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This no knead artisan multigrain bread recipe requires very little hands-on time and makes two hearty loaves of bread. Enjoy right away or freeze for later!
What if we told you you could make fresh, artisan bread at home, with minimal active time and a fraction of the cost of store-bought bread? Most bread recipes require many hours of labor. But there’s a type of bread making called no knead bread, where you can mix up a batch, throw it in the refrigerator for a few hours (or overnight, for up to 2 weeks), and then shape and bake it the day you want to eat it. It’s truly simple, compared to other bread recipes. Keep reading for this multigrain bread recipe, and more about baking bread.
Making this no knead multigrain bread
Alex and I been looking for an easy multigrain bread recipe. So we connected with the queen of no knead artisan bread herself, Zoë François, co-author of the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day books. Perhaps you’ve heard of them? We used to bake from that book years ago; fast forward a few years and turns out Zoë is actually a friend of our dear friend Sarah!
For this multigrain recipe, Alex and I adapted a recipe from Zoë’s new cookbook, The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. We increased the rye and wheat flours to have a little more nutrition and toasty flavor. Then we added some texture with mix-ins: oats, sunflower seeds, and quinoa. The result? We loved it. It’s our new go-to multigrain bread recipe! We can’t tell you how happy we are to be able to make our own bread: it tastes amazing and is nowhere near the cost of our favorite store bought artisan bread.
Interview with author Zoë Francois
Even better, we caught up with Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day author Zoë here to ask her more about no knead artisan bread recipe in the interview below. We are honored to share her insight and story!
You’re a successful baker and author in Minneapolis. How did you get started baking?
Zoë: I started “baking” when I was about 7 years old. My friend and I would mix random ingredients together, throw it into the oven and wait to see what would happen. The results were technically edible, but the real reason we did it was to watch things blow up. My mom wasn’t much of a baker (which is an understatement), so if I wanted sweets, I had to make them myself. And, as a teen, I always wanted sweets!
I spent a lot of time developing my own cookie recipes. In college, I took those recipes and started a cookie company. That makes it sound a lot bigger than it was, which was actually a cart that I’d push into downtown Burlington, VT and sell to the local business people at lunch. I had enough regulars that I took a semester off from school and baked full time.
After finishing college and going into a less than satisfying career in marketing, I got the pull to bake again. I ended up at the CIA in NY and then working for Andrew Zimmern in Minneapolis before he went global eating bugs and critters.
How did the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day book come about?
Zoë: I quit my job as a pastry chef when I had my first son, since the restaurant business is crazy and not entirely conducive to family life. I was at a music class with my then 2-year-old son and met Jeff Hertzberg, a doctor and enthusiastic home baker. He shared a “recipe” with me that he’d been working on and asked me to try it out. I resisted for as long as I could, because it just didn’t seem like it would work and I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. The concept of storing dough in the refrigerator flew in the face of everything I’d learned in culinary school and when something seems too good to be true, it generally is.
Well, Jeff is a very persistent man and I eventually tried it. I came back to the music class the next week and told him he absolutely had to get the recipe in front of everyone. I was hysterical about the whole thing, the bread was amazing, it was easy and it was fast enough to make sense in every busy person’s life. He had called the radio show The Splendid Table to ask Lynne Rosetto Kasper how to get a cookbook published. An editor happened to be listening to the show, she contacted Lynne to find out how to get in touch with Jeff and that is how our first book came to be. Jeff asked me to be a part of it because that first recipe was in rough shape (another understatement) and he wasn’t particularly fond of cookbooks. I did it for the experience and next thing I know, we’re finishing up our 5th book together.
What are the major benefits of baking homemade bread?
Zoë: Our method produces artisan quality bread for a fraction of the cost of what you can buy it for at the store. It costs about 50 cents to bake a 1-pound loaf of our master artisan bread recipe. You can’t even buy a slice for that little in a bakery anymore.
The main reason people stopped baking bread was that the process intimidated them, or they assumed it took too long. We created our method with them in mind. We knew it needed to be so easy that even the most tentative cook would want to try it and it had to be fast. We’re all so busy that spending the day on a loaf of bread just isn’t realistic for most folks. 5 minutes we can do.
Obviously, that is the active time. Another great reason to bake your own bread is to have total control over the ingredients you are using. Our master recipe is just flour, water, yeast and salt. That is all you need to bake a gorgeous loaf of bread.
Are there health benefits to home-baked bread?
