Friday, February 24, 2012

Oatmeal Honey Bread

The Artisan Bread Machine by Judith Fertig has been on my wishlist ages ago, I finally ordered the book and have been waiting anxiously for it to arrive since then. I was so excited when I received my book a few days ago and the very next day, made this simple bread. I love making bread, though sometimes reading the long instructions from some books really tires me out, makes my mind works overtime just by reading and understanding the long and tedious (which I'm sure are necessary!) instructions :)  So I always look for bread machine cookbooks, though I do have some great books like Amy's Bread and Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes A Day, I have never attempted any recipes from those books, well, not yet! Maybe soon! 


I was very happy with the contents of this new book, lots of great recipes, and tips. There's even a chapter on how to make your own sourdough from scratch, I'm looking forward to that one. Much as I love my bread machine, I have always prefer to mix the dough in the machine and finish off the baking in the oven. That's what I did with this Oatmeal Honey Bread.


This is a lovely loaf of oatmeal bread. The only changes that I did was to omit the milk powder, just because I do not have any in my pantry! The next time when I make this, I'll double up the salt, as I think that it will be much tastier, I'm not saying that it is bland, but I think a little bit more of salt would make  it nicer. I only made a 1pound loaf, though the recipes given are for 1lb, 1-1/2 lb and 2lb loaves. 


It has a nice soft texture. I wrap the bread  in plastic wrap and store it in an airtight container, and it was still soft the next day. I enjoyed it spread with some butter and homemade apricot jam and since this is only a small loaf, we finished it all at breakfast. Overall rating : Good loaf of bread! One that I will make again!

I'm sharing this with
Cookbook Sundays hosted by Couscous & Consciousness
Full Plate Thursday hosted by Miz Helen's Country Cottage
Bake with Bizzy hosted by Bizzy Bakes
BYOB-Bake Your Own Bread hosted by Girlichef


Oatmeal Honey Bread
(adapted from "The Artisan Bread Machine" by Judith Fertig)
Makes 1lb (500gm), 1 loaf
1 tbsp instant skim milk powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup lukewarm water
1/4 cup lukewarm milk
2 tbsp liquid honey
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1-3/4 cups bread flour
2/3 cup large-flake (old-fashioned) or quick-cooking rolled oats
1 tsp instant or bread machine yeast

  1. Add milk powder, salt, water, milk, honey and oil to the bread pan. Spoon flour and oats on top of liquid. Add yeast.
  2. Select the Basic/White Cycle and Light Crust setting and press Start.
Tips :
Ideally, the water and milk should be between 86F and 95F (30C and 35C), the temperature range in which yeast is most active. Warm them in the microwave or in a saucepan on the stove, and check the temperature with an instant-read thermometer.
When making the smallest loaf allowed by your machine, check the dough a few minutes after kneading starts to make sure the ingredients are incorporated. You may need to help the machine along by using a rubber spatula to scrape the corners of the pan.
If your dough does not form a ball during the first few minutes of kneading, do one of two things; if the dough looks dry and crumbly, add 1 tbsp (15ml) water at 1-minute intervals until the dough forms a ball; if the dough looks wet, add 1 tbsp (15ml) bread flour at 1-minute intervals until the dough forms a ball.

Kitchen Flavours notes :
~ omitted the milk powder
~ mixed the dough using the bread machine on the Basic Dough cycle. The first rise in the bread machine, at the end of the cycle (1 hour 35 minutes) the machine would have "punch down" the dough and it is ready to be taken out and proceed manually.
~ put the dough on a lightly floured work surface, and rolled out dough to almost the length of the baking pan, about 1" thickness. Roll it up from the longer side like a swissroll, make a nice round at both ends and place the dough in the greased baking pan (for 1 pound loaf, pan size is 8-1/2"x4-1/2"), seam side down. Sprinkle with some flour if desired. Cover with an oiled cling film and left to rise till double in size, about 40 minutes. 
~ Remove cling film and bake in a preheated oven at 160C (I use a dark pan) for 35 minutes. Immediately remove bread from pan and cool on a wire rack.
~ note : will double-up the salt next time.



23 comments:

  1. Such lovely texture, excellent..

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  2. Great looking bread. I love the inside picture. Looks light and fluffy. I love using my bread machine for kneading too. And like you, I like to bake the bread in the oven.

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  3. There's not much that's better than a loaf of homemade bread fresh out of the oven. This looks so good! I love my bread machine for mixing and proofing dough. :)

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  4. i wonder when are we going to start on that 5 mins a day bread recipe..hehe.and i'm sure you still hv a whole list of books on your wishlist!!

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    1. Hi Lena,
      Will try to start on that 5 mins a day soon! And I wonder, whether your wishlist or mine is longer? hehehe!!

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  5. Your bread was fantastic, the core is very soft, that delights
    Kisses and good weekend.

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  6. You girls are motivating me to use my arm muscles.

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  7. Great looking loaf of bread, Joyce. I like making the dough in my bread machine, and then shaping by hand and finishing in the oven, too. Hope you enjoy your new cookbook.

    Thanks for sharing this at Cookbook Sundays.

    xo

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  8. It is a fun book; so happy you finally got it. Your bread looks wonderful; I will be making it soon. I have been looking at that sourdough bread too.
    Rita

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  9. This looks like a nice soft loaf - and I love this cookbook! Thanks so much for joining in BYOB this month :D

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  10. Bread came out perfect,nice n healthy one..

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  11. wow... a perfectly made cake...looks so delicious n mouth watering :-)

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  12. I love your notes at the end of the recipes, it is so helpful to have an experienced cook/baker add these notes, it guarantees the best possible results, thank you. I like using my machine the same way, as a mixer and finish in the oven. Your bread looks wonderful!

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  13. Hi, this looks really good! Love the texture and colour, and a good wake me up breakfast too.
    You sure one very creative lady.....Outstanding!
    Have a pleasant weekend.
    Lee.

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  14. I have baked a similar bread before and love the texture too... Will try yours when I hv replenish my flour:)

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  15. Hi again, your mention of this dish in my pondok really making me miss it....please do cook this dish, 'ikan sepat masak assam'....when you do, send me telegram, and give consent I copy the pic too.
    Will look forward to this dish.
    Happy cooking.
    Lee.

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  16. Hmm..got chance la to eat this with my kuah satay ayam today??? huh? huh?

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  17. Hi Joy,
    The texture of this bread is just perfect. I can almost taste this bread it looks so delicious! Thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday. Hope you have a great week end and come back soon!
    Miz Helen

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