Oatmeal Bread on a Snow Day

I can't say that the Groundhog Day Blizzard lived up to the hype. By early afternoon the snow was pretty well wrapped up. If I had to guess, I'd say we got 8-10 inches - a pretty standard Maine snowstorm. But...with work closed down for the day, I had the rare chance to do some mid-week bread baking.

Always a sucker for a good oatmeal bread, I decided to try a recipe in Good to the Grain for Oatmeal Sandwich Bread. The recipe included a step to let the dough autolyse - something I hadn't tried before. This step allows the water, yeast and dough a chance to rest after being mixed together. After this rest period (in this case, 30 minutes)  the dough is mixed or kneaded more vigorously. From a more technical perspective, autolysing helps the flour to hydrate and allows the enzymes to start working. All of this helps to make a good crumb.

Interestingly, most of the information I found about this process indicates that you mix the flour & water then let this mix rest, but it doesn't include the yeast or salt. The recipe I followed did include the yeast in the mixture, but not the salt.

Whatever the process, after autolysing (is that even a word?) the dough gets whipped around in the stand mixer for 6 minutes or so, resulting in a cookbook picture worthy, smooth, supple, lovely mound of dough.

The lovely dough, post autolyse, pre-rise.

Into the trusty and warm microwave for an hour to rise. Another rise once it's shaped and in the bread pan, again about an hour.

After the first rise, with a sweet little belly button!

While the bread baked, we headed out to our snowy world to do some clean up. The happy dog created multiple avalanches onto the walk I was trying to shovel. Between the dog-a-lanches and the snowblower jetsam, my initial efforts were un-done pretty fast.

The happy snow dog.

Back inside to the smell of baking bread, what could be better? Once done, the bread popped right out of the pan and went to rest on the rack. It was a lovely looking loaf, and difficult to resist for the "couple of hours" recommended by the cookbook. This rest time allows the flavors to develop more and prevents you from squashing the crumb by cutting into it too early.

Right out of the oven.

Yum.

We held out for about an hour (which is about 45 minutes than we usually do with fresh bread - major accomplishment!). Then, risking lasting damage to the crumb, we cut. We slathered - Kate's Butter again - and happily chewed away.This bread had a great crust - hearty and chewy, with a little crunch. The bread flavor had a smidgen of a sourdough taste to it. I had to use a bit of Rye flour, as I didn't have quite enough wheat flour. I don't know if I used enough Rye flour to influence the flavor. At any rate, one of the best Oatmeal bread recipes I've tried. Give it a whirl.

Oatmeal Sandwich Bread - From Good to the Grain, Kim Boyce.

Ingredients: 
1 package active dry yeast
2 cups warm water (I aim for 110 degrees or so)
3 tablespoons molasses (not Blackstrap)
2-1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups bread flour
1 cup rolled oats
2 oz (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 tablespoon kosher salt

What to Do:
Put the 2 cups of water, yeast and molasess into the bowl of a stand mixer. Stir and let the yeast bloom for about 5 minutes. If the yeast doesn't bubble, toss it and start over. Mix the flours and oats together, then add the melted butter and flour mixture to the yeast mixture. Stir together. Cover the bowl with a towel and let stand for 30 minutes (I put mine in a warm spot for this step).

While the dough is resting (this is the autolyse phase), butter a large bowl for the first rise.

Attach the bread hook to the mixer and attach the bowl to the base. Add the salt to the dough, and then mix on medium for 6 minutes. The dough should slap around the sides of the bowl, but not stick. Add a tablespoon or two of flour if the dough is sticking. After mixing 6 minutes, the dough should be soft and supple, slightly tacky.

Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times. Put dough into the buttered bowl, cover with a towel and put in a warm place to rise (proof). The first rise will be about an hour, or until the dough has doubled in size. A dough is proofed when it has risen fully. To test this, poke your finger in the dough - if it springs back, it needs more time. If the dimple remains (see belly button picture), move on to the next step.

While the dough is rising, butter a 9x5x3 loaf pan.

To shape the dough, turn out on to lightly floured surface. Press down on the dough, forming it into a square, and pressing any air bubbles out. Fold the dough down from the top to the middle, then up from the bottom to the middle. Bring the newly formed top & bottom edges together and pinch the seam in the middle and seal it with your fingers.  Pinch the sides together and roll the dough back and forth, plumping it so it is evenly formed and roughly the size of the loaf pan.

Put the dough in the pan seam side down, and press the dough into the corners of the pan.

For the second rise, cover the dough with a towel, put it in a warm place and let it rise for about an hour. The dough should rise to half again its size, or just over the edges of the pan. During the rise, pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees.

Optional - once the second rise is done, sprinkle the top of the loaf with oats or bran (I spritzed with a bit of water so the oats would stick).

Bake for 40 minutes, rotating the pan after 20 minutes. The loaf is done when the top crust is dark as molasses and the bottom crust is dark brown. When thumped on top, the loaf should sound hollow.

Remove the loaf from the pan and cool on a baking rack for a few hours, to let the flavor develop and so the crumb doesn't collapse when it's cut.