Wednesday

snow day


today is a great day to stay inside and play in the kitchen as the view outside turns into a winter wonderland. we know everyone in nyc is sick of the snow but the beauty and stillness of the white powdery stuff is still exciting to these west coast kids! cookbook santa was very good to us this holiday and we have loads of inspiration to share. a few books at the top of our list that we received are noma, tartine bread, my sweet mexico, and baked explorations. the oatmeal sandwich bread recipe for today's post comes from another wonderful cookbook, good to the grain, filled with recipes that bake with whole grain flours. it's a perfect loaf to toast, smear with butter and jam & nibble with a cup of tea on this snowy day. enjoy!

Oatmeal Sandwich Bread
(from Good to the Grain)
makes 1 large loaf

1 pkg active dry yeast
3 tbs unsulphered molasses
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups bread flour
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted & cooled
1 tbs kosher salt

add 2 cups warm water, yeast and molasses to the bowl of a standing mixer. stir, allowing yeast to bloom for about 5 minutes, until it begins to bubble. add flours, oats and butter to the yeast mixture. stir together with a wooden spoon, cover with a towel and let sit for 30 minutes. attach the bowl and the bread hook to the mixer. add salt and mix on medium for about 6 minutes or until the dough slaps around the sides of the bowl without sticking. if the dough is sticking at any time, add one or two tablespoons of bread flour. the dough will be soft, supple and slightly tacky.
scrap the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times. put the dough into a greased bowl and cover with a towel. let it rise for about one hour or until it's doubled in size.
to shape the dough, scrape onto a lightly floured work surface. press down, working into a square shape and depressing any air bubbles. fold the dough down from the top to the middle, then up from the bottom to the middle. next, bring the newly formed top and bottom edges together and pinch the seam in the middle, sealing the seam with your fingers. pinch the sides together and roll the shaped dough back and forth, plumping it so that it's evenly formed and about the size of your loaf pan. place the dough in a greased 9x5x3-inch loaf pan and press it gently into the corners of the pan. cover and let it rest for about 1 hour or until dough rises to half it's size or puffs up over the edge of the pan.
preheat oven to 400 degrees F. bake for 40 minutes, rotating halfway through. the loaf is ready when the top crust is dark as molasses and the bottom crust is dark brown. give the top of the loaf a thump to see if it sounds hollow. remove the loaf from the pan and cool for at least 2 hours on a baking rack.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

that looks like a darn near perfect loaf. cheers!

jen said...

all of these cookbooks are on my list! Noma and Tartine Bread are so beautiful! and I love everything I have made from Good to the Grain.

Kathleen said...

That looks WONDERFUL! Great job!
Kathleen

greenbeenfood said...

seems so far from my current balmy world...i have the doors open and i can hear someones lawn mower going in the distance....when cold bake & eat sounds very good. dayle

Jeanette @eat! said...

Love the look. Have just discovered your blog. Really nice. Well done. Looking forward to new posts.

http://authenticeats.wordpress.com/

Sprinkling of Sugar said...

having experienced a snow day of my own yesterday warm fresh bread would have been just the thing! thanks for sharing this recipe!

Pixie said...

I have always wanted to try baking bread, but after some awful attempts a few years ago with a darn bread machine I'm scarred. This looks so tasty though.

Homemade Pancakes said...

Awesome picture! Makes me want to start baking right now.

Mina B. said...

Ooh I bet the butter and molasses do really good things for the crumb of this bread. Looks delicious.

LetMeEatCake Eat With Me! said...

beautiful loaf! i have yet to make bread and home, but being the bread lover i am i really need to get on it. and warm bread out of the oven, warming the house with bready aromas...alright i'm inspired snow or no snow!

Sprinzette said...

Ooh - I've just come across your blog. This is so lovely. Can't wait to look through the rest of the site and find more kitchen inspiration.

homemade pancakes said...

what do you mean by Oatmeal Sandwich Bread?? this is not available in my shopping store.. i need to try this snow day.. can you help me..

homemade pancakes said...

An interesting discussion is worth comment. I think that you should
write more on this topic, it might not be a taboo subject but
generally people are not enough to speak on such topics. To the next.
Cheers

Anonymous said...

Hello! I just took this loaf out of the oven. Now it is on the rack cooling for the suggested 2 hours. I am not sure I can wait that long. The delicious smell of freshly baked bread is calling my name. Thanks for the recipe.
Melissa

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