toasted oatmeal bread

I mentioned in my last post I was trying a new bread recipe.  Toasted oatmeal bread.  The goal was to have more flavor in the regular oatmeal bread that the boyos like so well.  And I did succeed.  I will also admit that I have made this twice and it turns out better for me if I do not extra hands helping.

I could get very philosophical about this bread.  Bread in general.  But bread is wonderful food for the belly and meditation for the hands.  The boyos think they will starve if there is not lady made bread in the house.

My house was very cold when I made this so all the rising times were very long.  That helped develop more flavor as well.  It will be April before I have to worry about much warmth in the house to make the rise happen faster.

toasted oatmeal bread

Note:  I used Zachary Golper's method of toasting and grinding the oats in this loaf.  He uses steel cut oats and those are my favorite.  I would like not to have to buy three types of oats for the house!

sourdough

1 cup steel cut oats

2 cups water

2 tablespoons molasses

1/4 cup brown sugar

5 plus cups flour

2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons butter

Lately, I have been using so much sourdough that I have gone to a quart jar.  I used about 1/4 cup of sourdough that had been refreshed for this bread.

Put the steel cut oats in a cast iron pan.  Put the pan in a 425 degree Fahrenheit oven and let toast for about four minutes.  Stir.  Toast for another four minutes.  Stir.  Check the browning.  Watch them closely for the next four minutes because somewhere in there they will go from nicely golden to black very quickly.  It does not take much more then this, especially in a toaster oven!

I have a high powered blender.  A ninja.  I dump the toasted oats in that and let blend for about 15 minutes.  I usually leave the room.  The flour should be fairly fine but you will have to blend it even longer to get fine flour or sieve.  I just chose to have a gritty texture added to the bread.

In a large bowl, put the sourdough, 2 cups of water, the oat flour, molasses, and brown sugar.  Mix well. Mix in three cups of flour. Cover and let get bubbly.  It took about four hours or more in my cold kitchen.  But the yeasty beasties were happy!  The batter should remind you of pancake batter.

When the dough is bubbly, mix in the salt.  Mix in enough flour to make a kneadable dough.  Soft but not stiff.  It is better to go for less flour because the grittty oats will still take up water.  Smear the butter on the counter and knead it into the dough as well.  Put back into a bowl and cover.  Let rise for about an hour.  Flatten gently and fold.  Do this twice more.  Put in the refrigerator for over night.

The next day, line a loaf pan with parchment paper or butter it.  Take the dough out of the refrigerator and shape it into a load.  Put in the pan.  Let rise.  This could take close to all day.

When the dough has risen well, bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 hour.  I over filled my pan so I had crazy edges.

So good!  My next loaf is seedier because I had help.  But it is all good.  It is bread.  The bread I was making today got turned into pizza so I will start more tomorrow.  I need to clean the bowl out a bit.