"FEELING YOUR OATS" - TRIPLE OAT BREAD

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I like oats, and enjoy every morning my muesli with fruit and yogurt, or citrus-y oatmeal with raisins and apricots (thanks to Maria Speck and her wonderful book "Ancient Grains for Modern Meals".)

Whereas you can find rolled, steel cut oats or oat bran in many recipes, you will hardly see anything made with actual oat flour. I knew from experience that, in principle, I can treat oat flour like rye in mixed breads, since it doesn't have gluten. My German Feinbrot tastes great with oat instead of rye, too.

So I came up with a formula for a very "oaty" sandwich loaf, combining oat flour, rolled oats and oat bran in a nice fluffy, but hearty, bread that is also great for toasting.

The best of all husbands commented: "After eating this you will definitely feel your oats!"

Oat flour, rolled oats and oat bran

"FEELING YOUR OATS" - TRIPLE OAT BREAD

SOAKER
100 g oat flour
  27 g oat bran
100 g rolled oats (not quick cooking)
    4 g salt
198 g buttermilk

BIGA (*see note)
227 g bread flour
    1 g instant yeast
142 g water

FINAL DOUGH
all soaker and biga
 28 g whole wheat flour
   5 g salt
   4 g instant yeast
 19 g honey
 14 g melted butter (or canola oil)
egg, lightly beaten, for egg wash
rolled oats, for topping

*) If you prefer preparing the dough with stretch & fold (without a biga, described here), it's fine, since the dough rises overnight in the refrigerator. But do soak the oat flour, rolled oats and oat bran, otherwise you might get in trouble with the hydration of the final dough.

DAY 1:
Morning:
In a small bowl, stir together all ingredients for soaker, until well hydrated. Cover, and let sit at room temperature.

Mix all ingredients for biga until they come together, knead for 2 minutes at medium-low speed  (or by hand), let rest for 5 minutes, and knead for another 1 minute. Place in oiled container, turn around to coat, cover and refrigerate (remove from fridge 2 hours before using).

Evening:
Mix final dough at low speed (or with hand) until rough ball forms. Knead for 4 minutes at medium-low speed. Let rest for 5 minutes, then knead for another 1 minute. (Dough should be tacky, but not sticky.) Place dough ball in oiled container, turning it around to coat, cover, and refrigerate overnight*)

*) I like overnight bulk fermentation, because I can do most of the work in the evening before the baking day. But you can, also, let the pre-doughs ferment overnight, and do the mixing of the final dough on baking day.


DAY 2:
Remove dough from refrigerator 2 hours before using, to warm up.

Preheat oven to 425ºF. Grease sandwich loaf pan (I use a 9-inch one)

On a lightly floured work surface, roll dough into sandwich loaf, and place, seam side down, in prepared pan.

Brush with egg wash, score, and sprinkle with rolled oats, pressing the flakes gently into the dough (it's important to score first, otherwise the flakes obstruct the slashing.)

Mist with oil spray, cover, and let rise at room temperature, or until it has grown to 1 1/2 its original size, about 45 - 60 minutes.

Bake bread at 350ºF for 25 minutes, rotate 180 degrees for even browning, and continue baking for another 30 minutes. The bread should be golden brown, sound hollow when thumbed at the bottom, and register 195 F.

Remove bread from pan, and let cool on wire rack.

November on Mount Desert Island - quiet time in Bar Harbor

Submitted to Yeast Spotting

Re-written and updated post (originally posted 1/5/1202)

Submitted to Panissimo:  Bread & Companatico                                       
                                        Indovina chi viene a cena                                             
This month's Panissimo is hosted by Menta e Rosmarino






 

HONEY OATMEAL BREAD - BEES WOULD LOVE IT

Hier geht's zur deutschen Version dieses Posts (folgt noch)

It's already October, and still warm and nice. The cats are mostly outside, and Ruffi The Ruffian, our big red tom cat, comes in only when he pleases - he is the only one who can't be bribed by food. 

Roamin' Ruffi, for once at home, resting in his favorite place

My thoughts are already on my upcoming trip to Hamburg, to see my family and friends, and my desk is covered with even more papers than usual: it's high time for the taxes, and I'm procrastinating.

The A(vid) B(akers) C(hallenge) for October was another welcome distraction. We are baking our way through Abby Dodge's "The Weekend Baker", and this month's recipe is "Honey Oatmeal Bread".

