I have been working on a multigrain bread recipe using honey for a while and I have ended up going back to my original idea….using Red River cereal. I had been given a recipe about 20 years ago that included Red River cereal as one of the ingredients. Unfortunately that recipe made 5 loaves of bread and my family found it to be quite heavy. So by merging a whole wheat honey recipe into this old recipe I have come up with this one.
Red River cereal is a very old Canadian cereal, it has been around since 1924 and is named after the Red River in Manitoba where it originated. The ingredients of Red River Cereal are: Cracked Wheat,Cracked Rye,Cracked Flax and Whole Flax. I only use it for bread dough and you can also add it in small amounts to any dough/muffin recipe to give it a healthy boost.As it contains whole grains it is best to keep it in the freezer, where it will keep fresh for months.
Making your own bread is a very satisfying feeling. You know the ingredients you have used and most of them you can actually pronounce! So if you haven’t tried making bread from scratch, I strongly recommend you give it a go. It really isn’t difficult, just a little time consuming. If you don’t have a stand mixer, this recipe can all be done by hand using a wooden spoon and your hands to do the kneading. Kneading bread is an awesome stress releaser and sometimes I will do it by hand just to relax.
And of course, nothing smells quite like bread fresh from the oven!
- 1 cup Red River Cereal
- 1½ cup boiling water
- 1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
- 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup honey
- ¼ cup canola oil
- 4½- 5½ cups all-purpose flour
- Add the cereal to the boiling water. Let this stand for at least 15 minutes, stirring often until the water has almost absorbed and cereal is just warm.
- In the meantime in the bowl of a stand mixer dissolve yeast in warm water. Add honey, and stir well. After it has bloomed stir in the canola oil,salt and cooked cereal. Add 4 cups of flour and with the dough hook knead until the dough pulls away from the sides. Add additional flour tablespoon at a time until the dough pulls away. When dough is smooth and elastic, place it in a well oiled bowl. Turn it several times in the bowl to coat the surface of the dough with oil, and cover with a damp cloth. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk about 1½ hour.
- Punch down the dough. Shape into two loaves, and place into two well greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise until dough is 1 to 1½ inches above pans.
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees for conventional. Place pans on bottom rack and now reduce oven temp to 375 degrees .
- Bake, rotating pans after 20 minutes, until tops are golden brown and internal temperature reaches 205 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, about 45 minutes total. Transfer to wire racks. Let cool slightly; turn out onto cooling rack.
- Cool completely before slicing.
When do you add the red river cereal??!
Thanks Chantal for noticing that omission!! You add the cooked cereal at the same time as the canola oil. I have updated the recipe to reflect that. Thanks again for noticing! Have a great day.
Is the amount of boiling water 1 1/2 cups or 1 cup? Recipe differs from instructions.
Hi Cathy – it is 1 1/2 cups of boiling water. Thanks for catching that!!
You don’t say when to add the salt???
For long time bread makers, we know when.
However, for new-to-break making, they won’t have a clue.
Please clarify
Thanks for picking up on that! Recipe has been updated.
Have you ever made buns with this recipe?
Hi Kathy. I haven’t tried making buns but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. Let me know how it works out if you do try it.
Can you half it and freeze the dough for later?
Hi Deanna. You can definitely 1/2 the recipe. I have frozen other bread dough before so I don’t see what you couldn’t with this one. I have frozen the actual baked bread and it freezes great.