Muesli Bread Recipe: Dried Fruit, Nuts, & Whole Grains

Every bite of this delectable muesli bread is loaded with sweet dried fruit, crunchy nuts, and chewy whole grains. You can use whatever mixture you like – I chose a combination of raisins, apricots, and sunflower seeds this time. We always called it harvest bread — it’s obsessively yummy as toast and makes incredible chicken salad sandwiches. If you’d like a wholesome bread like this but without the fruit try my Oatmeal Walnut bread.

Muesli Bread Recipe Ingredients

You can change the dried fruit and nuts to fit your own tastes.

• Active dry yeast is what makes the bread rise and it’s my go to yeast. If you prefer to use rapid rise you can.
• Honey is the sweetener of choice here. Different types of honey will change the flavor slightly.
• Bread flour has a lot of protein and it helps the structure of the bread, allowing it to rise properly.
• Vital wheat gluten adds more protein to the bread to help offset the weigh of the dried fruit and nuts.
• Whole wheat flour is used to add a rustic touch but you could use all bread flour if you like.
• Rolled oats are the old fashioned oats – you can’t substitute quick oats or instant oatmeal.
• Sunflower seeds are my favorite for this hearty loaf. You can use walnuts, pecans, pumpkin seeds, pine nuts, or any kind of combination you like.
• Raisins and dried apricots are the fruit I prefer in this recipe because of the moisture content and flavors. Any kind of dried fruit will work as far as I know.
• Butter is added for richness and flavor. Use salted or unsalted – whichever you prefer.
• Kosher salt is my salt of choice. If you use table salt then you should cut the measurement by 1/4.
• Egg is used to brush the top of the loaf before baking. You don’t have to use it if you don’t want to.

Absolutely My Favorite Bread Recipe

Every time I post a bread recipe I seem to say, this is absolutely my favorite bread! and honestly it’s not a lie.

My favorite loaf of bread is always the one I’ve just made! This harvest bread is special to me because it’s the first loaf of yeast bread I’d tried with whole grains mixed in.

This bread is delicious but if you’re looking for a good, plain sandwich bread then try the honey buttermilk bread. It’s the most popular recipe on the blog!

Whole Grain Muesli Bread and the Crunchy Generation

I’d made raisin bread and cinnamon bread before but never anything with whole grains. It was the 1970s and let me tell you, whole grains were the ingredient of the hour. In the days before the AMA decided that fat was deadly to all people and eating an egg was suicidal wholesome was anything that contained whole grains.

You could make a chocolate chip cookie with whole grains and it would be touted as old fashioned and wholesome.

We were the last of the Baby Boomers. We watched our parents sipping cocktails in their polyester designer clothing.

We’d been fed vegetables from a can, TV dinners, and squishy white bread. Rebellion against all of the trappings of the mid-century middle class meant that we shunned commercialism in everything.

Homesteading became a thing. Tiger Beat and 17 Magazine were tossed aside in favor of Mother Earth News. We hand sewed cotton patchwork maxi skirts, learned to knit, and made bread by the bucketful. The Little House on the Prairie series of books was our Bible.

The 1960s were actually the last decade of innocently eating food without thinking about fat, cholesterol, carbs, or sugars, in my opinion. If you were a few pounds overweight you went to Weight Watchers for a few months and got back in shape. Easy -peasy.

Thanks AMA… we have a much healthier attitude about food and our bodies now! (if you don’t recognize it THAT was sarcasm.)

Multigrain Muesli Bread Tips

• Muesli bread makes great dinner rolls, too. 
• Bread recipes with fruit and nuts require a longer baking time than you may be used to because of the amount of dried fruit. The fruit releases moisture and the bread will be soggy if not cooked long enough. The benefit to that is that it will stay fresher longer, too.
• This multi-grain fruit and nut bread recipe is good made into an oblong loaf shape and sliced for sandwiches (try a chicken salad, or peanut butter) or made in a cloche or oval.
• It makes great French toast, too!
• Any grain combination of flour that you like is fine — just maintain the total number of cups.
• Use at least half white bread flour or use at least 1/2 cup of vital wheat gluten to give the dough elasticity. I used white flour, whole wheat and (dry) oatmeal in this one..but have used soy, rye, bran, cracked wheat and other combinations in the past.
• Use a mixture of whatever kind of dried fruit you like but make sure that the pieces are similar in size. Dice dates and figs, for example, so that they are about the same size as the raisins in this recipe. Doing so will help to ensure even distribution of the fruit and a better texture overall.
• You may want to check out these tips for working with yeast breads.
• Muesli bread loaf will keep, tightly wrapped, for 2 days or so at room temperature – or freeze for longer storage.
• This bread freezes well for up to three months.

Learn to Hand Knead Bread

This muesli bread is pretty easy to hand knead if you want to. I kneaded that way for years and had no idea that a mixer could be used for kneading until early in the 1990s! If you are unsure how to knead bread here’s a video I’ve made to demonstrate.

Bread Recipes from Restless Chipotle

I love this but it’s only one of many bread recipes here on Restless Chipotle!