Zoë: Most bread you find in the grocery store (especially those in plastic bags) has all kinds of preservatives, food color and lots of unnecessary sugars. Many of the whole wheat breads are mostly white flour, but they add molasses and food colors to make it look like whole grain bread. Many of our readers want more control over what they are eating, and baking their bread is a great place to start. Our second book, Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day, was written because our readers were asking us for more whole grain breads.
How do you respond to the popularity of eating gluten-free?
Zoë: I had never heard about Celiac disease before we wrote our first book. When it came out in 2007, our website was flooded with requests for gluten-free versions of our fast and easy recipes. We started developing some to satisfy the requests. It became obvious that it wasn’t just a few folks; it was many. We added a chapter of gluten-free breads in HBin5 and got a tremendous response. The numbers of folks who are being diagnosed with Celiac disease is growing, as are the number of people who are intolerant and sensitive to wheat. Jeff and I decided that a small chapter in our wheat filled books wasn’t really fair to these folks, so we have just written a book that is entirely gluten-free. Gluten-Free Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day will be out in October.
Bread is a staple in our diet, as it is all over the world. Both Jeff and I bake it daily. Neither of us has gained any weight during this 10 year, bread-baking adventure, because we eat it in moderation. Jeff, the doctor, always says “everything in moderation, even moderation!”
Anything else to share?
Zoë: We understand that bread baking seems intimidating, so we have a website where we have videos and lots of pictures to show just how easy it is. We also invite all of our readers to come ask questions and Jeff or I am there to help 24/7!
Thank you so much to Zoë for your inspiration and insight!
How to store bread
Because this homemade multigrain bread contains no preservatives, it won’t stay fresh for long on your counter. With that said, you can store it in a paper bag or cloth bread bag at room temperature for a few days, or freeze the entire bread loaf before slicing it. To freeze the bread, wrap it in plastic wrap and then seal it in a zip top bag. When you’re ready to eat the multigrain bread, place it on your countertop to thaw. Whatever you do, do not store homemade bread in the fridge, otherwise it’ll dry out!
Looking for more homemade bread recipes?
Outside of this artisan multigrain bread, here are some of our favorite bread recipes:
- Homemade Sourdough Bread
- Pita Bread Recipe
- Artisan Dutch Oven Bread
- Tomato Sage Parmesan Cornbread
- Pizza Dough Rye Cracker Crust
- Garlic Herb Focaccia Bread
- Whole Grain Homemade Pita Bread
- No-Knead Rustic Bread Recipe
- Raspberry Braided Bread
- Healthy Banana Bread
Looking for ways to use multigrain bread?
Here are a few ways we love to use our multigrain bread:
- Avocado Toast with Turmeric Egg
- Vegan Banana French Toast
- Dippy Eggs with Cheese-Fried Toast Sliders
- Easy Chickpea Salad Sandwich
- Ultimate Rainbow Veggie Sandwich
This recipe is…
This multigrain bread recipe is vegetarian, vegan, dairy-free and plant-based.
Multigrain Bread
This no knead artisan multigrain bread recipe requires very little hands-on time and makes two hearty loaves of bread. Enjoy right away or freeze for later!
- Prep Time: 3 hours 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 4 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 2 loaves 1x
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- ¼ cup rolled oats
- ¼ cup quinoa
- ¼ cup sunflower seeds
- ¼ cup water
- 3 cups lukewarm water
- 1 tablespoon active yeast
- 1 ½ tablespoons kosher salt
- 4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup rye flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
Instructions
- Soaking the add-ins (1 hour) In a small bowl, combine ¼ cup oats, ¼ cup quinoa, ¼ cup sunflower seeds, and ¼ cup water. Let sit for 1 hour.
- Mixing the dough and letting it rise (2 hours) In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large mixing bowl) combine 3 cups lukewarm water with 1 tablespoon active yeast.
- With a standard mixer paddle (or a large spoon), mix in 1 ½ tablespoons kosher salt, 4 cups all purpose flour, 1 cup rye flour, 1 cup wheat flour, and the soaked oats and seeds. Mix only enough to combine; do not knead or overwork the dough. If necessary, use your hands to make sure all ingredients are incorporated.
- Cover with a towel and allow to the dough to rise and collapse at room temperature. This should take about 2 hours.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator. It can be used anytime in the next 2 weeks, but we usually bake two loaves the day after mixing and freeze one loaf.
- Bake the bread (1 ½ hours) When ready to bake, on a floured surface divide the dough into two balls. Adding a bit of flour as necessary to work with the dough, shape each ball into a loaf by stretching the edges of the dough down and under the loaf.
