The use of baker’s yeast in this formula is not a necessity. It is used here to insure a consistent rise in the product. If you choose not to use baker’s yeast, be sure to modify the fermentation and proofing times appropriately.

Thanks for all your suggestions.

A couple of suggestions because I’ve baked a lot of whole-grain breads over the years, for people who might have trouble finding some of the ingredients:
- In place of the cracked wheat berries try using bulgur wheat, which is, after all, cracked wheat. It’s had a bit more processing than whole grains simply being smashed, but should have much of the toothiness.
- In place of whole oat grouts use Scottish or Irish oats, which are a coarser grind of the whole groat than standard processed oat flakes.
- As a vegetarian I wonder about the value of using ground flaxseed in place of the whole seeds. As I understand it, more of the omega nutrients are available when the seed is ground; flax is one of the ways I get this. It would also be less “intrusive” in the dough when ground, for those who don’t like little bits of things (I do). I’m assuming grinding also makes more of the high oil content of the seed available to the dough so it may change the consistency, though, and would have to be adjusted for.
- And, while it wouldn’t be quite the same mix (which sounds wonderful), if you had a bit of leftover cooked hot cereal of any kind I’d guess you could substitute that for part or all of the soaker and get decent results, although not the same as this, obviously. Any time I make a loaf of bread with leftover oatmeal in it, it has a wonderful silkiness. I’m big on recycling and bread-baking is one way I accomplish this, which means no two loaves are the same.

Thank you again for such an incredibly rich bread-baking resource and your wonderfully engaged readers.

calories 3.3
protein 0.13
fat 0.0
Carbohydrates 0.73