• 30 Minute Baguette is really 30 minutes from the time you add flour to the mixer to the time you take it out of the oven. It makes awesome garlic bread!
• Perfect white bread is a simple, old fashioned loaf that your grandmother would be familiar with.
• Viennese Christmas bread is a whole wheat fruit and nut bread that’s flavored with cardamom, glazed, and topped with pecans. It’s so unique and delicious for Christmas brunch!
• Roasted garlic bread is for those of you that just can’t get enough garlic! Roasted garlic paste is squeezed into the bread dough so it’s got the flavor all the way through.
• Italian bread bowls are perfect for busy nights. Just ladle your soup or stew into the bread bowl and … no dishes to wash!

You May Need

The following are affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

What’s new? Check out my Restless Chipotle & Co. Store on Amazon where you’ll find all kinds of nostalgic goodness!  Thanks so much for being a part of Restless Chipotle!

Vital Wheat Gluten adds springiness to the muesli bread dough and helps it rise higher and lighter. I like Bob’s Red Mill and like to buy yeast in huge packages because it’s SO inexpensive that way. I pretty much only use Red Star. 

Multigrain Muesli Bread Recipe

Be careful, this muesli bread is slightly addictive. If you’re looking for a great breakfast bread try this old fashioned homemade honey bun recipe.

Need to adjust for high altitude? Check out the instructions from Utah State University.

If you like this recipe please give it 5 stars!

5 from 5 votes

Multigrain Muesli Bread

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A hearty, peasant style loaf that's studded with fruit and sunflower seeds. It is absolutely delicious toasted for breakfast.

Course Bread

Cuisine Amercian Heritage

Keyword dried fruit,fall favorites,freeform bread,multigrain,sunflower seeds,wholesome

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Resting/Rising Time 3 hours 20 minutes

Total Time 4 hours 50 minutes

Servings 24 slices

Calories 127

Author Marye Audet-White

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Equipment Needed

• Bosch Stand Mixer
• insta-read thermometer

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups warm water, 105 F. to 110 degrees F.
• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 cups bread flour
• 1/4 cup vital wheat gluten
• 1-3/4 cups whole wheat flour or combination of whole wheat and other flours, about
• 1 cup shelled roasted unsalted sunflower seeds
• 1 cup raisins, currants, dried apricots, dried apples or a mixture of dried fruit
• 1/4 cup melted unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 egg, beaten to blend
• Rolled oats for topping, if desired

Instructions

• Place warm water in a large bowl.
• Sprinkle yeast and then honey over the top and stir to dissolve.
• Gradually mix in 2 cups bread flour, the gluten, and 1 cup whole wheat flour ( or 1 cup of your mixed flours).
• Stir.
• Cover yeast mixture with tea towel and let stand 30 minutes.
• Stir shelled sunflower seeds, fruit, butter, and salt into yeast mixture.
• Gradually stir in enough remaining whole wheat flour to form soft dough.
• Knead dough on floured surface until smooth and elastic, adding more whole wheat flour if dough is sticky, about 10-15 minutes by hand or 6 minutes by mixer.
• Grease clean large bowl.
• Place dough in bowl, turning to coat completely.
• Cover with tea towel.
• Let rise in warm draft-free area until doubled and dough does not spring back when 2 fingers are pressed into side, 2 hours or so.
• Punch dough down.
• Let stand 10 minutes.
• Grease pans. Shape dough into desired shapes and place in pans.
• Cover with tea towel.
• Let loaf rise in warm draft-free area until almost doubled in volume, about 45 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Brush top of loaf with egg and sprinkle rolled oats over the top, or dust with flour or cornmeal.
• Bake until golden brown, about 45 minutes to 1 hour., depending on the shape and size of your loaves.
• Cool bread slightly.
• Serve bread warm or at room temperature. Makes 1 or 2 loaves, depending on shape.

Notes

• Harvest bread makes great dinner rolls, too. 
• Bread recipes with fruit and nuts require a longer baking time than you may be used to because of the amount of dried fruit. The fruit releases moisture and the bread will be soggy if not cooked long enough. The benefit to that is that it will stay fresher longer, too.
• This multi-grain fruit and nut bread recipe is good made into an oblong loaf shape and sliced for sandwiches (try a chicken salad, or peanut butter) or made in a cloche or oval.
• It makes great French toast, too!
• Any grain combination of flour that you like is fine — just maintain the total number of cups.
• Use at least half white bread flour or use at least 1/2 cup of vital wheat gluten to give the dough elasticity. I used white flour, whole wheat and (dry) oatmeal in this one..but have used soy, rye, bran, cracked wheat and other combinations in the past.
• Use a mixture of whatever kind of dried fruit you like but make sure that the pieces are similar in size. Dice dates and figs, for example, so that they are about the same size as the raisins in this recipe. Doing so will help to ensure even distribution of the fruit and a better texture overall.
• You may want to check out these tips for working with yeast breads.
• Harvest bread loaf will keep, tightly wrapped, for 2 days or so at room temperature – or freeze for longer storage.
•  
• This bread freezes well for up to three months.

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 127kcal | Carbohydrates: 20.2g | Protein: 4.2g | Fat: 3.4g | Saturated Fat: 1.4g | Cholesterol: 11.9mg | Sodium: 150.5mg | Potassium: 2mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3.6g | Vitamin A: 100IU | Vitamin C: 0.8mg | Calcium: 10mg | Iron: 0.9mg

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