This may be a bit ambitious for my first posting, but I made this bread yesterday and it DOES make the most amazing toast!! It takes all day so do it when you're gonna be house bound for a while...
The recipe calls for removing a 10 oz. portion of the dough and freezing it in order to start another batch of bread at a later date... you can take the 10oz. out or just leave it in and your loaves/rolls will be a bit larger.
**Also, FYI, this makes a lot of bread, I had to separate the dough into two bowls so I had enough room for it to ferment.
Oatmeal Toasting Bread
4 cups (32 fluid oz) very hot water (or milk)
2½ cups (11 oz/311 g) old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup (2 oz/62g) oat bran
1/2 cup (3½ oz/96 g) packed golden brown sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick/2 oz) butter
1 Tablespoon (3/8 oz/11 g) instant yeast (1 Tbsp. + 1 tsp.if using active dry yeast)
6 to 7 cups bread flour (6 cups = 1 lb, 15 oz/871 g) (plus more for kneading)
1 Tablespoon (5/8 oz/20 g) salt
10 ounces 'old' dough (white/oatmeal/whatever will work; if frozen, defrost first at room temperature or overnight in refrigerator) ** only if you have already made this bread and saved some for next time, ignore for now...
Combine oats, oat bran, brown sugar, and butter in a very large bowl. Add hot water and stir until combined. Let sit until about 80°F, about 30 minutes.
Combine yeast with 2 cups of flour and stir into oat mixture. Continue stirring in flour one cup at a time until a soft dough forms. Transfer dough to a well floured surface and knead for about 8 minutes. Cover dough with the bowl and let rest for 20 minutes.
Knead in salt & old dough for 5 minutes or until they are completely mixed in. Sprinkle flour in the dough bowl, place the dough in it, liberally dust it with flour, and cover it with a damp tea towel.
Ferment (first rise): Approximately 1½ hours if dough is at an optimal 70 to 75°F. When the dough is ready, you should be able to push your finger deep into it and leave an indentation that does not spring back.
Divide and shape into three loaves, after taking out about 10 ounces to make 'old dough' for your next batch of bread, if desired. (If not, your loaves will just be slightly larger.) 'Old dough' can be wrapped in plastic, put in a zipper bag, and frozen until you are ready to use it.
There are dozens of ways to shape your dough into loaves. I form mine into "logs," per instructions below:
"When shaping your loaves, the most important thing to remember is to be gentle with the dough. Your goal is to form an even loaf with a taut skin, while leaving some larger air holes inside.
Very lightly flour the work surface. Start by forming an envelope: Place the dough on the table. Press and flatten it gently with your fingertips to form a rectangle with a short side facing you, leaving a lot of air bubbles in the dough. Fold the top edge down over the middle of the rectangle, then fold the bottom edge up. Give the dough a quarter turn and repeat the process, folding the top edge down and the bottom edge up again and overlapping the edges slightly in the middle so the dough looks like an envelope. Pat the seam to seal it. Now you have a smaller, tighter rectangle.
Form a cylinder: Starting from the top edge of the rectangle, fold the top third of the dough over itself with one hand. With the heel of your other hand, gently press the seam to seal it. Fold the dough one third of the way down again and work from one end to the other to seal the seam. Try to keep the skin of the dough smooth and tight but not so tight that the skin tears.
There are dozens of ways to shape your dough into loaves. I form mine into "logs," per instructions below:
"When shaping your loaves, the most important thing to remember is to be gentle with the dough. Your goal is to form an even loaf with a taut skin, while leaving some larger air holes inside.
Very lightly flour the work surface. Start by forming an envelope: Place the dough on the table. Press and flatten it gently with your fingertips to form a rectangle with a short side facing you, leaving a lot of air bubbles in the dough. Fold the top edge down over the middle of the rectangle, then fold the bottom edge up. Give the dough a quarter turn and repeat the process, folding the top edge down and the bottom edge up again and overlapping the edges slightly in the middle so the dough looks like an envelope. Pat the seam to seal it. Now you have a smaller, tighter rectangle.
Form a cylinder: Starting from the top edge of the rectangle, fold the top third of the dough over itself with one hand. With the heel of your other hand, gently press the seam to seal it. Fold the dough one third of the way down again and work from one end to the other to seal the seam. Try to keep the skin of the dough smooth and tight but not so tight that the skin tears.
Repeat this process one or two more times, until the loaf is a nice round log. Seal the final seam completely with the heel of your hand. Ideally your seam should be straight and tight with no openings or flaps of dough hanging out; with patience, this will become natural. If any dough is protruding from the ends of the log, poke it back in with your finger.
The plain log shape can be placed in a loaf or left on a cloth for a free-form second rise. From the log shape, you can make other cylindrical shapes."
Place logs seam side down in greased loaf pans. Brush tops of loaves with water and sprinkle with oats, if desired.
Or, if you want a heavy, even covering of oats on your loaves, you can brush them with water and then roll them gently in a plate of oats as shown in the above photos. Then place seam side down in greased loaf tins and cover with a damp tea towel.
Proof (second rise): Approximately 1 hour if dough is 70 to 75°F. The loaves are ready for baking when you make a slight indentation with your finger in the dough and it does not spring back. Note: this dough will not rise a whole lot while baking, so you want your loaves to be nearly finished size before you put them in the oven.
Bake at 375° for 35 minutes or until golden brown and bottoms sound hollow if tapped. Remove from pans and let cool on a wire rack. Try to wait at least 40 minutes before cutting into a loaf. Store at room temperature or freeze.
Note: This dough also makes fantastic dinner rolls and burger buns. Just shape into whatever size you like and reduce baking time accordingly. Rolls and buns can be formed into individual balls and spaced far enough apart on a baking sheet so they aren't touching, or you can place them close together in any size pan and make 'pull-apart rolls.'
Let me know if you try this... especially if you love it like crazy like I do :-)
Damn, this blogging thing is a cinch!
The plain log shape can be placed in a loaf or left on a cloth for a free-form second rise. From the log shape, you can make other cylindrical shapes."
Place logs seam side down in greased loaf pans. Brush tops of loaves with water and sprinkle with oats, if desired.
Or, if you want a heavy, even covering of oats on your loaves, you can brush them with water and then roll them gently in a plate of oats as shown in the above photos. Then place seam side down in greased loaf tins and cover with a damp tea towel.
Proof (second rise): Approximately 1 hour if dough is 70 to 75°F. The loaves are ready for baking when you make a slight indentation with your finger in the dough and it does not spring back. Note: this dough will not rise a whole lot while baking, so you want your loaves to be nearly finished size before you put them in the oven.
Bake at 375° for 35 minutes or until golden brown and bottoms sound hollow if tapped. Remove from pans and let cool on a wire rack. Try to wait at least 40 minutes before cutting into a loaf. Store at room temperature or freeze.
Note: This dough also makes fantastic dinner rolls and burger buns. Just shape into whatever size you like and reduce baking time accordingly. Rolls and buns can be formed into individual balls and spaced far enough apart on a baking sheet so they aren't touching, or you can place them close together in any size pan and make 'pull-apart rolls.'
Let me know if you try this... especially if you love it like crazy like I do :-)
Damn, this blogging thing is a cinch!
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