- Sprinkle a pizza peel or baking sheet with cornmeal and place the loaves on the cornmeal. Allow the loaves to rest for 40 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 450ºF with a pizza stone on the center rack. In addition, place an old sheet pan on the bottom rack to use for steaming (which creates a nice brown crust on the bread). We use a load our sheet pan with lava rock to assist in the steaming and hold the heat of the oven.
- After the rest, sprinkle each loaf with flour and use a serrated knife to cut several 1/2″ deep slashes along the top of the loaves.
- Slide the loaves onto the pizza stone as far apart as possible (so they don’t touch as they rise). Wearing an oven mitt, pour 1 cup of hot water onto the sheet pan and quickly close the oven door to fill the oven with steam.
- Bake for 35 minutes until brown and crispy. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack. After cooling, the loaves can be frozen in an airtight bag.
Notes
This recipe doesn’t take much hands-on time, but it requires thinking ahead. The day you mix the dough, you’ll need 1 hour for soaking add-ins and 2 hours for a rise. The day you bake the bread, you need a 40 minute rest and a 35 minute baking time (plus the ever-painful cool down period!). The recipe also uses several special components, including a pizza stone, old sheet pan, and a pizza peel. Make sure to read through the entire recipe before trying! Adapted from The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Herzberg and Zoë François
Can I add nuts or other grains (Kneaders multi grain in my favorite bread and they add Brazil nuts and macadamia) and would I also soak them
Hi! You can just stir nuts right in. Any other grains you should soak first.
The instructions were a little rough to follow when printed out, but I have baked enough bread to sort it out. I want to say without hesitation that this, and I have baked a lot of bread over my many years, is maybe one of the best breads I have ever eaten. We weren’t sure how it would come out, we made some minor tweaks but mostly stayed pure to the recipe, and we cooked them more like French Bread, and used honey with the yeast. We also added a few more grain types, not many, and hands down this bread was amazing. We first ate with honey and butter and both our eyes flew wide open. I baked an extra loaf for my son. He loved it as well. Healthy, good tasting, well done. Thank you for sharing.
So glad you enjoyed!
LOVE this recipe – thank you for sharing! I made my first time with sunflower, flax & quinoa – delicious. It may be my oven, but cooking at 450 caused the fan side of the loaf to get very dark (I rotated a little too late) – however internal was only 150 when I pulled it at 35 minutes. I covered with foil and put back in until 190 – still gummy (which is fine as we toasted and still tasted incredible). Do you have any times guidance for a lower temp bake? Thanks in advance!
The high temp helps it get a nice rise. Do you have a dutch oven? You could adjust to these cooking times: https://www.acouplecooks.com/artisan-dutch-oven-bread/
Such beautiful loaves! After 40 minutes at 450°F, the internal temp is only 140F in center of loaf. Loaves were room temp after rest before they were placed into preheated oven on preheated stones and boiling hot water was used for the stream drip below. I’ll continue baking but at 375 until the internal temp is safer. Any tips?
That’s weird! I’m not sure what the problem is… we usually get up to 200F in this time frame.
Thanks for recipe, I’m eager to try this bread. Two questions. Do you grind your own flour? I can get King Arthur all purpose flour at the supermarket but some of the other flours will be hard to find. Can you suggest places to buy grain and/or flour?
The other question is I have a wooden brotforman that will imprint a pattern on the dough – at what stage in the recipe do I put the dough in the brotforman? The last rise right before baking?
Thanks!
Hi! The rye and whole wheat flours should be readily available at stores. The other ingredients are added as whole seeds. For the brotform, I’d try doing it for the rest in step 7.
Best!
This is a really good and easy recipe, especially for beginners. This was the first bread I made and I keep making it week over week. It is easy and so delicious.
Thank you so much for this amazing recipe.
So glad you are enjoying!
Have made this bread lots of times, following the recipe exactly and modifying based on what I have in the house. Do try to add more seeds in general. Also shape in to rolls. This is my go to recipe for multigrain bread!
We adapted the recipe (didn’t have the flour or quinoa) and it was still really excellent!
I would love to try this recipe. I have been attempting multiple times to print it (yah, I’m old school, like to hold paper in my hands, make notes, splash goop) The ads keep interfering and finally the printer just doesn’t even respond to print order. Bummer. Hope this can straighten out. I want to make a heartier bread, like the loaves I recently munched in the Netherlands. Yum!
Hi! Here is the print link: https://www.acouplecooks.com/weeknight-chickpea-curry/print/48966/ There is an (X) on all ads if you’d like to close them.
My first batch is in the oven. I did activate the yeast first with sugar. Yes, it’s a wet dough. I would suggest a method for moving the bread that is easier. We use this moving method for pizza. Shape and rest the dough on separate pieces of parchment paper. Slide the peel under the paper and put the loaf in the oven on the stone. It doesn’t impact the bread. When taking it out of the oven, just slide the peel under the parchment. No need to use corn meal and no issue with moving the loaf around.
