Monday, October 1, 2012

Honey Oatmeal Bread : ABC October 2012

The bake at Avid Baker's Challenge (ABC) for this month is Honey Oatmeal Bread, taken from "The Weekend Baker" by Abigail Johnson Dodge.  I was looking forward to bake another one of Abby's bread, as I love the Brioche Bread and Buttery Pull-Apart Dinner Rolls a couple of months back. Just like the previous two breads, this Honey Oatmeal Bread is another winner.



It is soft, moist and smells of honey, really nice, while baking. Abby has, like all recipes in this book, provides the "do aheads". If you are planning to bake this the next morning, the dough can be prepared and refrigerate for up to 24 hours before proceeding with the rest of the recipe. She has given the option of making this bread either my hand or to mix in a stand mixer. I chose to mix the dough in my bread machine instead.


1. The ingredients : rolled oats, butter and salt, (reduced salt to 1 scant teaspoon).
2. Bring the milk to a boil, remove from heat and add the rolled oats, butter and salt. Stir to combine. Cover and let stand for 20 minutes, stirring frequently. (I only stirred twice).
3. Honey is added in, stirring till well combined.
4.Transfer the mixture into the bread pan.
5. Scatter flour (I use bread flour instead of all-purpose flour) on mixture and place the yeast on top. Select Dough Cycle.
6. The risen dough at the end of the Cycle. 


The dough is rolled out, and rolled up like a jelly roll, shaped and placed in the loaf pan.
Smooth out and press gently to flatten the dough in an even layer. Cover with greased plastic wrap and left to rise for about 45 minutes until centre of dough has risen about 1-1/2 inches above the rim of pan.



The risen dough.
Make a cut down the centre along the length of the risen dough. Bake in a preheated oven until puff and browned, about 40 minutes.


Mine was done at 35 minutes. Brush some melted butter over the top crust. Position bread on its side on a wire rack to cool completely.


Oops.... mine was a little too browned! Should have tent the top of the bread with foil but could not view the inside of my oven, (as the bulb connection in my oven was faulty for quite a number of years!). It did not burnt, the crust was good, there's no bitter taste, phew!


This is a lovely bread, it is soft, moist and stays soft too the next day. I enjoyed the bread with a generous spread of my homemade strawberry jam, lovely with a cup of coffee for breakfast. Another keeper recipe!




Please do visit ABC to see the other fellow bakers take on this lovely bread. If you would like to join ABC, please contact Hanaa.




22 comments:

  1. Joyce, oh, still haven't had my breakfast today, can I have 1 slice? I haven't made bread for few weeks now, hmmm, need to find a warm day to make it. Though the spring season has started for a month now but the temperature still fluctuates, some days are warm, some other days are cloudy.

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  2. Fantastic looking bread! and gorgeous flavors - just the thing for fall - I can only imagine how wonderful it must have smelled cooking!!
    mary x

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  3. bread looks wonderful lovely pictures

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  4. I actually love that your crust is so browned! I did not eat enough breakfast this morning and now I am hungry again looking at your bread which looks so soft.

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  5. Your bread sounds heavenly, Joyce. I bet the house sure did smell delicious while it was baking. I would love a slice right now!!!

    Thank you so much for sharing...

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  6. Wonderful loaf, I love that crust with that white fluffy crumb. I did like this bread too!

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  7. Joyce, the name itself Honey Oatmeal Bread makes it sound so delicious. I would love to make a chicken sandwich with this bread. Oh, I love sandwiches using very good bread!

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  8. Wat a beautifully baked bread..Well done.

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  9. Great looking loaf! I didn't bother slashing the top but now I wish I did!

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  10. There's nothing like the smell of freshly-baked bread ! And taste ! :D Wonderfully delicious bread , Joyce ! I think I'll do some arms exercises tomorrow lol

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  11. that's a great looking loaf! i like dark crusts ..okay but not too dark la..not like charcoal! haha! i want to make bread also the next 2 days, rye one hopefully!

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  12. It does look like a winner! Beautiful loaf!

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  13. YUM! I love anything with honey, another sweet weakness of mine! hehehehhe Love the texture of this yummy bread! :)

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  14. Wow! This bread is beautiful!

    Seeing this, I do feel a little sad that I'm missing out the baking of this loaf.

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  15. oh i bet the honey just makes this bread extra sweet and the oatmeal gives it a nice nutty flavor! I love it

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  16. Lovely loaf, Joyce! You did a great job slashing the bread too. My top got a little too brown too, but it didn't taste burned though. This was another winner for us too :o)

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  17. I have baked this type of bread before using another recipe and find it really soft and nice too! Yours is very brown, I normally baked mine much lighter colored

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  18. Looking good! And no, not burnt at all, I love a nice dark crusty crust. Great job on the slashing as well. Lovely!

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  19. Hi Joyce, they sure look good. I think 5 pieces with 3 fruit marmalade will be fine with me.
    I sure am impressed with your very creative culinary skills.
    Looks so crispy and fluffy texture.....
    Bet your kitchen smells great too.
    Have fun and keep well.
    Lee.

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  20. Joyce,
    I don't mind browned crust, I actually like it the way yours looks. I would like to take away 2 pieces for today afternoon tea if there is still some left ...:p
    mui..^^

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  21. Looks nice, and if the crust is a bit dark, who cares as long as it tastes good. But the given temperature in the recipe is definitely too high!
    I bake enriched sandwich loaves all the time for my little home based bakery, and follow Peter Reinhart's advice to preheat the oven to 425 F/220 C, and bake the breads at 350 F/175 C. This works all the time.
    Karin

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