Winter oatmeal bread « Bread and Jam for Frances

Winter oatmeal bread

10Jan08

This sounded like a good recipe to begin with, since (a) it is winter and (b) this is a fairly simple recipe. Before introducing bread baking terms like “windowpane” and “pre-ferment,” I thought I’d try something easy.

One way that I think about baking is how much time the recipe will require. For me, the cut is made between “one-day breads” and “multiple-day breads.” One-day breads, like this one, use more yeast than the other kind, and often have some kind of flavor enhancer (fat, dairy, zippy sweeteners like honey) to boost the flavor. Multiple-day breads use a lot less yeast to begin with, but then are left overnight (or longer) in the refrigerator to develop more yeast and lots of flavor without extras. The overnight stay is called a pre-ferment, but that’s not what I’m working on today.

First, a picture of my bread machine.

It arrived in my kitchen with a paddle attachment for mixing, some kind of whisk (which I never use), and a dough hook. Best power tool ever.

Anyway, this recipe (included and annotated at the end of this post) featured milk, butter, and honey, as well as rolled oats. The oats give it a nice chew and extend the life of the loaf, since oats retain moisture after baking. I divided the recipe in half, replaced the milk with unsweetened soymilk, exchanged oil for butter, let it rise for longer than called for, and the loaf was still quite good (most bread recipes are pretty flexible, it turns out).

My source for this recipe, and a good introduction to bread baking in general, was Beth Hensperger’s Beth’s Basic Bread Book (sadly, out of print but still available used). Ms. Hensperger writes recipes that tend to work, and she gives pretty good descriptions of the process, as well as equipment lists and storage instructions.

The exciting part about making this loaf was, believe it or not, the day’s weather. Very rainy and humid, which made the dough very wet, requiring extra flour. And hey, it turned out well, according to the ~~guinea pigs~~ friends and coworkers I fed it to later.

Old-Fashioned Winter Oatmeal Bread

½ c. warm water (105-115°)

1½ tablespoons (T.) active dry yeast [I used instant yeast, and will explain its inherent superiority in a later post]

Pinch of granulated sugar

2 c. of warm milk [I used unsweetened soy milk]

½ c. honey

4 T. unsalted butter, melted [I used the same quantity of safflower oil]

1 T. salt [table, not kosher]

2 c. rolled oats [both regular and quick-cooking work here, but not instant oatmeal]

5-5½ c. unbleached all-purpose or bread flour [I used bread flour, and more than this due to the wet day]

Extra rolled oats, for sprinkling

2 T. melted unsalted butter, for brushing [I skipped this step]

Pour the ½ c. of n a small bowl or measuring cup and sprinkle the yeast and sugar over the water. Stir to dissolve and let stand at room temperature for about 10 minutes.

In a large bowl using a whisk or in the bowl of a stand-up mixer with the paddle attachment, combine the milk, honey, melted butter, salt, oats, and 1½ c. of the flour. Beat hard until creamy, about 1 minute. Stir in the yeast mixture. Add the remaining flour, ½ cup at a time, until a soft, shaggy dough that just clears the sides of the bowl is formed. Switch to a wooden spoon when necessary if making by hand [and switch to the dough hook once the dough begins to come together if using a mixer]. [You want this dough to remain moist, so it will not form the nice dough ball that you might expect. You won't be handling it that much, really, so try to err on the side of a moister, less cohesive dough, rather than adding more and more flour until it no longer sticks to the bowl. It should look more like the pictures below.]

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until soft and springy, 1-3 minutes for a machine-mixed dough, 4-7 minutes for a hand-mixed dough. [I skipped this step and just continued with the dough hook for a couple of minutes longer], dusting with flour only 1 T. at a time just enough to prevent sticking.

Place the dough in a lightly greased [I use spray oil] deep container. [Or move the dough out of the mixing bowl oil it, and then move the dough back in]. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until double in bulk, about 1½-2 hours. [I used instant yeast, which goes a little faster, but still let it sit a long time, at least two hours. My kitchen is pretty cold, so no harm done. Looks like this after this first rise:]

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface to deflate [in other words, no need to "punch it down." Be gentle.]. Grease the bottom and sides of a 8″ x 4″ loaf pan [again, spray oil makes this easier] and sprinkle with the extra rolled oats [skipped this]. Without working the dough further, divide it into two equal portions. Pat each portion of the dough into a rough rectangle and roll each into a loaf shape. Place the loaves, seam side down, into the pans. Brush the tops with melted butter, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let rise at room temperature until the dough is fully double in bulk and about 1″ over the rims of the pans, about 45 minutes. [These next two photos show my shaping the dough and the pan after the second rise.]

Twenty minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 375°. Brush the tops with the remaining melted butter and, using a serrated knife, make three pairs of opposing diagonal slashes down the top to form a herringbone V design, no more than ¼” deep. [Skipped both of these steps] Place the pans on the center rack of the oven and bake 40-45 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the loaves sound hollow when tapped with your finger [or when the interior reaches 210º on the instant-read thermometer, pictured below]. Remove the loaves from the pan immediately to a cooling rack.