No-Knead Oatmeal Bread

This recipe yields two loaves of the most delicious, soft and fluffy bread. It's mix of oatmeal, whole wheat and white flours make it hearty and nutritious - perfect for morning toast.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 3/4 cups old-fashioned oats
3 cups boiling water
2 tablespoons of butter
1 pkg active dry yeast (2 and 1/4 tsp.)
1/4 cup warm water
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 cups whole wheat flour

Directions:

Place brown sugar, salt and oats in a large mixing bowl. Add boiling water and the butter. Let stand till lukewarm. Ensure that it has cooled to lukewarm before adding the yeast, otherwise the hot water will kill the yeast and your bread won't rise!

In a small bowl, sprinkle yeast over the 1/4 cup warm water. Let stand for about 5 minutes. Stir. Add this yeast mixture to the oat mixture and stir.

Add the all-purpose and whole wheat flours a cup at a time, stirring to combine after each addition.

Transfer dough to a lightly greased bowl and cover with a damp tea towel or plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm spot until doubled in bulk, about 2 hours. 

Grease two standard sized loaf pans generously with butter. When dough has risen, punch it down. A trick is to use two forks to do this: Stab the dough in the center first, then pull the dough from the sides of the bowl towards the center up onto itself. Then take the two forks and, working from the center out, divide it into two equal portions. Place each portion into your prepared loaf pans. Let rise until dough creeps above the rim of the loaf pan.

Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Bake loaves for 10 min. Reduce heat to 350ºF. Bake for another 40 to 45 more minutes or until the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped — you have to remove the loaf from the pan to test this. Turn loaves out into wire racks immediately to cool.

 

*Recipe adapted from Alexandra's Kitchen