Oatmeal Buttermilk Boules

in Bread, Sandwich & Wraps

Oatmeal Buttermilk Bread

Make note: A major holiday passed and I didn’t bake a dessert. But I did bake.

I love to bake breadreally, I do. Sweet or savory, white or wheat – the yeastier the better.

I fell in love with the look of the famous no-knead bread late last fall – the look of a “real” bakery boule at home. But I’ll be honest, I don’t care how pretty that loaf of bread is, an 18 hour rest rarely fits into my schedule. I often make the decision to bake bread for dinner the day-of and patience is not a virtue for which I am known – just ask Foodie Groom 🙂 I have no problems kneading a loaf of bread (read: fire up the KitchenAid) if it means I can have bread with dinner in 2 hours.

Ages ago, I bookmarked a recipe for Oatmeal Buttermilk Bread. I formed the boules and baked them in my dutch oven, al a the no-knead bread. I got a moist, flavorful wheat bread with a beautiful crust that accompanied dinner just as perfectly as it did the leftovers.

Oatmeal Buttermilk Bread

Oatmeal keeps this soft and fluffy wheat bread moist for days.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
  • 1 cup boiling water
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 2 tsp dried yeast
  • 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 3 1/2 -4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp honey mixed with 1/2 tsp very hot water

Instructions

  1. Set aside 1/4 cup rolled oats. Place the remaining oats into a medium bowl. Cover with boiling water. Mix with spoon to moisten all oats. Let bowl sit, uncovered, for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
  2. Place 1/4 cup of warm water in the bowl of your stand mixer and sprinkle yeast on top. Let rest for 5 minutes. Add soaked oats, buttermilk, oil, brown sugar, both flours, and salt (I added the original 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour and then added extra flour in 1/4 cup increments). With hook attachment, mix on low speed to combine, then increase speed to medium and mix for about 10 minutes. Dough will be wet and cling to hook, but have a satiny finish.
  3. Place dough in an oiled bowl and over with plastic wrap. Proof in a warm area for about an hour, the dough will almost double in size.
  4. Place dough onto a floured surface and flatten it with your hands, releasing excess air bubbles. Divide the dough into two equal portions. Knead a few times to form each half into a ball and rest seam-side down on two sheets of parchment paper cut larger than the dough ball (a tip: the parchment will enable you to easily transfer the dough to and from the dutch oven so it needs to be large enough to keep it from sticking to the bottom/sides). Cover with lightly-oiled plastic wrap and let rise for 45 minutes.
  5. While loaf is proofing, place a covered dutch oven into the oven and preheat oven to 450.
  6. Remove plastic wrap and use a very sharp knife or razor (I have a 4" razor from the hardware store that I use specifically for slashing baguettes) and make 1/2" deep cuts on the bread in a pattern of your choice. Use a brush to apply the honey and water mixture to the top of one loaf (allow remaining loaf to continue to rise). Sprinkle with half of the remaining oats. Carefully transfer the parchment paper with the dough to the dutch oven and reduce temperature to 400. Cover and bake for 35 minutes. Remove lid and bake an additional 15-20 minutes until loaf is a deep brown.
  7. Remove dutch oven from the oven, use the parchment paper to remove the bread from the oven. Glaze the remaining loaf with the honey mixture, sprinkle with the remaining oats, and bake as directed for the first loaf. Allow loaves to cool completely before cutting.

Notes

Yields: 2 round loaves

Adapted from The Macrina Bakery and Cafe Cookbook

Estimated time: 2 hours 30 minutes

12 comments… add one
  • I can see that you do love baking 🙂 This one will be one for me to bookmark. I bake bread whenever I have the time in the weekends, but with so many social events, that time is getting more difficult to find.

    Nora

  • Fabulous! You are making my mouth water with those pictures!

  • After look through all the DB posts, I have been itching to make bread! Isn’t that funny!?! I made an egg bread from Breadchick’s site yesterday that was fabulous! This looks great too, I am marking it to bake it later. Yum!

  • That is the best looking sandwich I have seen in a long time. Your bread looks amazing.

  • This looks soooo good! I hope to try it this weekend!

  • It’s such a great bread…it’s my hubby’s sandwich bread usually.

  • Hey you notice how well the colours of the sandwich go with your blog’s colour scheme? 🙂

  • What a wonderfully homey and wholesome bread. Looks delicious!

  • That is quite the delicious looking loaf, and what a gorgeous sandwich!

  • Go ahead baker girl! This looks fab-u-lous Shawnda! Since the DB challenge, I have had the bread itch….this may have to be baked in the Mele Cotte household!

  • Kathy

    I baked two loaves this morning. However, I don’t have a Kitchenaid, so I kneaded the bread by hand until well combined, then let the bread do its first rise overnight a la the No-Knead Bread recipe. I only used 3.5 cups of all-purpose flour, 1/4 cup oil, and 3/4 tsp of yeast, and I used more of the honey-water mixture for glazing, and the loaves turned out fantastic! This is better than the No-Knead recipe and not much more complicated. I will be using this recipe from now on. Delicious! Tight, dense crumb, beautiful crust.

  • Kathy – sounds like a fantastic interpretation! I’ll keep that in mind – I’m planning on making this bread again next weekend!

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