Oatmeal Bread

This is another one of the recipes in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day aka my new bread Bible. I was excited for this recipe because I love oatmeal and I was looking forward to a healthy, hearty bread.

However, I thought the dough turned out a little runny (maybe it’s supposed to be runny?). I added half a cup of flour. The bread seemed to take forever to rise and still turned out somewhat flat. The taste is good, but the bread crumbles easily. I have a hard time spreading peanut butter on it.

I do like the idea of Oatmeal Bread so I’m going to have to revisit this recipe another time and figure out what I’m doing wrong!

ingredients.

1 3/4 c. lukewarm water
1 c. whole milk
1/2 c. pure maple syrup
1 1/2 T. instant yeast
1 T. Kosher salt
1/4 c. oil
1/2 c. oat bran
1/3 c. wheat bran
1 1/2 c. old-fashioned rolled oats
4 1/2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour

directions.

Mix yeast, salt, water, milk, maple syrup and oil in a mixing bowl.
Mix in the remaining dry ingredients using a spoon, food processor with dough attachment, or heavy-duty stand mixer with a dough hook.
Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest at room temperature until the dough rises and collapses (or flattens on top), approximately two hours.
The dough can be used immediately after the initial rise or refrigerated in a lidded container and used within 8 days.
When you’re ready to bake, grease a 9x4x3″ nonstick loaf pan. Dust the surface of the dough with flour and cut off a hunk of dough approximately the size of large orange or grapefruit. Dust the chunk of dough with flour and quickly shape the dough into a ball. Stretch the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the dough a quarter of a turn.
Elongate the ball into an oval and drop into prepared pan. Allow to rest and rise for one hour and 20 minutes.
Place an empty broiling pan on the rack below the stone. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Place the bread pan in the oven and quickly pour 1 cup of water into the broiling pan beneath the stone. Close the oven door as quick as possible. Bake for about 45 minutes, until deeply browned and firm.
Cool before cutting or eating.

Recipe rating: 