  Following Abby's do-ahead option of mixing the dough the day before, then letting it slowly rise overnight in the fridge, was a no-brainer - I do this with almost all of my breads.

You do most of the work the day before, the dough rises while you are sleeping, and, as additional benefit, the taste improves if you give it more time to develop.

I had read about some other bloggers problems with the bread getting too dark in the oven, and there is nothing wrong with your ovens or your baking abilities. The given temperature, 375º F, is simply too high!

According to master baker Peter Reinhart, rich breads with milk, eggs, fat and sugar are best baked at 350ºF, and that works just fine!

Looking at the list of ingredients I stumbled over the staggering amount of sweetener. Okay, this is supposed to be a HONEY oatmeal bread, but 1/3 cup? 

Though I adapted somewhat to Americans' Love of Sweet during my eleven years as a Mainer - I now can eat pancakes with syrup - my stubbornly German stomach still revolts against a really sweet bread.

A bread is a bread - and not a cake! I want to eat it with ham, cheese or salami. And if I want it sweet, I put honey (or jam) on it, not in it. I reduced the amount of honey by half.

From my experience I know that you can safely reduce the amount of yeast in many recipes (even in Peter Reinhart's), especially if you let your dough rise slowly in the cold. 2 1/4 teaspoon/7 g instant yeast are not necessary, 1 1/2 teaspoons/5 g are enough, even for a rich bread like this.

Instead of long kneading I prefer the elegant stretch and fold technique. Even very sticky doughs can be handled - and tamed - with ease, and develop beautifully.

And, instead of brushing the baked bread with melted butter, I applied an egg wash - with more rolled oats as topping.

HONEY OATMEAL BREAD  (adapted from Abby Dodge: "The Weekend Baker")

1 1/4 cups/300 ml whole or 2% milk

             2 oz/57 g old-fashioned rolled oats (not instant)

          3 tbsp/43 g unsalted butter 

        1 1/2 tsp/5 g instant yeast

        2.12 oz/50 g honey

        1 1/2 tsp/7 g salt

   12 1/4 oz/347 g all-purpose flour 

1 egg, lightly beaten with 1 tbsp. water, for egg wash

         rolled oats, for topping

       

DAY 1

Place measuring cup with milk in the microwave and bring to a boil. Stir in oats and butter, and let sit for 20 minutes, stirring once or twice. Stir in instant yeast and honey, until well combined.

Add milk mixture to flour and salt in mixing bowl. Stir on low speed for 1 - 2 minutes (or with wooden spoon) until all flour is hydrated and shaggy mass forms. Let dough rest for 5 minutes.

Knead at medium-low speed for 6 minutes (or by hand). Dough will be a bit sticky, but don't add any more flour (always err on the wet side!)

Transfer dough to lightly oiled work surface. Pat in a rough rectangle. With wet or oiled hands, stretch and fold dough in thirds, like a business letter.

Fold the upper third down...

....then the bottom third up, like a business letter

Then repeat the same stretching and folding in thirds from both sides:

Folding the left side to the right...

....then the right side over to the left

Gather dough into a ball, tucking the sides underneath, and place it, smooth side up, into a greased bowl. Cover, and let rest for 10 minutes. Repeat these stretches and folds (S & F) 3 more times, at 10 minute intervals.

After each S & F the dough will be smoother

After the last S & F, place dough in an oiled container with lid, and place in refrigerator overnight.

DAY 2
Remove dough from fridge 2 hours before using, to warm up. Lightly grease 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pan.

Transfer dough on clean work surface. Placing your hands in the middle, gently press down to degas. Pat dough into a 7 x 10-inch rectangle. Roll up into a sandwich loaf, pinching seams to seal. Place, seam side down, in prepared loaf pan, then gently flatten with your hands to even it out.

Brush top with egg wash.  Using sharp knife, slash lengthwise. Sprinkle with rolled oats, then gently press with your hands to make sure they stick to the dough.

Preheat oven to 425ºF/220ºC, adjusting rack to middle position. (Steaming is not necessary.)

Glazed with egg wash, slashed and sprinkled with oats

Mist loaf with baking spray, cover, and proof for 45 minutes, or until grown 1 1/2 times its original size. (Poke dough gently with your finger - the dent should slowly come back a little bit, and stay visible, but not fill up again!)

Refresh the scoring if you want the slash to open wider during the bake - I do.

