Cracked Wheat Bread

Yesterday I baked three loaves of Cracked Wheat Bread, which is deliciously crunchy. It's fantastic for toasted sandwiches. My husband had a pepperoni grilled cheese, and I had a grilled Havarti, dill and sprout sandwich. Both were delicious!

Cracked Wheat Bread

1 1/3 cups water
2 tsp. rapid-rising or active dry yeast
1/2 cup cracked wheat
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup wheat flour
1 Tbsp. gluten
2 cups bread flour

Heat water until warm, between 105°F and 115°F. Pour into mixing bowl, and add yeast and wheat. Let stand 5 minutes. Add brown sugar, salt, wheat flour, gluten and half the bread flour. Beat until a smooth dough forms. Cover and let stand 15 minutes.

Stir in remaining bread flour to make a stiff dough. Knead, adding flour if necessary, until dough pulls away from sides of bowl and is smooth and springy but soft to the touch. Let the dough rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

Lightly grease a baking sheet. Turn dough onto lightly oiled or floured surface, and punch down. Shape into two round or oblong loaves. Places loaves with the smooth side up on the baking sheet. Cover and let rise until almost doubled, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Bake 35 to 45 minutes until loaves are golden and a wooden skewer inserted into the loaves comes out clean and dry. Remove from baking sheet, and cool on wire racks.