Oatmeal Toasting Bread Recipe& A Baking Invitation

Well It's About Time!

Last night I decided that today was going to be the day I finally posted my Oatmeal Toasting Bread recipe. Hours later I found myself lying in bed in the dark, wondering if I'd ever gotten around to writing down the weights of the ingredient—and if not, if it would be ridiculous to weigh them all out but not actually bake bread because between writing up the post and dealing with the two coolers full of venison on the back porch that I've been ignoring (but that I have now decided I am actually 'aging,' which will make the meat taste even better) there certainly wouldn't be time. Then this morning I awoke to discover I'd been publicly humiliated—as well as reminded of just how many times I've promised to share this recipe. I can take a bold-faced hint. Put up the damn recipe already, Farmgirl.

So here it is. I really don't know what the hold up has been, except for the fact that my life seems to be perpetually stuck in an irritating and mildly anxiety-producing Catch Up mode. In addition, my surroundings are perpetually stuck in a Cluttered Feng Shui Nightmare mode (which makes finding things a real pain sometimes), but that's a whole other subject altogether. No wonder I drink all that Tension Tamer tea.

Anyway, if you've been looking for a new and interesting bread to try baking, this could be it. It's different, tasty, isn't difficult to produce, freezes beautifully, and is slightly better for you than plain white bread. It also makes quite possibly the best toast I've ever had. This is one of my very favorite breads, and I think it will be a good seller. (For those of you who have been asking—progress on the little wholesale bread bakery we're building here on the farm is slow but steady. Things don't move real fast in the country, but we're plugging along and are anxious to finish construction and start baking.)

You can also use this dough to make amazingly scrumptious burger buns and dinner rolls—which would be a wonderful addition to any Thanksgiving table. If you feel like really going all out this year, you could fill your bread basket with a mixture of Oatmeal Toasting Bread rolls and some of my breadie buddy Kevin's Whole Wheat Yeasted Beer Bread rolls. Just be sure to make enough for little leftover turkey sandwiches.

I've been baking variations of this bread for over ten years, experimenting until I came up with what I consider the perfect loaf. The recipe I originally started with came from a 1995 issue of Gourmet, but since I've ended up changing pretty much everything about it except for the basic ingredients, I claim this version as all mine. Of course I've found that as soon as any bread recipe (or formula, as commercial bakers call them) is invited into a baker's kitchen, it immediately becomes their own, even if they're attempting to follow it to the letter. Because whether it's by chance or by choice, your bread will most likely end up looking and tasting different than mine. And while this may not be all that desirable when one is creating a cake, I believe it is one of the endearing qualities of handmade bread. No two loaves are ever completely alike.

That said, I invite you to take my recipe into your kitchen and share your results with the rest of us. For instance, when I first sent this recipe to my bread baking partner in crime, Beth (aka kitchenMage), she substituted wheat bran for the oat bran and created an entirely new loaf. She now makes a decadent Cinnamon Spice Pecan Swirl version—and tells me the dough makes awesome cinnamon rolls. (April 2007 Update: Beth even created a nutty cinnamon no-knead version for A Year in Bread, our bread baking blog.)

So bake this oatmeal bread and then leave me a comment describing your version. Did you halve the amount of yeast and double the rising time? Knead the dough with a standing mixer? Make it with milk instead of water? Use honey and natural margarine in place of the sugar and butter? Toss in some whole grain flour and a little cracked wheat? Add a few handfuls of raisins and a cup of homemade applesauce? Make your bread in the shape of a braid? If you write about it on your blog, include a permalink to the post in your comment.

One bread recipe is now in many hands. I'm so glad I finally got around to sharing it, and I can't wait to see what you come up with. (And as for the dozen or so other recipes I've been meaning to post? Let's just say it's a good thing I no longer promise them ahead of time—since now you all know exactly what it takes to motivate me.)

If you're a new bread baker—or if you're an old bread baker who wishes they could create a tastier loaf—I urge you to read my Ten Tips For Better Bread post. It talks about using things like 'old' dough and an autolyse and taking the temperature of your dough, all of which are called for in this recipe. Now go and bake your best bread ever!




Susan's Oatmeal Toasting Bread Recipe
'Old Dough' Version

Makes three 8" x 4" loaves approximately 24 ounces each, plus 10 ounces dough to save as 'old dough' for your next batch.

As always, I recommend using local and organic ingredients whenever possible. Organic flours and grains are readily available and reasonably priced, especially if you shop the bulk sections natural food stores. I pay under $1.00 a pound for organic oats and about $1.75 a pound for organic oat bran. Organic sugar is becoming more and more mainstream, and if you compare the extra cost to buying just one item from a bakery cafe (not to mention a $4.00 cup of coffee to go with it), it really is a bargain. And it is my personal opinion that if you are only going to buy two things that are organic, they should be milk and butter.

I buy one-pound packages of Fleischman's Instant Yeast at the supermarket and keep it in the freezer where it lasts for months and months. I've never had good luck with those little envelopes of yeast, and at under $3 a bag, even if you end up tossing half a pound of it out, the larger package is still a bargain.

4 cups (32 fluid ounces) very hot water (I heat mine in a tea kettle)
2-1/2 cups (11 ounces/311 g) old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup (2 ounces/62g) oat bran
1/2 cup (3-1/2 ounces/96 g) packed golden brown sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick, 2 ounces) butter

1 Tablespoon (3/8 ounce/11 g) instant yeast (slightly more if using active dry yeast)
6 to 7 cups bread flour (6 cups = 1 lb-15 ounces/871 g)

1 Tablespoon (5/8 ounce/20 g) salt
10 ounces 'old' dough (white/oatmeal/whatever will work; if frozen, defrost first at room temperature or overnight in refrigerator)

Combine oats, oat bran, brown sugar, and butter in a very large bowl. Add hot water and stir until combined. Let sit until about 80 degrees F, about 30 minutes.

