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.
We have loved tried new homemade bread flavors and this recipe did not disappoint! The whole house smelled amazing and the bread was so soft on the inside.
Your recipe of Muesli bread intrigued me that I had to make it. Loved it!!! The bread comes out crunchy on the outside, and soft on the inside. Perfect with my jam and tea.Thank you.
I am so happy with how this turned out. I used the same brand of Museli as you (thank you for that suggestion). Easy recipe to follow. Tastes great with homemade butter. Will make it again.
This bread was delicious! I made it as written and just powered through the wetter dough by flouring my hands. I know that higher hydration doughs make bread with a more open crumb structure and it was worth it! The flavor was fabulous and the texture spot on.
I like the look of this recipe but was wondering if it can be made in a breadmaker and at what settings.
Great question. Unfortunately, I don’t have a bread machine and have never used one so I’m really not sure. Do let me know if you try it though!
I just made it and it came out great, delicious, nice tender crumb and crunchy crust. Writing a note to myself when I make this again. I think it has too much water, very wet dough which affects the rise. I substituted 2 Tablespoons butter for two T water just to make it richer. Would do again, as well as leave out a little water, rather than add extra flour. I mixed the muesli in after I mixed it before the first rise because it was too wet to actually hand knead. Cooked at 425 for about 35 minutes until thermometer read over 190F. Thanks for the recipe I really love the bread.
Just made this and it smell so good! I added dried cranberries and coconut. I also baked it at 375 since my oven is professional grade .
I baked this bread ,adding my museli with raisin and the outcome was excellent. I like to put it in a toaster, the outer layer was crunchy and the smell was so good.Thank you so much for your sharing.
I love making my own bread and this was such an original and different recipe! thank you!
I love that this bread turns out great while having some added health benefits too!