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
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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.
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Good flavor, but kind of flat loaf. Kind of rubbery. Seemed to require more flour but I didn’t want to make it too stiff & dry. Maybe needed that extra flour.
Did you weigh or use volume measurements?
I don’t want to use whole wheat flour. How much bread flour should I add?
I would replace it with the same amount of bread flour. But when you add the flour at the end hold back about 1/4 cup and see if you need it. Bread flour is quite absorbent so you might not need the last 1/4 cup.
Can this be baked in loaf pans? At what temperature and for how long?
Yes, you could bake it in a loaf pan. 350F for probably about 40 minutes. I would start checking the internal temp at 30 minutes. Go for an internal temp of 200F.
Eileen Gray, just wondering if you did bake it in a pan, how did it turn out and when did you put the dough in the pan.
Thank you
I haven’t. I bake this as a free-form boule, usually in the Dutch Oven. I would put it in the pan before the second rise.
Charlene, just wondering if you did bake it in pan, how did it turn out and when did you put the dough in the pan.
Thank you
My husband was recently diagnosed with diabetes and I wanted to find him a bread that would be more nutritious than the white dutch oven loaf I usually make. This bread knocked it out of the park! Soaking my bulgur for a loaf right now! If I run out of bulgur I’ll have to get someone to bring it down to me here in the tropics. I add ground flax … My only addition.
I’m a relative noob to breadmaking, and tried an adaptation of this recipe for a bread machine. Like others, I added about a cup of to get the dough right. The result was excellent! Excellent taste, perfect crunch. Thanks so much for the great recipe.
Just an FYI – If you are measuring by volume (cups) rather than weighing ingredients it can make a big difference. I use the “dip and sweep” method for filling a measuring cup with flour. That is I “dip” the cup into the bin and overfill it. Then I “sweep” away the excess flour. By using this method I always get 5 oz per cup of flour. If you fluff up the flour then lightly spoon it into the cup you could end up with as much as an oz per cup less flour. This can make a big difference in the outcome of the dough. This is why weighing ingredients is always more accurate. Glad you enjoyed the recipe.
@Eileen Gray, Thanks for the explanation. That’s how I do white flower, but I mill the whole wheat right into a measuring cup (from a Mockmll). It very well could have more air and weigh less, I’ll check next time.
This was my first time making a “sponge” and it definitely seems to aid the rise.
Nice, milling your own.
@Eileen Gray, what do you think about a rye verion of this i.e. using cracked rye and rye flour? And maybe adding a little gluten flour for lift?
Sounds wonderful. If you try it let us know how it turned out and how you adapted the recipe.
@Eileen Gray, I dipped and weighed and my cup looks like one of the Tetons to get to five ounces. Not an issue but it explains why my dough was so very wet the last few times (I’d misplaced my scale). Still awesome bread!
@Eileen Gray, I made this today using rye to replace the wheat (flour and soaker). Did the cracked rye soaker overnight instead of one hour. Added 1-1/3 tbsp of vital gluten flour to replace that lost in the replacement. Used 1/2 brown sugar, 1/2 molasses to replace the honey. Came out excellent! The machine I made it in bakes at 380ºF so it got 60 minutes. My only mistake was, I forgot to add the caraway seeds! So it begs to be toasted. But it’s really good nevertheless.
That sounds great! I’ll have to seek out cracked rye. If you have malt syrup available it would be a great addition in place of brown sugar/molasses. I use malt syrup in my Rye bread. I love rye everything. Thanks for sharing.
Along with everyone else, I am going to point out that 2 cups total of flour is not nearly enough. Perhaps the 1/2 cup you have mixed with the yeast was meant to be extra , but you don’t list it in the ingredient list. I added about 3/4 cup and the dough was still really wet and the loaf was pretty flat because of it. I wish you would update the recipe because it’s a nice, fairly simple recipe using the bulgar and the taste was great. I can adjust it myself the next time, but with all these comments you would think you would correct it.
I literally have a bowl of the dough for this recipe rising in my kitchen right now. The amounts listed in the recipe are correct. Frankly, it’s not everyone who has ever made or reviewed the recipe who has said there is not enough flour in the recipe. A number of people who noted they needed more flour added oil and other ingredients to the recipe. Others used volume measurements instead of weighing ingredients. A few recipe notes that may help. First, if you are not weighing your ingredients there is a chance you don’t have the correct amount of flour. Read this post about how to measure baking ingredients for details. Second, if you don’t wait until the bulgur (or cracked) wheat absorbs the water it can throw the dough off. Third, the dough does start out quite sticky. I just finished mixing this dough and I can tell you that it is very, very sticky when it’s first mixed. After a full 5 minutes of kneading (on a mixer) the dough transforms and gathers on the hook and clears the bowl. If you don’t fully develop the gluten the dough can be difficult to handle. I will edit the recipe to emphasize that this dough needs a thorough kneading to develop. If you are kneading by hand you will have to be patient and keep your hands and the surface floured. Going by your comment that the loaf was flat I think there’s a good chance the gluten was underdeveloped.
@Eileen Gray, Thanks, I have malt syrup en route, should arrive any day. And fermented malt powder from Ukraine, too. It’s supposed to be the bee’s knees for rye.
I cracked my own rye using a Victoria hand grinder, similar to the one you use. It worked great.
Hmmmm, fermented malt powder. Interesting….