Just following up. The loaves came out great! We ate one last week and just took the other one out of the freezer to eat this week. I had accidentally ordered some Teff flour from Bob’s Red Mill so I did have Teff, half rye instead of the cup of rye. It was a smooth, dense loaf. Nice crust.
For everyone struggling to get the loaf onto the peel, do use my suggestion for the parchment paper. You can bake the loaf on the parchment paper on the stone. You won’t have a misshapen loaf trying to get it off the peel. It just slides off the peel, parchment paper and all. It rose nicely in the oven.
HI! What temperature is lukewarm water to you. I used the french technique of adding the ambient temp to the flour temp then subtract that from 65C to get the water temp. We’ll see if that works.
100F to 105F (37-40C)
It would be great to get the ingredient list by weight. I like to weigh ingredients when baking, especially bread!
We do this for all newer baking recipes! We haven’t gotten around to remaking and updating this one yet :)
i just tried this recipe. I agree with all the comments about it being a very wet dough and rising but not falling until long after it has been in the refrigerator. It also took twice as long to bake. I weighed my flour which I think was a mistake. I have been watching too much of the British Baking shows where they weight their flour (about 125-130 grams per cup). If you measure in a measuring cup I always will get more flour, so that is what I will do next time. Also I learned that salt kills yeast so I mixed it in some flour first. I think someone had an issue with that. I could not get the dough to not flatten out while it was resting. I pulled it up and over itself and got one loaf to behave. The other loaf I put in a oiled loaf pan and baked it in the steam oven on convection steam with a foil covering it most of the time. The other I baked on a cookie sheet in a regular oven with a boiled water pan under neath. Both loaves doubled in height in the oven. Both took a long time to bake (190 internal temp) because of all the moisture but both ways came out just fine. In the end I do like this recipe. It was very interesting and different. Thank you!
I have baked four batches of bread using this recipe and the method I describe above. It turns out great and is so easy to slice for toast and sandwiches. Great taste, great texture … and it looks awesome!
Thank you so much! We are so happy to hear you’ve enjoyed this bread so many times. Thanks for using our recipe!
Very eager to try this recipe. I have another no-knead bread recipe that I really like. That recipe calls for putting dough in loaf pans and covering those with inverted loaf pans to get the steam. Do you think that would work instead of the pizza stone and pan of water?
Yes, that will work as well!
I have made this bread at least 15 times over the past year because we love the taste. The first time, it came out perfectly! Each time since, it’s been a real nightmare to work with because it’s so overly wet. I thought maybe the warm summer temperatures were making the bread too runny when I went to shape it. But, I just made it again and its in the 30’s here and I had to add A LOT of extra flour to the dough yesterday when I was mixing it and now a lot of flour just to get it out of the bowl and semi-shaped. It’s resting before bake and its a big runny mess again. I know that getting it off the pizza peel covered in cornmeal is going to be a complete nightmare again, which is a problem that I run into every single time. I lose the shape and it’s just a mess. ANY SUGGESTIONS?? I live in Ohio and we keep it less than 70 degrees in our house.
That’s really weird! Have you changed the brand of flour that you are using? How long are you keeping it in the fridge?
This Looks so good! I can’t wait to make it. But can you tell me if I put it in my Dutch oven which is 5.3 L. should I put it all in or do it in 2 batches?
The whole thing should fit!
So I’m in the process of making it and I noticed you don’t add the salt to the yeast and water. Is that right? I did that first but it didn’t look like it was working or proofing. So I did it again and added a little sugar. Then I added it to the flour. I hope I haven’t ruined it. Would it really work with no sugar or salt in the water?
What a great recipe. I used instant yeast and added water to the flour, it was just as great. I also made it in a Dutch over as one loaf and it turned out perfect. Thank you so much for a great recipe!!!!! The best thing is that it doesn’t require 24 hours to activate yeast.
So glad you enjoyed it!
I thought so, too. I made them yesterday, and the dough was almost watery. I tried to dust them with flour, and it was just absorbed right away. No amount of corn meal kept them from glueing to the pizza peel before they went into the oven. The flavor was great, but I’d add an extra cup of flour to make up for the enormous amount of extra water
This recipe only uses 1/2 cup less flour than the main dough recipe from the book, and the same amount of yeast And water. The major difference is the grains and seeds. Why does it only make 2 loaves instead of 4? Are they just bigger loaves?
