English Oatmeal Bread

This bread was good.  It didn’t rise for me as much as it should have. I think the house was too cold that day, so I made rolls.  They taste yummy but are dense.

English Oatmeal Bread [two loaves or two dozen buns]

INGREDIENTS     

2 cups oatmeal, plus 2 tablespoons for dusting

2 cups milk

1 package dry yeast

2 tablespoons butter, room temperature

2 teaspoons salt

1 cup whole-wheat flour

2 cups bread or unbleached flour, approximately

1 egg, beaten, mixed with 1 tablespoon water

BAKING PANS: 2 small (7"-x-3") baking pans, greased or Teflon, or 1 baking sheet, sprinkled with cornmeal

In a large bowl soak the oatmeal in the milk for 2 hours.

Stir the yeast into the oatmeal mixture; add the butter, salt, and whole-wheat flour. Beat by hand 100 strokes. Add 1/2 cup white flour and continue beating for 2 minutes more.

Stir in the balance of the white flour, 1/2 cup at a time, first with the spoon and then by hand. The dough will be a rough, shaggy mass that will clean the sides of the bowl. If, however, the dough continues to be slack and moist, and sticks to your fingers, the blade, or work surface, sprinkle with additional flour.

Turn onto a lightly floured work surface and knead with the rhythmic motion of push-turn-fold.

The dough will become smooth and elastic. Occasionally change the kneading rhythm by raising the dough above the table and crashing it down hard against the surface. Wham! Knead by hand for about 8 minutes.

FIRST RISING: 1 1/2 hours

Place the dough in the mixing bowl and pat with buttered fingers to keep the surface from crusting. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and put aside at room temperature until it has risen to about twice its original size, as judged by how far it creeps up the sides of the bowl, 1 ½ hours. It can also be tested by poking a finger into it—the dent remains when the dough is risen.

Punch down the dough, turn it onto the work surface, and knead briefly to press out the bubbles.

For loaves: divide the dough into 2 pieces with a knife. Shape into balls, and let them rest under a towel for 3 to 4 minutes. Form each loaf by pressing a ball under your palms into a flat oval, roughly the length of the baking pan. Fold the oval in half, pinch the seam tightly to seal, tuck under the ends, and place in the pan, seam down.

For buns: roll the dough under the palms into a long sausage-like piece about 2" in diameter. With a sharp knife, cut it into equal lengths (perhaps 1 1/2" long). Roll the small pieces into balls between your palms, or under your cupped palm press the dough hard against the work surface. The buns can be made any size you desire. Place them on the baking sheet spaced apart to give them room to rise.

SECOND RISING: 45 mins.

Cover the pans or the buns with wax paper and leave at room temperature until they have risen to double in volume, and for the loaves, until the center of the dough has risen above the level of the edge of the pan, about 45 minutes.

Brush the raised breads with the egg wash and sprinkle with the 2 tablespoons oatmeal.

Preheat the oven to 400° 20 minutes before baking.

Bake in the hot oven for 30 minutes, reduce the heat to 350°, and continue baking for another 20 to 30 minutes, or until the loaves are a golden brown and test done. Turn one loaf out of its pan and tap the bottom crust with the forefinger. A hard, hollow sound means it is baked. If the loaves appear to be browning too quickly, cover with a piece of foil or brown sack paper.

Remove the breads from the oven and place on a metal rack to cool.