Recipe: Old English Oatmeal Bread

A friend of mine took a wonderful picture of some old English oatmeal bread she made the other day and I asked her to send me the recipe. She told me its actualy an old Williams-Sonoma recipe, but yields beautiful looking bread so I thought Id share with you.

Photo by Elise English (No relation to bread)

Old English Oatmeal Bread

These golden brown, oat sprinkled round loaves are based on an old English country recipe.

1 cup old fashioned rolled oats, plus extra for tops of loaves

¾ cup milk

¾ cup water

¼ cup unsalted butter

1 tablespoon dark molasses

2-2 ½ cups unbleached bread flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 package (2 ½ teaspoons) quick-rise yeast

1 egg yolk mixed with 1 teaspoon water, for glaze

Place the 1 cup oats in a large bowl or the bowl of an electric stand mixer. In a saucepan over low heat, combine the milk, water and butter and bring to a boil. Pour over the oats and let stand until lukewarm about 30 minutes; stir often to hasten cooling. Stir in the molasses, 1 ½ cups of the flour, salt and yeast. Gradually stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a soft dough that holds its shape.

Knead by hand or with a dough hook, adding flour as necessary. Knead by hand until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes; knead by hook until dough is not sticky and pulls cleanly from the bowl sides, 6-7 minutes.

Form the dough into a ball and place in a clean, greased bowl, turning to grease all sides. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled, 45-60 minutes.

Lightly flour a heavy baking sheet. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and press flat. Cut in half, knead briefly and form each half into a ball, stretching the sides down and under. Place well apart on the prepared baking sheet and flatten slightly. Cover loosely with greased plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, 20-30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425f.

Uncover the loaves, brush with the glaze and sprinkle with oats. Bake until golden brown and the loaves sound hollow when tapped on the bottoms, 25-30 minutes. Unmold the loaves and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Makes two 13-oz loaves

from the book Williams-Sonoma Breads