Yes, the loaves are larger than the standard loaf from Breadin5.
curious if anyone else feels like the flour to water ratio is off? Other breads I have made have been 3 cups flour to 1 cup liquid. I have made the recipe a dozen times and I always add more flour because it is too wet. Your thoughts?
We LOVE this bread! Quarantine Sent me to the Internet to hunt down a multigrain recipe and I chose yours as I’ve always wanted to try a no-knead bread. My husband wishes the loaves could be baked in a loaf pan as that makes the bread easier to use for sandwiches. The cost of stoneware bread pans is prohibitive… Could I possibly use my regular loaf pans and put them on the pizza stone? If not- he’s thinking of making sheet metal “fences” to put around the loaves. 🤣🤣🤣
Glad you are loving it! I haven’t tested, but I think you could combine this recipe with the baking method here: https://www.acouplecooks.com/easy-whole-wheat-bread/
Basically, do the 40 minute rest in a greased loaf pan and then bake maybe at 400F until done. You’d have to play around with the time and temperature but it should work. I’m not sure if putting the loaf pan on a pizza stone would help it rise or cause the bottom to get a little over done, but it wouldn’t hurt to try.
Let me know how it turns out!
This was amazing, my first attempt was a dense stodgy bread but second was perfect. I used 4 cups bread flour and 2 cup spelt. Amazing springy and tasty bread. Never would I go and buy a store bought loaf.
Any creative suggestions on other mix ins? I have only steel cut oats and Quinoa, no sunflower seeds? Can I use sesame? Any other suggestion?
Any seeds would be good! Sesame or poppy would be great.
Hi Sonja and Alex! I am eager to try your recipe! However, I need to watch for sodium in everything I eat. I avoid any bread with much more than 220mg per serving (2 slices). Can I reduce the salt in your recipe to 1 tablespoon without affecting the rise? I would be ok if reducing the salt only affects the taste since I do not usually add salt to my cooking or at the table. I am also trying to calculate the approximate sodium in two slices of your bread. Thank you!
Yes, this would only affect the taste. Thanks for making!
What do you mean, rise then collapse? Do you mean punch it down? I’ve never heard of this leave it method – if I don’t punch it down, how can I tell it’s “collapsed”?
You don’t need to punch it down. Once the dough has fully risen, it will be dome shaped and then collapse in on itself and lose that dome shape. Good luck!
I started out with your Dutch oven artisan bread, and now have moved on to this and it’s even better! I love this bread, and it always turns out beautiful. I let the loaves rest on the peel a little longer and cook it a few minutes more because it wasn’t cooked through the first time, but now it’s perfect. Next will be your sourdough, but even if that’s great, I’m still making this one! I’d send a photo if I could!
Awesome! I love to hear that they are working for you! We’re working on a sandwich loaf coming soon. If you’re interested, our followers share their versions of recipes on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/193375798111474/
I have an insane amount of quick oats in my pantry. Can I simply substitute these for the rolled oats?
Yes, this should work!
Question:
After refrigeration, should the dough return to room temperature?
Should it rise again?
Watched the video it was very helpful however my dough was a lot more sticky and runny. It did work out however. I just was unsure how much I could knead. Thanks for the follow up.
When I took the dough out of the fridge to separate it was really sticky. Recipe said you could use a little flour to shape but I was confused because the recipe was “no knead”. I thought it needed more flour and kneading so it wouldn’t be so sticky and maybe collapse in the baking process. Could you please be more specific on the handling of the dough when it comes out of the fridge. Thanks.
Hi! You can see the full process here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-eWpNONeDQ The shaping is at about 2 minutes in.
Mine rose to the top of the bowl but never collapsed. So I put it in the fridge. Would like to know how long I have to let it sit in the fridge before letting it rise again and bake?
Hi! You can use it immediately or anytime in following two weeks!
Totally did not work for me. I am a newbie but very enthusiastic baker and these instructions didn’t give me a good loaf of bread even though I followed them perfectly…..but thanks for posting it anyway because it gave me something to strive for!
I’ve mixed the dough and it’s in the fridge, will be baking it tomorrow. The dough rose well and looks fantastic So looking forward to eating a slice. Should I store in an airtight container on the counter or just wrap in paper and cling wrap?
Hi! I prefer just wrapping in a towel and leaving on the counter. It will only last a few days but it prevents it from getting soggy!
Just made this today. Followed recipe but baked a tad longer in my slow oven.
Ridiculously simply and ridiculously good!
Thank you.
Fantastic! We’re so glad this one worked out for you!
I made this bread tonight, but the dough didn’t rise at all. Any idea why?
