Cracked Wheat Bread (Bulgur Wheat Bread)
This Cracked Wheat Bread recipe is a real keeper. Rustic and chewy with a substantial bite, this recipe works with cracked wheat or bulgur wheat. Make this bread when you want a hearty loaf full of whole wheat flavor and goodness.
Table of contents
Why you’ll love this recipe
Wheat berries are unprocessed kernels of wheat, which include the bran, germ, and endosperm. Wheat berries (and cracked wheat) have all the great nutrition and full flavor of a whole grain.
If you can’t find wheat berries or cracked wheat you can use bulgur wheat in this recipe. Bulgur wheat is a little different than cracked wheat in that the grains are steamed/parboiled and then dried. I’ve made this bread with both cracked and bulgur wheat with good results.
This is a very moist dough which bakes up into a moist loaf. Please review the process photos to see the texture of the dough through the various stages of the recipe.
If you keep a sourdough starter, visit this post to make Sourdough Cracked Wheat Bread.
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
- Bread Flour – High protein bread flour promotes great gluten development in the dough. The bread flour helps form the structure of the dough and can support the heavier grains.
- Whole Wheat Flour – With the bread flour, the whole wheat flour forms the structure of the bread.
- Cracked (or Bulgur) Wheat – Adds a chewy texture and hearty flavor to the bread. You must the cracked or bulgur wheat in boiling water to soften the grain before adding it to the dough.
- Yeast – I prefer instant yeast to rapid rise yeast for a slightly slower rise. A slower rise gives more time for flavor to develop.
Process photos
See the recipe card for detailed measurements and instructions.
- Pour boiling water over the cracked or bulgur wheat and set it aside until most of the water is absorbed.
- Make a sponge with warm water, yeast and some of the bread flour, set it aside.
- When the bulgur or cracked wheat has absorbed most of the water you are ready to mix the dough.
- Add the soaked grains and the liquid to the sponge.
- Add the remaining ingredients to the dough. It will be quite sticky.
- Begin kneading the dough. As you start kneading, the dough will stick to the bowl and look quite shaggy.
- After 5 minutes of kneading the dough should gather on the hook and clear the sides of the bowl.
- After kneading the dough will be quite stretchy, but still a bit sticky. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead into a ball.
- Set the dough ball into a lightly oiled bowl to rise for 1 – 1 1/2 hours.
- The dough should double in size during the first rise.
- Knead the dough the form it into a football shape.
- Set the loaf aside to rise until doubled in size.
- Brush the dough with egg wash and sprinkle with bulgur wheat or seeds.
- Bake until the internal temperature is 190F. Cool completely before slicing.
Storage
Thanks to the moist dough, the bread keeps extremely well at room temperature for 2-3 days. For longer storage slice the loaf, store the slices in a freezer bag and freeze for up to a month. Defrost or toast the bread as needed.
More Artisan Bread Recipes
- Homemade Bagels
- Multi Grain Bread
- Milk & Honey Whole Wheat Bread
- Honey Oatmeal Bread
- White Sandwich Bread
- Hoagie Rolls
- Crusty Semolina Bread
If you love this recipe as much as I do, I’d really appreciate a star rating and a quick comment. Ratings and comments help my recipes show in search results. Thanks!
Cracked Wheat Bread (Bulgur Wheat Bread)
Ingredients
- 3 ½ ounces bulgur or cracked wheat (½ cup)
- 8 ounces boiling water (1 cup)
- 4 ounces warm water (½ cup)
- 2 ¼ teaspoons dry yeast (7g)
- 5 ounces bread flour (1 cup, see note)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¾ oz honey (1 tablespoon)
- 5 ounces whole wheat flour (1 cup)
- 1 egg (whisked with 1 tablespoon of water for egg wash)
Instructions
- Combine 3 ½ ounces bulgur or cracked wheat and 8 ounces boiling water and set aside until cooled and most of the water has been absorbed.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl, combine 4 ounces warm water with 2 ¼ teaspoons dry yeast. Add 2 ½ oz (1/2 cup) bread flour and mix to form a thick batter. Cover the bowl and let the batter rest for 30 minutes while the cracked wheat cools.
- With the mixer running on low, add the cooled cracked wheat along with the soaking water. Add 1 teaspoon salt, ¾ oz honey and 5 ounces whole wheat flour. Mix to combine.