Ready for the oven

Place bread in the middle of the oven, reduce temperature to 350ºF/175ºC, and bake for 20 minutes. Rotate loaf 180 degrees for even browning, and continue baking for another 20 - 25 minutes, until top is golden brown, and it registers at least 195ºF/90ºC.

Remove from oven, turn out onto wire rack, and let cool.

We had the lovely looking loaf, toasted, for lunch. It was still mildly sweet, but its taste blended harmoniously with Black Forest ham, as well as with my Rose Hip Jam.

Next time I bake it, I'll substitute 10% of the white flour with spelt or whole wheat, to add a little more heartiness.

And if you would like to join us, go to Hanaâ's Kitchen, and check out what comes next.

EXTRAORDINARY MULTIGRAIN SANDWICH BREAD

Now and then I need some toasted bread. The supermarket varieties are, of course, off limits. A loaf that cowardly yields, without putting up any resistance to my probing finger, is not worthy of a Black Forrest ham or Fontina cheese topping. I want my toast to delicately soften a bit when I spread it with butter - not disintegrating into mash!

Even biting in a sandwich bread it's nice to find a little bit to chew on. A mix of flours and grains, like rolled oats, cornmeal and bran, also gives it a more complex flavor. And sesame seeds makes a topping that doesn't only look attractive, but, also,  adds a delicious crunchiness.

This is my take on Peter Reinhart's "Multigrain Bread Extraordinaire" from The Bread Baker's Apprentice), with some alterations and, I hope, improvements - a very tasty, "un-squishy" bread that really deserves the goodies I put on top - even if it's not toasted.


MULTIGRAIN SANDWICH BREAD  (adapted from Peter Reinhart: The Bread Baker's Apprentice)

Soaker
100 g/3.5 oz whole wheat flour
28 g/1 oz corn meal, coarse grind (Polenta)
28 g/1 oz bread flour
28 g/1 oz cooked brown rice
21 g/0.75 oz rolled oats
7 g/0.25 oz wheat or oat bran
4 g salt (1/2 tsp.)
113 g/4 oz buttermilk
28 g/1 oz water

Biga
227 g/8 oz bread flour
1 g instant yeast (1/4 tsp.)
142 g/5 oz water

Final Dough
all soaker and biga
28 g/1 oz bread flour
19 g/0.7 oz honey or brown sugar
7 g/0.25 oz salt
5 g/0.2 instant yeast

lightly beaten egg or egg white, for brushing
2 tsp. sesame seeds, for sprinkling


DAY 1
Morning:
Stir together all soaker ingredients, until all flour is hydrated. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, and leave at room temperature.

In mixer bowl, stir together all biga ingredients at low speed (or with hand), until a coarse ball forms (1-2 minutes). Knead at medium-low speed (or with hand) for 2 minutes. Let dough rest for 5 minutes, then resume kneading for 1 more minute.

Transfer biga to a lightly oiled bowl, and roll it around to coat with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, and place into fridge (remove 2 hours before using, to warm up).

Evening:
Mix all ingredients for final dough at low speed for 1-2 minutes, until a coarse ball forms (if mixing by hand, cut starter and biga into 12 smaller pieces for easier distribution). Switch to medium-low speed and knead 4 minutes, adjusting with a little more flour, if needed (dough should be very tacky). Let dough rest for 5 minutes.

Resume kneading for 1 more minute (dough should be soft, supple and tacky, but not sticky). Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl, rolling it around to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.


DAY 2
Remove dough from refrigerator 2 hours before using, to warm up.

Preheat oven to 425ºF/220ºC, including a steam pan. Transfer dough to a lightly floured counter, pat into a square and roll up to shape a sandwich loaf. Place in lightly oiled loaf pan, seam side down. Brush with egg wash, sprinkle with sesame seeds, and score lengthwise.

Mist loaf with oil, cover with plastic wrap or kitchen towel, and proof for about 45 - 60 minutes at room temperature, or until it has grown to 1 1/2 times its original size, and a dimple, made with your finger, comes back a little bit, but stays visible (finger poke test).

Place bread in oven, pour 1 cup of boiling water into steam pan, and reduce heat to 350ºF/175ºC. Bake for 20 minutes, rotate loaf 180 degrees, and continue baking for about 20 minutes more. Bread should register at least 195ºF/90ºC in center, and be golden brown.

Remove pan (loaf should sound hollow when thumped on bottom), and let cool on wire rack.