I’m an experienced baker, but don’t make a lot of recipes involving yeast.
So, I could only think of a couple things…
1. It’s winter and my house is cold, therefore the stainless steel bowl I poured the luke warm water in, could have cooled the water down too much.
2. I only waited a couple minutes till adding the other ingredients (recipe didnt say how long to wait, but I just looked on the back of the package of yeast and it says to wait 10 minutes).
Thoughts? Should I scrap the dough and start over?
Hi! The wait on the yeast shouldn’t matter. It’s probably just a little chilled. Do you have a heat vent or somewhere warm you can give it some extra time to rise? Even if it doesn’t, it should still be usable after a few days in the fridge.
Good luck!
Hello, can you recommend some substitutions for quinoa?
You can just leave it out!
Hi! Is wheat flour in this recipe synonymous for whole wheat flour!? I have something called ‘whole grain white whole wheat flour’ would this work?
Hi! Yes, whole wheat flour is intended but your white whole wheat version would work perfectly :)
Just wondering, does this recipe only make two loaves? And if so, can it be doubled?
This recipe makes 2 loaves! If you want to make 4 loaves, we’d recommend making 2 batches.
This is great! I gave one loaf away to my neighbor and my husband got mad at me. LOL! He just kept grabbing a slice and saying, “This is really good…the best bread you’ve made!” As other people said, the dough is a little runny. I used olive oil to handle it from the rise to the separation. It worked well. Also, I have used a dutch oven or stone casserole dish with a cover and also had great crust without adding water. You just have to preheat it for about 30 minutes first, use the cover, and then uncover for the last 10-15 min. (someone else mentioned this too). SO glad I found this recipe and site! I think I might try adding more seeds next time.
We’re so glad this was a hit! Love that your husband didn’t want you to give it away — that’s the best compliment :)
i would love to make this bread and was wondering is could use with the dry yeast or instead of, some of my active starter? if so, how much should i add?
Hi! You can definitely try it with some or all starter–you just need to play a little. I’d try about a 1/4 cup of starter with your first attempt and some yeast and see how it goes.
Thanks a million for this recipe guys! For the life of us we couldn’t find a bread that we really like anywhere close to us in Los Angeles…. And you bread is an absolute delight – maybe the best we ever had, and so easy to make…. We just bought Zoë’s book. Thank you again Sonja and Alex! Thank you Zoë!
You are SO welcome! We’re so glad to hear this worked out and that it was easy to put together! Thank you thank you for writing!
Hey guys! I actually just bought ‘The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day’ and I’m loving it! I’ve had fun trying out homemade pizza dough (your recipe – love it!!) and homemade bread. Question though – should I pull my baking stone out of the oven when I’m baking something that doesn’t need a stone? Mine is so big and heavy, I’m tempted to leave it on the bottom rack, but wasn’t sure if that was bad to do. Thanks!!
So glad to hear that you’re loving it! Bread making definitely gets addicting :) We actually just leave our baking stone in the oven all of the time. It helps to hold the heat in the oven at a steady temperature when the door is opened. The only thing I would say is that some stones are prone to breaking. Ours has been split in two for several years, but we just have it pushed together and keep on using it! Best!
I posted a comment on how much we love this but I forgot to ask if I can substitute millet for the quinoa? Will it work the same?
Thanks
I think that would work great!
I made this and we Loved it! Very easy, only thing is I replaced the rolled oats with steel cut and baked on cookie sheet. Thanks so much for sharing.
And so glad you enjoyed it!
My dough is way too runny. It’s more like a batter and very difficult to handle. I weigh my ingredients, and for this recipe, I used King Arthur’s Flour weight standard of 130 g (4.2 oz) = 1 cup AP flour. I used 4 oz each for the rye and whole wheat. When I saw how runny the dough is, I calculated the % hydration, and found that it’s over 103%! No wonder my dough is runny. How many ounces or grams did you use per your 1 cup of flour? If I use Breadtopia’s no-knead recipe’s flour weight of 1 cup flour = 5 oz., your recipe has an 80% hydration (or even higher if I include the 1/4 cup of water from soaking the grains.) The Breadtopia’s recipe comes out at 77% hydration, and that is a very soft dough. I might make this again, but I will adjust the hydration to be in line with the Breadtopia recipe. More bread experiments to come!
Hi! Sorry I don’t have exact weights for you on this recipe — I usually just eyeball adjustments to it. It sounds like you know your way around bread recipes though! I’d aim for abut 80% hydration. Thanks for reading!