Combine yeast with 2 cups of flour and stir into oat mixture. Continue stirring in flour one cup at a time until a soft dough forms. Transfer dough to a well floured surface and knead for about 8 minutes. Cover dough with the bowl and let rest for 20 minutes.

Knead in salt & old dough for 5 minutes or until they are completely mixed in. Sprinkle flour in the dough bowl, place the dough in it, liberally dust it with flour, and cover it with a damp tea towel.



Kneaded Dough Ready To Rise

Ferment (first rise): Approximately 1-1/2 hours if dough is at an optimal 74 to 78 degrees F. When the dough is ready, you should be able to push your finger deep into it and leave an indentation that does not spring back.



Old Dough Ready For The Freezer

Divide and shape into three loaves, after taking out about 10 ounces to make 'old dough' for your next batch of bread, if desired. (If not, your loaves will just be slightly larger.) 'Old dough' can be wrapped in plastic, put in a zipper bag, and frozen until you are ready to use it.

There are dozens of ways to shape your dough into loaves. I form mine into "logs," and the method I use comes straight from the pages of the wonderful book, Amy's Bread. Here it is, word for word, because if you're like me and have trouble thinking three-dimensionally, this isn't the kind of thing you want to try paraphrasing. (Amy, please don't sue me.)

"When shaping your loaves, the most important thing to remember is to be gentle with the dough. Your goal is to form an even loaf with a taut skin, while leaving some larger air holes inside.

Very lightly flour the work surface. Start by forming an envelope: Place the dough on the table. Press and flatten it gently with your fingertips to form a rectangle with a short side facing you, leaving a lot of air bubbles in the dough. Fold the top edge down over the middle of the rectangle, then fold the bottom edge up. Give the dough a quarter turn and repeat the process, folding the top edge down and the bottom edge up again and overlapping the edges slightly in the middle so the dough looks like an envelope. Pat the seam to seal it. Now you have a smaller, tighter rectangle.

Form a cylinder: Starting from the top edge of the rectangle, fold the top third of the dough over itself with one hand. With the heel of your other hand, gently press the seam to seal it. Fold the dough one third of the way down again and work from one end to the other to seal the seam. Try to keep the skin of the dough smooth and tight but not so tight that the skin tears. Repeat this process one or two more times, until the loaf is a nice round log. Seal the final seam completely with the heel of your hand. Ideally your seam should be straight and tight with no openings or flaps of dough hanging out; with patience, this will become natural. If any dough is protruding from the ends of the log, poke it back in with your finger.

The plain log shape can be placed in a loaf or left on a cloth for a free-form second rise. From the log shape, you can make other cylindrical shapes."

Place logs seam side down in greased loaf pans (I highly recommend these Chicago Metallic Commercial Loaf Pans). Brush tops of loaves with water and sprinkle with oats, if desired.








Or, if you want a heavy, even covering of oats on your loaves, you can brush them with water and then roll them gently in a plate of oats as shown in the above photos. Then place seam side down in greased loaf tins and cover with a damp tea towel.

Proof (second rise): Approximately 1 hour if dough is 74 to 78 degrees F. The loaves are ready for baking when you make a slight indentation with your finger in the dough and it does not spring back. Note: this dough will not rise a whole lot while baking, so you want your loaves to be nearly finished size before you put them in the oven.

Bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes or until golden brown and bottoms sound hollow if tapped. Remove from pans and let cool on a wire rack. Try to wait at least 40 minutes before cutting into a loaf. Store at room temperature or freeze.



Having Fun With Farmhouse White

Note: This dough also makes fantastic dinner rolls and burger buns. Just shape into whatever size you like and reduce baking time accordingly. Rolls and buns can be formed into individual balls and spaced far enough apart on a baking sheet (I use commercial half-size sheet pans lined with unbleached parchment paper) so they aren't touching, or you can place them close together in any size pan and make 'pull-apart' rolls. Both shapes of the Farmhouse White rolls above were baked in 9" x 5" loaf pans. Anything goes with bread dough, and it's fun to experiment with shapes and sizes. A pie or cake pan will give you a nice circle of rolls that look lovely on the table—or presented as a host/hostess gift.

Straight Dough Method (if you don't have any old dough hanging around):
Use the recipe above but do not take out 10 ounces dough when shaping the loaves.

Straight Dough Method that will make old dough for your next batch:
Use recipe above but use 4-1/2 cups water (and adjust flour accordingly). This will give you 10 ounces extra dough for next time.

Got more flour left? Check out these other Farmgirl Fare bread recipes:
Beyond Easy Beer Bread (my most popular recipe)
Whole Wheat Beer Bread
Onion Rye Beer Bread
How To Make Pita Bread
Savory Feta Cheese & Scallion Scones
Cranberry Christmas Scones
White Whole Wheat Scones with Currants & Oats
Parisian Four Hour Baguettes
No-Knead Crusty Freeform Bread
Italian Rosemary Raisin Bread
Fresh Tomato & Basil Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread
Whole Grain Cottage Cheese Bread
Italian Black Olive Cheeks
Carrot Herb Rolls (And A Bargain Bread Book For Beginners)
Easy Rosemary Focaccia
Three Onion & Three Cheese Pizza

© Copyright 2006 FarmgirlFare.com, the award-winning blog where Farmgirl Susan shares recipes, stories, and photos from her crazy country life on 240 remote Missouri acres—and we always have at least a couple of kinds of homemade bread in the freezer.