8-Grain Sourdough

On my last trip to the Whole Foods Coop in Erie, I picked up 18 ounces of something called "7-Grain and Seed Mix:" cracked wheat, cracked rye, cracked barley, corn grits, steel cut oats, millet, and flax. I cooked a couple of cups in the microwave and then added some to my Cripple Creek whole wheat starter.  A cup of water plus the moisture in the cooked cereals meant I had to add a lot of flour before it would become bread dough: Swany white organic white flour, spelt flour, and then some freshly milled hard red winter wheat and hard white spring wheat. I also added about a quarter cup of molasses.

The crust was crisp, the crumb tender, and the molasses gave the final loaf a faintly sweet finish.