I had reasonably decent success with this recipe on the first try. I got this recipe mixed up with another and ended up slightly kneading it after dividing it…not good, but not disastrous either. My loaves were a little on the flat side. Other than shape, this bread tasted great after salting the slices. I double checked the recipe and found that I put in 1-1/2 tsp salt instead of 1-1/2 tbsp. Honestly, I would modify the recipe to read 4-1/2 tsp since a 1/2 tbsp is not a common measure. Next time, I plan to divide the dough and place into oiled bowls prior to initial fermentation to reduce handling after fermentation. Also, I convert flour and water volumes into weights(grams) for better accuracy.
Just made 2 loaves following this recipe. The changes I made was for baking, I used the Le Creuset pot for each. 30 minutes covered and 10 minutes uncovered at 475 degrees. I reside above 3000 feet so I increased the temperature. The taste was fabulous and I would recommend this recipe to anyone looking for tasty multi-grain bread. This will be our current standard for daily bread.
Thanks so much.
Norm
Wonderful! This is one of our favorites – so glad it worked for you!
Instead of using the steam method you can use Jim Lahey’s (Sullivan St. Bakery) method of cooking it in a heavy covered pot such as LeCreuset, cast iron, or Emil Henri. You need to preheat the pot for 30 minutes with the cover. Bake the bread covered for 30 minutes then uncovered for 15-30 min. more. This also will produce a nice crust.
this recipe is definitely the best (from what i’ve read)! i’m 14 & am baking this bread for a little family get together, but i have a couple of questions:
1. i don’t have a pizza stone, what can i use instead & how?
2. i do have a an old sheet pan, but i don’t have lava rock so how do issue the old sheet pan to assist with steaming?
3. can i use 2 cups of whole wheat flour instead of using one cup of wheat flour & one cup of rye flour?
thank you so much, i’m really looking forward to making this (if i still can)!
You can you use your sheet pan but cover it with parchment paper first or use the cornmeal so the bread does not stick. For the steam you can use another pan and add water to it, put it on the lowest rack. One other method is to use a spray bottle with water and spray the loaves while they cook in the oven. Approximately 10 & 20 minutes into baking. It’s not the preferred method because it releases heat when you open the oven door. I have done the spray and the bread still comes out great! I think the recipe would work fine with 2 cups of wheat flour.
Thanks for getting to these tips before I was able to! :)
I followed this recipe exactly, but my bread is gooey on the inside. I actually baked for more than the allotted time – over an hour, and I checked the temp at the center of the bread, so I’m confident there was enough baking time. Any ideas what went wrong?
Hi!
I’ve never had this issue with any of the no-knead breads. I’m surprised if the internal temp was 190 or higher that it would turn out gooey. Did you have a baking stone?
I am sharing this link with my son who borrowed my bread machine because I was no longer using it. I feel guilty because there is nothing to baking this crusty, healthy, delicious bread. I will bake again.
Thanks for the post. I made this bread and it came out great! Really easy recipe. I did not use a mixer, I got old school and just used a spoon. This will be my go to multi grain bread recipe.
One question. How are you storing your bread so that it stays fresh?
I usually just leave mine on a cutting board with a towel over it but I would love to hear new ideas. Thanks!
This recipe worked out perfectly. Even though I did not have the choice of flours and grains, I used six cups of wheat flour, plus 1/4 cup each of soaked flax seeds, sun flower seeds, and hempseed. I decided to give the yeast a little boost by adding 1 tsp of sugar …It all worked out fine, even thought the house was on the cool side during the morning bake. The breads looked really good, their taste was fine and the texture was nice and springy. The bread disappeared from the table in a hurry. Thank you for the recipe.
Awesome! Glad it worked out. I love how flexible this recipe is :)
I just made this bread yesterday and I love the taste. What recipe did you adapt this from in AB in 5? Also, my loaf grew but it spread outwards more than upwards. Any ideas for how I can fix that so I get a nice tall loaf next time?
Hi!
I think I adapted from the rustic country loaf (or something like that). We modified it fairly heavily though — applied some of the ingredients from this Annie’s Eats recipe with the techniques and quantities from ABin5. For a taller loaf, make sure the dough is cylindrical when putting into the oven and get as much steam going as you can!
Dear Alex…. I’m in the process of trying out this multi-grain recipe of yours. It looks so good. I noticed there is no sugar used to the yeast to get the yeast working. Will the dough rise? Another thing, I have followed the recipe accordingly and used 3 cups of Lukewarm water and my dough seems to be a little runny. Is this correct? Yes I have followed exectly to the recipe given . Thank you. :)
Cliff — Yes, the yeast will still have plenty to eat in the flour and does not need the sugar. The no-knead bread method has a runnier dough than your average bread recipe, so this is normal. Hope it works out!