- If using a stand mixer, switch to the dough hook. Slowly add the remaining bread flour until the dough comes together. At this point the dough will be quite sticky. Continue kneading the dough for 5 minutes until it gathers around the hook and cleans the sides of the bowl. If working by hand mix in as much flour as you can then turn the dough out onto a floured surface and finish kneading in the flour by hand. Knead the dough for 2-3 minutes. Form the dough into a smooth ball
- Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, turn once to coat the dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 – 1 ½ hours. At this point the dough can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.
- Turn the dough onto a floured surface and gently knead for 5-10 seconds. Form the dough into a ball then roll the ends gently to form a football shape. If you will be using a baking stone, set the loaf on a wooden peel sprinkled heavily with cornmeal. If you don't have a baking stone put the loaf on a sheet pan sprinkled heavily with cornmeal or lined with parchment paper. If you have a banneton liberally sprinkle the inside of the basket with cracked wheat and wheat flour and set the dough into the basket.
- Cover the loaf with plastic wrap that has been lightly oiled or sprayed with baking spray to prevent it from sticking to the dough. Allow the loaf to rise about 1 – 1 ½ hours until doubled in sized and the dough springs back slowly when poked. If the dough was cold from the refrigerator it may take longer to rise.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 450°F, place a baking stone in the oven to preheat if you have one. To create steam you can place a small pan (with rocks if you have them) onto the floor of the oven. You can also bake the loaf in a Dutch oven.
- When the bread is ready, use a thin, sharp knife or single edge razor to slash 5 diagonal cuts across the top of the loaf. Brush the surface of the bread with egg wash and sprinkle with cracked wheat. Slide the loaf onto the preheated baking stone (or slide the sheet pan into the oven)1 egg
- Pour a cup of water into the preheated pan at the bottom of the oven (CAREFUL, that steam is hot) and immediately close the oven door. If using a Dutch oven set a timer for 20 minutes. Remove the lid of the Dutch oven and bake for another 20 minutes.
- Bake until the loaf is nicely browned and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom (or the center of the loaf reaches 200 °F), about 30 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
Would you like to save this recipe?
We’ll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
So, I had a lot of bulgur on hand, and wanted to use it in making rolls, and decided to try this recipe, (I’ve been baking breads for over 40 years, but not a lot of whole wheat breads). As I was making the dough, I glanced at some of the comments, and did add a 1/4 cup of honey and olive oil to the dough. I also had to add more flour than indicated to make a dough “dry” enough to knead. I was sure that the heavy lump of dough I came up with would never rise, I decided to persevere. To my absolute amazement, the dough rose like any other bread dough. I shaped the rolls, baked them and I have to say, they are absolutely delicious. Very glad I followed through.
What a delicious bread, I tweaked a little, used black strap molasses instead of honey. I also found 2 cups of flour was not enough flour, the dough was very sticky! All in all it’s a keeper, with lots of fiber! Yummy
If you use volume measure rather than weighing your ingredients, you may have to adjust the amount depending how you fill the cup. I assume 5oz per cup of flour. If you lightly spoon the flour into the cup you could be getting quite a bit less than 5oz per cup.
I love this bread! Making it today for the second time. My only addition was a tablespoon of olive oil.
I had to tweek this recipe a bit. But it makes wonderful toast, and my friends and family love it. The biggest change was adding fat! I added 1/4 cup of canola oil (olive oil will work too) and 1/4 cup of honey. Also, I used only two cups of bread flour and the rest is whole wheat!
I just made this bread yesterday, and agree with Barbara’s comment The recipe as written does not contain enough flour. I added at least another cup of bread flour to the mixture (wasn’t measuring, just kept adding a little at a time until the dough pulled away from the sides of the mixer). I would say prior to adding the addition flour, my dough was the texture of brownie batter. I’m not an expert, but not a novice either, so I could tell it needed more flour. It was still a very soft dough and it spread quite a bit while proofing. I used the sponge method. It did turn out quite well at the end and has a nice texture.
Hi Nancy, Sorry for the delayed response. I’ve had an update of this post on my “to do” list for a while. I’ve broken out the recipe to two different posts; one using sourdough starter and this one using commercial yeast. I’ve just made a loaf using the updated recipe and it’s quite easy to work with the dough.
@Nancy, I agree, I also added about a cup more flour, I make bread all the time! Thought maybe it was a no kneed bread, bit not according to recipe! Very tasty bread!