Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Honey Oatmeal Bread

This is another lovely bread from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Bread. Originally, this bread is called Maple Oatmeal Bread, and it uses maple syrup, all 3/4 cup for two loaves of bread. Since I do not have any maple syrup, I have used honey instead, and reduced the amount slightly. I've made only half a recipe for 1 loaf of bread.


A soft bread with light golden crust, with just a hint of sweetness from the honey.


Rolled oats is soaked in some boiling water for an hour. The softened roll oats are then mixed with the rest of the ingredients, honey, salt, cooking oil and some flour, mixed to a stiff batter.  Cover with cling wrap and leave until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Add the rest of the flour, 1/2 cup at a time to the risen doughy batter and knead until the dough leaves the sides of the mixing bowl. In total I have used about 3 cups of bread flour. Shape the dough into a loaf and placed in a greased loaf pan, 8" x 4-1/2", covered with greased cling wrap and leave to rise until it reaches the rim of the loaf pan. Preheat the oven about 15 minutes before baking, at 350F. 


This bread is baked in  a moderately low temperature oven for 40-50 minutes to allow the bread to rise further into a light brown loaf. It rises really well during the first 20 minutes of baking.


It bakes up beautifully with a light golden crust. The bread has a light sweetness in taste from the honey and the oats are blended into the dough, which gives a soft and nice bread texture. Just as the author says, "An admirable loaf"!

Maple Oatmeal Bread
makes 2 loaves (8"x4") (my measurements in blue is for one loaf)
2-1/2 cups boiling water  (1-1/4 cups)
1 cup quick or regular rolled oats (1/2 cup)
1 package dry yeast (1 tsp plus 1/8 tsp)
3/4 cup maple syrup (1/4 cup honey)
2 teaspoons salt (1/2 tsp)
1 tablespoon cooking oil (1/2 tbsp)
5 cups bread or all-purpose flour, approximately (3 cups)

Baking pans : 2 medium (8" x 4") loaf pans, greased or Teflon
  1. In a large bowl, pour the boiling water over the oatmeal and set aside to soak for 1 hour. Sprinkle the yeast over the cooled oatmeal and stir to mix. Add the maple syrup (honey), salt, cooking oil and 3 cups (1-1/2 cups) of flour. Blend all the ingredients. It will have the consistency of a heavy batter.
  2. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside to rise for about 1 hour.
  3. Add additional flour, 1/2 cup at a time, to form a dough that can be lifted from the bowl and placed on the surface to knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Add more flour if the ball of dough is sticky. The dough may also be placed under a dough hook in a mixer for an equal length of time. The dough should clean the bowl in the final stages of kneading. (I use the stand mixer to knead the dough until smooth, about 20 minutes, with an additional 1-1/2 cups of flour, about 3 cups in total).
  4. Divide the dough into 2 pieces and shape into loaves. Drop each into a prepared pan. Push the dough into the corners.
  5. Cover the pans with wax or parchment paper and leave at room temperature until the dough reaches the edge of the pan, about 45 minutes.
  6. Preheat the oven to 350F, about 15 minutes before baking.
  7. This is a fairly slow oven, so allow 40 to 50 minutes for the bread to bake into a light brown loaf. Midway through baking, turn the pans end for end to balance the heat on the loaves. Turn one loaf out of its pan and tap the bottom crust with a forefinger. A hard, hollow sound means the bread is baked. If not, return to the oven for an additional 5 or 10 minutes. (If using a convection oven, reduce heat 50 degrees).
  8. Remove the bread from the oven and turn the loaves from the pans. Place the loaves on a metal rack to cool before serving. The bread toasts beautifully. It can be kept frozen for an indefinite period at 0 degrees. An admirable loaf.

This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs Up, organized by Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids and Doreen from My Little Favourite D.I.Y, hosted by Vivian from Vivian Pang's Kitchen

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26 comments:

  1. Well, I have all the ingredients and a free day tomorrow so I think I may just try this bread. I don't normally have much luck with bread but I would really like to master it and this loaf looks lovely.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Angela,
      Enjoy the bread! This bread makes a good toast!

      Delete
  2. I like the nice rise too with nice open crumbs...oats make it so much more healthier.

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  3. Hi Kitchen Flavour

    Can I substitute oatmeal with flour since I do not want to buy a package just for the bread. The recipe calls for either bread flour or all purpose flour, can I clarify if I use all purpose flour, will the loaf turn out bread?

    Thank you and blessings
    Priscilla Poh

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    Replies
    1. Hi Priscilla,
      I'm not sure whether the oatmeal can be fully substitute with all plain or bread flour. The rolled oats was soaked in water and there is some water at the bottom of the bowl even though the oatmeal has expanded and soaked up most of the water. So you have to take the liquid content into consideration if using all plain flour.
      I have always used bread flour in replace of plain flour for making any breads, as our local plain flour do not give such satisfactory results, since the protein content in our plain flour is lower than the imported ones like King Arthur Flour.
      If you are looking for a soft and fluffy white bread, you might want to give this bread a try, Golden Sandwich Bread, it bakes up really high and is really good.
      http://mycookinggallery.blogspot.com/2013/01/golden-sandwich-bread.html

      Or you can always buy organic oatmeal which usually comes in smaller packages.
      Thank you for stopping by!

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    2. Thanks Kitchen Flavours for your response. Will try out your golden-sandwish-bread one of these days. Meanwhile, for your Maple Oatmeal Bread, it reads like the base ingredients can either use bread flour or all purpose flour. So I assume can use all purpose flour for bread making but I doubt the final results may not be that good.

      Thank you and with blessings for sharing your recipe.
      Priscilla Poh

      Delete
  4. Hi Joyce
    Your bread so so soft in texture. Worth to give this healthy bread a try

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  5. Hi Joyce, haven't tried oats in loaf bread. Will try soon......

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  6. Wow, this oatmeal bread texture looks great! With the 1/2 cup of rolled oats still manage to get such good result. Bookmarked!

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  7. oh that looks so amazing and so moist and sweet and perfectly cooked

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  8. Been really lazy this month, so gonna try this bread!

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  9. Hi Joyce , the bread is perfect for sandwiches , toast and all by itself , thanks for sharing" :)

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  10. Hi Joyce,
    This is indeed a admirable loaf, looks so golden! Good to eat just own it's own as it has honey and oats in it!
    Thanks for sharing this to LTU.
    mui

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  11. Looks good. wonder if I can sub slow cooking oats for the rolled oats and skipped the soaking hot water part....

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  12. Another heavenly bread, Joyce. And to think I almost missed this one. Since my last bread "baking" experience, I'm really stacking up future bread recipes. This one is definitely a keeper! I love the way you have made it your own.

    Thank you so much for sharing...

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  13. Joyce, I love the ingredients in this bread. It looks so soft and fluffy and its really unique to use maple syrup. That must give the bread a special flavour!

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  14. Joyce, I bet this bread would be wonderful for sandwiches!

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  15. DuPont Teflon BrandTuesday, November 26, 2013

    Hi Joyce - Thanks for recommending cookware with Teflon® nonstick coatings while making your Honey Oatmeal Bread recipe! I represent DuPont™ and it's always a pleasure to see people recommending our products in their recipes.

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    Thanks!

    Cheers, Nellie

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hi Joyce,

    I think that it is an admirable loaf too... Usually bread made oatmeal can be not as fluffy like usual white bread due to reduced amount of gluten but yours looks really good.

    Zoe

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  17. Can you make this and form the loaves and put in the freezer for later use?

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