OmNomNom!

This is a bit time-consuming, but most of it is just waiting for the dough to rise (more than once). If you have a heavy-duty mixer, like the classic KitchenAid, it helps a lot. Makes 1 loaf.

SPONGE:
1/2 cup bread flour (see Note 1)
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
3/4 teaspoons yeast (the rest of the packet will be used later)
1 tablespoon sugar or honey
1 tablespoon nonfat dry milk
1 cup + 2 tablespoons water at "room temperature" (between 70° and 90° F.)

Whisk this all together in your mixer bowl, or a large bowl, until it's smooth and well-combined.

DOUGH:
1 cup bread flour (see Note 1)
1 cup whole-wheat flour
The rest of the yeast

Mix thoroughly, and sprinkle it evenly over the sponge in the bowl, covering the sponge completely. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to ferment for 1 to 4 hours at room temperature. (Or allow to rise for 1 hour at room temperature, then refrigerate overnight. Let it warm up a bit before proceeding.)

FINISHING THE MIXTURE:

1/2 cup cracked wheat (coarse bulgur)

Place in a dry frying pan over medium heat; shake or stir continuously until lightly toasted. Remove from pan immediately so it doesn't burn. If you want it less crunchy in your bread, pour 1/2 cup boiling water over the cracked wheat and let it stand until the water is absorbed.

When the sponge is ready, add the cracked wheat, along with
1/4 cup peanut butter (see Note 2)
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon salt

Mix thoroughly, then cover and let stand for 20 minutes. Knead by hand or machine for approximately 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic - poke in any bits of cracked wheat that keep trying to escape. Cover and let rise until doubled, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. (Optional: Punch down, knead briefly, and let rise again.)

Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease a 9"x5" loaf pan. Punch the dough down and shape it into a loaf to fit in the pan. Let rise until almost doubled - top of dough should be just a bit higher than the top edge of the pan. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes - an instant-read thermometer plunged into the center will read 210° F. Turn out onto a rack immediately, turn the loaf right-side-up, and allow to cool.

A slice of this will take you clear to Rivendell! :-)


Note 1: Instead of bread flour, you can use unbleached all-purpose flour, and add 1 1/2 tablespoons "vital wheat gluten" powder to the "Dough" mixture.

Note 2: Creamy peanut butter works better, because the chunks will get lost among the bits of cracked wheat.