Breads and Muffins Recipes | Yeast Bread

Multigrain Bread Recipe

Name: Multigrain Bread Recipe
Prep time: 60 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 220 min
Ingredients: 1 ½ Tablespoon yeast (- I use Red Star); 2 teaspoons sugar; 2 cups warm water (- not hot, not cold); 1/2 cup raw honey; 1/2 cup canola oil; 1 Tablespoon kosher salt; 1 cup old fashioned oatmeal; 1 Tablespoon chia seeds; 1 Tablespoon poppyseeds; 1/2 cup sunflower seeds; 1/2 cup pepitas; 1/2 cup pistachios (- chopped); 6 cups (720 grams) white whole wheat flour (- or to desired consistency); few pats butter (- to brush on top of bread)

Posted on11.02.202202.11.2023 Updated on02.11.2023

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Multigrain Bread Recipe is a hearty, nutty tasting bread, made with oatmeal, honey, white whole wheat flour, and plenty of seeds and nuts. We love toasting this healthy bread and topping it with peanut butter and jelly!

Bread is my jam! Try some delicious Chewy French Bread, Whole Wheat Honey Bread, or something sourdough – like my favorite Cinnamon Raisin Sourdough Bread!

Side view of two loaves of multigrain bread with nuts on top.

Multi-Grains

My sister, Jackie, introduced me to Whole Foods’ Seeduction Bread during our visits to see her family in Colorado. Ever since, I’ve been thinking about making a copycat version, and this is my attempt.

Multigrain simply means that two or more grains are used in a loaf of bread. This one happens to include wheat flour and oatmeal. However, it also contains seeds and nuts which adds to a hearty flavor – one that I love in my morning toast!

When it comes to bread, I enjoy it in many forms. Paninis, cold sandwiches, crostini appetizers, and soup dippers. But I love it most for any kind of toast. THIS one is exceptional with butter and jam, or peanut butter and jelly. You choose!

Side view of several slices of multigrain bread.

Ingredients needed for Multigrain Seeded Bread:

Yeast – I use Red Star Active Dry Yeast. (This is a very large amount. I keep a bunch in the freezer, and it lasts a long time.) We have perfect bread-making weather here in Texas, and my bread always rises pretty quickly. You may need a Quick Rise Yeast, depending on where you live.
Sugar – Just a pinch of sugar is needed to help activate the yeast.
Water – You need to use warm water to activate the yeast. You should be able to keep a finger in it, without it being too hot.
Honey – I always use raw honey. This is what gives it a slightly sweetened flavor.
Oil – This recipe calls for canola oil, but I’ve used olive oil too.
Salt – Kosher salt or sea salt works great here.
Oatmeal – Old fashioned oatmeal is really the only kind I buy now. But quick oats is fine.
Seeds – A combo of chia seeds and poppyseeds.
Nuts – A combo of pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and chopped pistachios. You can use raw or roasted, whatever you have or prefer.
Flour – This recipe calls for white whole-wheat flour. You can also use a combo of regular whole wheat and all-purpose flour if you can’t find white whole wheat flour.
Butter – Brush the tops of the bread loaves with butter, after baking.

Labeled ingredients for the multigrain bread recipe.

How to make Multigrain Bread:

Note: You can definitely make this recipe by hand instead of using a mixer. It will take a little bit more time and some arm strength, but you can do it.

Step 1
Activate the yeast. Using a large standing mixer, combine the yeast, sugar, and warm water. Take a spatula, and stir it around a couple of times. Then let it sit for about 15 minutes so that the yeast activates. You should see a bubbly mixture when it’s ready.

The mixer with the bubbly yeast mixture.

Step 2
Add other liquid ingredients, and salt. Add honey, oil, and salt. Stir again to mix well.

Step 3
Place dough hook on mixer, and start adding dry ingredients. Add the seeds, nuts, oatmeal, and about 3/4 of the flour. Add the dough hook and start mixer. Let it run for a couple of minutes and then use a spatula to scrape down the sides as needed.

