It’s ok, but lacking the kind of richness I was looking for. Also, the gluten structure isn’t really as bready as I’m used to.
So I made it again, using 120gm (1 c) of AP and 120gm bread flour instead of 240gm (2c) of AP. I also used 3tbl honey (65gm), a full cup of muesli, and added a handful (~1/4c) of both raisins and craisins, and tossed in the small amount of shredded coconut I had. This also rose quickly, doubling in under an hour. It was more dough than I could finish in my banneton, so I lined my biggest bread pan with parchment and finished it in there. Baked it 30 min at 450. Not much oven spring, but the loaf tastes fantastic. Plenty of little wholesome bits, good white bread texture (no open crumb), and a slight honey sweetness. I’d say it’s a keeper.
Hi! This recipe is a must bake. However, I need to sub the flours for paleo friendly. Has anyone made this with almond flour? If so, please share your advice.
This is the loveliest bread! Thank you! Foolproof and all.