Any thoughts on swapping out the white flour for other GF flours?
I don’t have any experience trying it, but Zoe’s got just the book for you coming out next Tuesday :)
Could this be made in conventional bread pans?
I’ve never tried it, so I’m not sure. I think it would probably work but wouldn’t have the crispy crust? Let us know if you try it!
Yes it does. I have done it twice now. Not as crispy but still delicious!
Fantastic! Thank you so much for letting us know!
Thanks for the tips with baking this bread. I followed the directions (I thought properly) but for some reason my bread didn’t rise at all when baking :( for the future, any tips on how this could have happened?
Any chance your baking stone wasn’t preheated with the oven?
Man! I have been wanting to make bread more this Summer and I love this recipe!!! congrats on the feature too ;)
So yummy! We had this bread at a friend’s house and loved it so much that we requested the recipe. Our loaf just came out of the oven! Can’t wait to see how our first loaf comes out!
So glad you enjoy the recipe! Hope the first attempt is perfect :)
Do you think I could substitute the sunflower seeds with nuts, or even just leave the seeds out altogether without affecting the bread too much?
I think it would work well either way!
I haven’t had good luck with homemade bread lately, but this one turned out great! (I’m sure it’s operator error, not the recipes.) Just had my first warm slice of this loaf and it was fantastic. Feeling pretty satisfied with myself. Thanks for the recipe.
I am currently making this bread and the bread has been “rising” for about 4 hours now… Is this okay and should I just wait until it falls to put in fridge? Also- can I bake it tonight or does it need to be refrigerated overnight? Thanks and I can’t wait to try this bread:)
Hmm… I think it’s probably OK to move forward at this point — did it at least double in size? You can bake the same day, but you’ll still need to give it the extra rise after shaping! Hope you like it :)
Hi! I am wondering if this recipe can work without using a “pizza stone” would a regular baking sheet work?
The bread should work ok — but may end up a little bit more dense. If you have a cast iron skillet or pot, you can use that in place of the baking stone as well.
Instead of a pizza stone I used a Dutch oven, heated for half an hour at 475. This also helps with the shape, since the sides of the pot force it up.
Instead of yeast I used a cup of sour dough starter and decreased both flour and water slightly. And I used cornmeal, pepitas, oats, and sunflower seeds to soak.
Next time I think I’ll also include flax meal with the flours.
The taste is great and the loaf seemed less dense than some of the other no knead breads we’ve made.
Love this! Just found you two from the huffpo article. Love the idea if baking and freezing…but what are the freezing rules. How quickly should you use the bread? I assume I allow it to completely cool? I’ve frozen bread before and it doesn’t come back to life well, any tips would be awesome!
Thanks! When we freeze it, we allow the bread to cool completely and then wrap in aluminum foil and place in a ziploc bag. We then use a straw to suck all the air out of the bag to get as good of a freeze as possible! We have always used the bread within a few weeks and it hold up fine. Allowing it to thaw completely before using. If a little tough, you can always warm it up in the oven as well. Thanks for reading!
Your bread is beautiful and the flavors sound incredible. It is always a thrill to see people take our method and create their own recipes. I’ll be trying this one for sure! :)
Thanks for posting this recipe. Made it last night and loved it.
Awesome! Thanks for letting us know :)
I love this post. :) Also, I love that picture of the two of you. xx
I’ll have to try this. I make a similar artisan bread that you mix and stick in the fridge until you pull off a chunk and bake. But it doesn’t have all this good stuff in it!
This is great bread! I have a question. If I divide this recipe into 3 loaves; would the bake time be less or the same? Have you ever tried that?
It would be less! Probably around 30 minutes. If you have a stick thermometer, look for internal temperature of at least 190F.
Wow, this looks beautiful! I love baking bread.
I love to make no-knead bread but have never made anything close to being this intriguing. Love the add-ins and Zoe’s interview is really inspiring! Could light spelt flour be substituted for the all purpose flour? Perhaps it would be easier to substitute if you can provide the measurements by weight, if that was included in the original recipe?
YES! Bookmarking this one, definitely.
I have followed Zoe and loved the ABin5 books for a long time, but it’s so neat to hear more about it from her! Thanks for sharing the interview. Aaaaand now all I can think about is fresh-baked bread.
No knead bread makes me so happy. This looks perfect!
This is such an awesome approach to bread-making, I’ll have to give it a try!
Thank you for this recipe and interview with Zoe. I adore bread and I wish to bake better ones; her book changed my life. I bake from it almost every day.
I have to give this recipe a god because those grains sound so good!