Honey Oat Bread

The idea comes from "Cooks Illustrated", my favorite cooking magazine. Described below is the dinner roll version, but you can just as easily create a loaf instead. This is a terrific multi-grain bread with a delicate honey taste that you will likely want to eat simply as a snack, even though it is meant as an accompaniment to a grand dinner.

Oct 10, 2020 - Serves 12

INGREDIENTS

  • 3/4 cup old fashioned rolled oats PLUS 4 extra tsps for final sprinkling.
  • 2/3 cup boiling water PLUS 1/2 cup cold water.
  • 2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces.
  • 1 1/2 cups bread flour
  • 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 egg beaten with a tsp of water and a pinch of salt

METHOD

→ Best to use a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Stir the oats and butter in the boiling water and let sit for 10 minutes in the mixer bowl.

→ Add the flour (bread and whole wheat), cold water, honey, yeast and salt. Mix for a minute or two on low speed. Then increase to high speed for another 5-6 minutes. At this point the dough will be sticky.

→ Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size (about an 60-75 minutes).

→ Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and shape into an 8 inch square. Then using a sharpe knife cut the dough into 12 pieces (3 rows by 4 rows)

→ Using your floured hand, gently roll each section in a circular motion on the counter top to form a ball.

→ Grease a 9-10 inch round cake pan.

→ Place the 12 dough balls into the pan, 9 around the edge and 3 inside.

→ Time for another rising...cover again with the plastic wrap and let sit for about 45 mintues until almost doubled in size. The rolls at this point will be cramped in that pan pretty tight!

→ Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush the top of the rolls with the egg wash and finally sprinkle the remaining 4 tsps of oats over the top, Bake until the rolls are a deep brown, about 30 minutes. Let them cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then invert the rolls onto a rack and let cool another 30 minutes.

CHEF's NOTES:

  • If you use a pan smaller than 9 inches, you will have dough left over (which is fine). I like to roll them into small, individual loaves. Cooking time remains the same. (see above).
  • The original recipe called for molasses. I substituted honey for this recipe, and have used real maple syrup in the past (equally good)..
  • The recipe calls for "bread" flour, but you can substitute regular flour instead. Bread flour has slightly more protein content which results in a richer, higher gluten content in your final product.
  • For creating a loaf instead of rolls, you will want to add another 5 minutes to the cooking time. A great way to determine "doneness", in addition to the dark golden appearance, is to insert a temp probe into the bread. It should be a minimum of 195 degrees.
  • The rolls freeze well and are just as good reheated
 
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