Oatmeal Bread

I've been enjoying making bread but got tired of the same thing. I thought oatmeal bread would be a fun and different thing to try.  This time I just made a single loaf. I have been having to freeze the second loaf to keep it from going bad. After all, homemade bread doesn't have any preservatives.

Oatmeal Bread

1 cup oatmeal

1 cup scalded milk

1 envelope yeast or 2 1/4 teaspoons

1/2 cup warm water

2 Tablespoons molasses

2 1/2 cups flour plus 1/4 cup as necessary

2 Tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons butter cut in small pieces

oil for greasing the bowl

Pam for spraying the loaf pan

Heat 1 cup of milk to just when it starts to bubble and before it boils. 

Pour the milk over 1 cup of oatmeal in a medium bowl. Stir to moisten and set aside.

Put the molasses and the very warm, but not hot, water in a small bowl. Sprinkle the yeast on top, give it a brief stir and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer place the 2 1/2 cups flour, brown sugar and salt.  Use the paddle to mix slowly.  

Remove the paddle and add the oatmeal, butter and yeast mixture.  Use the dough hook to mix. Stop frequently to scrape down the sides. 

My dough needed a bit more flour.  It was too sticky to form a ball.  I added about 1/8 cup more of flour and then used the rest of the 1/4 cup to sprinkle on the counter.

 

Then I hand kneaded for about a minute until it was smooth and elastic and had absorbed the flour.  

Pour about 1Tablespoon of vegetable oil in a large bowl and spread up the sides.  Place the ball of dough in the bowl and flip it a few times to oil the whole ball. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp cloth and set aside to rise for about an hour or until it doubles in size.

Lightly flour the counter.  Punch the dough down and knead it to get rid of bubbles.  

Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough into a rectangle slightly wider than the bread pan. Roll it up tightly and then fold the ends in so it is slightly shorter than the loaf pan. Pinch the ends to try to make a seamless tube.

Spray the loaf pan with Pam.  Place the dough in it with the seam side down. Cover with whatever you used to cover the bowl. Let it rise until it has doubled, about an hour.

Adjust the rack in the oven so the bread can cook in the middle of it. Preheat the oven to 375°. Bake about 30-40 minutes.  Mine was done at 30 minutes. 

Set the loaf pan on a rack to cool.  

While it is cooling brush the top with butter.  After about 5 minutes turn the bread out onto the rack to finish cooling.

After it had cooled completely, I cut it and had a bite.  It was great.  

Then I buttered the slice.  It was even better.

I served it toasted with eggs.  Who doesn't love breakfast for dinner? It was great toasted, too.

Norwegian Oatmeal Molasses Bread

I have been craving homemade bread.  I like to make bread and would make some every week, except for the whole don't-eat-carbs thing.  Lee is supposed to be on a high fiber diet, so I looked around for a good bread recipe.  I found this one on Taste of Home and made a few minor changes.

Lee is part Norwegian, so eating this is part of his Scandinavian heritage.  I decided it was important to accompany him on this journey.

Norwegian Oatmeal Molasses Bread

2 cups boiling water
1 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup warm water
1 package active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon sugar (optional)
1/2 cup molasses
1 Tablespoon canola oil
1 teaspoon salt
6 to 6 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon melted butter

 

Place the oats in a medium, heatproof bowl and pour the boiling water over them.  Stir and set aside to cool.

 

Stir occasionally.

 

I like to proof the yeast before I do anything else.  Put the yeast in a cereal bowl and add the warm water.  I just use warm tap water.  If the water is too hot it will kill the yeast.  I like to add 1/2 teaspoon of sugar to the yeast.  I figure it likes a bit of sugar when you wake it up.  Give the yeast a stir to dissolve and get out the rest of your ingredients.

 

Check the bloom on the yeast.  It should have puffed up a bit and look foamy.  It's ALIVE!  ( If you say this out loud, try to sound like Gene Wilder in Young Frankenstein.)  If it doesn't do anything, then your yeast is dead, the bread won't rise and you will have no bread today.  Go buy some new yeast and start over.

 

Place the yeast, cooled oatmeal mixture, molasses, oil, salt and three cups of the flour in a large bowl.  Beat until smooth.  Then add one cup of flour at a time until you have a soft dough.  I added 2 cups, making 5 cups of flour, and then added the 6th cup when kneading.

 

I hope you carefully washed and dried your counter before you started.  If not, do it now.  Sprinkle flour on the counter and scrape the dough out onto the counter.  Sprinkle some flour on top of the dough and knead for about 5 minutes, adding more flour when needed.  You are done when the bread is smooth and elastic and no longer sticky.

 

Scrape out the bowl you used to make the bread and place about 1 Tablespoon of canola oil in it.  Place the dough back in the bowl and turn to coat it.  Cover with a damp towel and place it in a warm spot to  double in size, about 1 1/2 hours. 

 

Our house was cold, so I preheated the oven to 200° and turned it off when it beeped. 

 

I placed the dough in the slightly warm oven. 

 

Punch the dough down and put it back on the cleaned and re-floured counter.  Knead a few times and then cut the dough in half.  I had one loaf slightly larger than the other and I didn't care.

 

Use a rolling pin to roll one ball into a rectangle to get out all the air bubbles. 

 

Use your fingers to roll it into a loaf shape.  Start from the smaller end and then pinch the seam to seal it.  Fold over the ends and pinch to seal along the previous seam. 

 

Place in a loaf pan that you sprayed with Pam.  Cover with some plastic wrap that you also sprayed with Pam and let rise until doubled, about one more hour.  If you let yours rise in the oven, carefully remove and preheat the oven to 350°.  Uncover the bread, return it to the oven and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until golden brown.  Mine took just under 40 minutes.

 

Remove the bread from the pans and let cool on a wire rack. Brush the tops with the melted butter.  Don't try to cut the bread when it is hot.  It will smoosh the insides together.   But it is nice to have the first slices when it is kinda warm and the softened butter melts into the bread.   I wondered it the molasses would make it sweet, but it wasn't.  Just delicious.

 

Lee heaped praise upon my head.  When I asked if he liked it he said it was good.  I think I heard an Mmmm.

 

The Taste Of Home site said it was good toasted.  So, in the interests of full disclosure I had some for breakfast.  It was good with melted butter.  And also with marmalade.