Saturday, August 04, 2007

It may take awhile, but this Honey-Oatmeal Sandwich Bread was worth the wait!

Jeff pointed out to me the other day that we were out of homemade bread and had been for over a week! We've been so busy between the trips out to Minneapolis and dealing with trying to sell the house that I guess I had just not noticed. Since I finally had some extra time this morning, I flipped through the yeast bread section of my go-to book lately, the King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking cookbook, and spotted this Honey-Oatmeal Sandwich Bread recipe.

This is definitely not a quick recipe as there are several steps and lots of downtime. The recipe calls for old-fashioned rolled oats to be mixed with boiling water, butter, salt and sweet honey - this mixture needs to then be left to cool down so the oats have a chance to soften and the temperature of the mixture is cool enough that it won't kill the yeast. The bread uses a combination of flours - whole wheat flour for a nutritious nutty flavor and some all-purpose flour to keep the loaf from being too heavy or dense. This recipe also calls for dry milk to be added with the flour - the extra protein from the dry milk adds structure and allows for a higher-rising bread without changing the ratio of liquid to dry. You may notice that once you combine the liquid and dry ingredients, the recipe calls for a 45 minute rest. This allows the whole grain flour to absorb the liquids and makes the kneading process a little easier - you don't have to do this step, but I highly recommend it so you don't add too much excess flour while working with the dough.

Honey-Oatmeal Sandwich Bread PictureThis golden bread was soft, sliced easily and made for a great piece of toast with a thin layer of sweet butter or jam. While the honey adds moisture, it does not make this loaf too sweet... so this bread would also be a delicious choice for a savory sandwich. Even though we've only tested it out as a piece of toast, I've already got plans to make us a couple fluffernutters with it for a snack later!

5 comments:

  1. This bread is delicious Joe, I have made it and absolutely loved it too!!
    I also made the cinnamon swirl variation and it was delicious, my son really enjoyed it!
    Ana

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  2. what great timing Joe! I've been looking for a sandwich bread recipe for the school year. I hope this is it, it sounds perfect.

    I'm going to make a loaf this morning! Thanks again!


    Ana, the cinnamon swirl variation sounds fantastic too!

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  3. Joe from the look of the results I'd say that that bread is definitely worth the wait! I have to get my hands on that book.

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  4. Now that's a serious thing, being out of homemade bread!

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  5. Ana - I saw that variation and I will have to give that one a try too. Glad to hear it was just as good!

    Stacey - Let me know if you try it - we have frozen a few slices and they have thawed well!

    Cynthia - we have had such good luck with that book!

    Alanna - tell me about it!

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