The mixer bowl with the ingredients showing the oatmeal, seeds, nuts, and flour.

Step 4
Continue adding flour to desired consistency. Let the mixer run, and continue to occasionally scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Gradually add more flour until you get a nice dough consistency. It should be slightly sticky, but easy to handle.

Step 5
Let the dough rise. Grease a large bowl with oil. Remove the dough from the mixer, and form it into a ball. Then place it in the bowl, and cover it with a clean dish towel. Place the bowl in a quiet corner of your kitchen and let rise until approximately doubled in size, about an hour. The rise may be different each time, and will vary depending on where you live.

A bowl of the multigrain dough before rising.

Step 6
Form loaves of bread. Once the bread rises, it’s time to form the dough into loaves. Prepare bread pans with baking spray. (See below for my favorite pans.) Add a little oil to a pastry mat or a large flat surface (a cutting board works too), and form sections of dough into oblong shapes for bread.

This recipe makes two large loaves or three smaller ones. See the bread pans I use below.

Step 7
Let rise again. Cover dough with a clean dish towel, and let it rise again until the dough rises about 1/2 inch over the top of the pans, about an hour.

Optional Step: If you want to add some nuts to the top, brush the dough with some water and adds nuts to the top before baking.

Two pans of multigrain bread dough with nuts on top,

Step 8
Bake. Bake bread in a preheated 375 degree oven, until done, approximately 35-40 minutes for three smaller loaves or 40-45 minutes for larger loaves. The bottoms should be slightly browned, and the tops a nice golden brown. Remove bread to a wire rack.

Step 9
Add butter. Using a pastry brush, brush softened butter on top of the loaves to get a nice shine. Let cool before slicing.

Side closeup view of loaves of multigrain bread.

White whole-wheat Flour has the same nutritional value as whole wheat flour but is made from a different grain of wheat. It has a milder taste and a paler color. It also has a nuttier flavor than regular all-purpose flour, but not as nutty as 100% whole wheat. If you can’t find this type of flour in your store, you can use a combo of whole wheat (one part) and all-purpose flour (three parts).

Some tips for making the best Multigrain Bread.

When you add the warm water to the yeast, sugar, and salt – be careful to use WARM water, not hot. If the water is too hot, the yeast will disappear and you can’t make bread without yeast. Also, do not use cool water because it won’t activate the yeast.
Don’t add all the flour at once because every baking day is different. Some days you will need a bit more flour and some days, you will need less.
The dough shouldn’t be overly sticky when ready. It should bounce back slightly to the touch. Over time, you will learn exactly how much flour is needed to make the ultimate bread.
When done, the bottom of the bread should be slightly brown and crunchy, and the top, a nice golden brown.
Be sure to brush some butter on the top of the loaves of bread to get a nice shine.
You can also change up the seeds and nuts, and use whatever you have on hand.

Two slices of multigrain bread on a gray napkin.

Two halves of multigrain bread, with peanut butter and jelly.

Active Dry Yeast vs Instant Yeast:

As a rule, I only use Active Dry Yeast in my bread baking. You can use Instant Yeast as well, but will need just a little bit less. Instant Yeast also requires less time to rise, but since I live in a fairly warm, humid climate (Texas), I’ve never had a problem with my bread rise.

Active Dry Yeast – A type of dry yeast that’s granular, similar to cornmeal. This yeast is a living organism that’s dormant until proofed, requiring a small amount of lukewarm water and a pinch of sugar to activate.
Instant Yeast – Also known as quick-rise, rapid-rise, or even bread machine yeast. This yeast is milled into smaller particles so it doesn’t need to be dissolved into water. The dough rises faster with this yeast because enzymes and other additives are included to make this happen. You don’t ever need to do more than one rise with this yeast.

More Bread Recipes:

If you’re a bread lover like me and enjoy trying new versions, be sure to give one of these a try.

A cutting board with some sliced multigrain and the unsliced chunk.

Kitchen Tools Used: (affiliate links)

xoxo ~Sue