Oatmeal Buttermilk Bread

This post could also be called "My Favorite Sandwich Bread of all Time" or "Best Snacking Bread" or "You Should Probably Be Making This Bread"

The bread is soft and light with a slightly sweet oaty flavor and a nice tang from the buttermilk. It keeps in a plastic bag without going stale for five+ days (a loaf has never survived without being eatten for longer than five days in our house)

The recipe comes from a delicious bakery in Seattle called Macrina. When I was visiting Seattle we picked up delicious treats from there for breakfast every single day. Their baked goods were seriously impressive.

 

I copied the bread recipe from the baking book that the bakery has published. I like writing recipes out because it forces me to read them really carefully. Plus I can organize the ingredients into groups that get put into the bowl together. For this recipe the oatmeal and water, yeast and water, and then the remaining ingredients all get their own little grouping.

 

I have made this recipes many many times. It is my go-to loaf of bread.

The first time I made it I followed the recipe exactly. The dough was insanely sticky even after kneading and rising. I resisted adding more flour and wrestled it into a loaf shape and baked it up. The result was delicious but I decided to try adding a little bit more flour the next time.

That loaf turned out too.

Next time I added a tiny bit more. Success again!

I'm happy with an extra 1/2- 3/4 cup whole wheat flour. The dough is still very very very sticky. I would not knead this dough by hand unless you have some wizardly sticky-dough-talent (aka really good dough scrapers and an iron will to avoid adding more flour during kneading)

The dough will still stick to your dough hook, it will  stick to the sides of the bowl, it will stick to your hands if you touch it. But don't worry! Its supposed to be like that. Just oil or rub butter on your hands before trying to pick up the kneaded dough and put it in a lightly oiled bowl.

 

Just plop the dough down, cover tightly with some plastic wrap and let it rise for one hour

 

 

After an hour the dough should have doubled in size. Place the dough on the table (i usually grease up the table top a little to prevent sticking) and gently pat into a 12x6 rectangle.

I found that this much dough makes a loaf waaaay too large for my boyfriend and I. I always cut the dough in half and make two loaves. One to keep and one to give away or freeze.

 

Next press the dough out into a slightly bigger rectangle. This makes it easier to form the loaf.

 

Fold the two sides overlapping them slightly in the center.

 

Now roll the dough away from you and turn the loaf over to sit on its seam. Repeat with the other piece of dough so that you have two loaves. Place each loaf on a baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for 35-40 minutes or until it has doubled.

 

My oven is not big enough to bake both loaves at once, so once they have risen I stick one in the fridge and then spritz the other loaf with water, gently gently press oats onto it and then bake it for 30-40 minutes until golden brown. To check if its done I knock on the bottom of the loaf, a hollow sounds means that its good to go.

I let the other loaf sit at room temp for about 10 minutes and then bake it up too.

This will make your house smell amaaazing. And the bread really does taste as good as it smells.

Wait until the bread is cool before cutting into it! Its tempting.. so so tempting to cut into too soon. This bread comes out of the oven with a hard crust that gets steamed soft as it cools and the texture of the bread is so much better when you let it cool first.

 

Mmmm soft and light like white bread but with so much more flavor from the oatmeal and brown sugar.

 

Oatmeal Buttermilk Bread

from Leslie Mackie's Macrina

Step one:

1 1/4 cup rolled oats
1 cup boiling water
-combine and stir until the water has been absorbed

Step two:

2tsp yeast
1/4 cup warm water
-combine in mixers bowl, let sit for five minutes then stir to dissolve

Step Three:

1 1/2 cups buttermilk (if you don't have buttermilk on hand don't worry, it turns out great with regular milk too)
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
- I usually combine these in a bowl while I let the yeast sit

1   cup whole wheat flour + 1/2 - 3/4 cup extra (even with 3/4 cup dough should be very sticky)
3 1/2 cups white flour
2tsp kosher salt
- add these to the mixing bowl with the yeast in it. Mix the flour and yeast on low with the paddle attachment while you pour in the milk, oil, and sugar mixture

add the oats and mix until combined

-switch to the dough hook and knead for 15-20 minutes. The dough will be sticky.. very sticky. Resist the urge to dry it out with more flour. I usually turn the dough over by hand half way through the kneading to make sure that nothing is sticking to the bottom and not getting kneaded. (the dough will stick to your hands while you do this. don't worry its fine)

Step Four

Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave to double (one hour or so)

Step Five
Gently flatten the dough into a 12x6 inch rectangle. Cut this in half and then pat into two slightly bigger rectangles. Fold the two sides to overlap (like folding a letter) then roll the dough away from you to form a loaf. Flip the loaf over and let it sit on its seam for a minute. Repeat with second piece
 Place the formed loaves on  trays.

Cover in plastic and let rise for 30-45 minutes. Preheat the over to 385

Step Six
Spritz with water (or brush on water) sprinkle with some extra oats and bake for 30-40 minutes. Crust will be dark brown and your house will smell aaammmaaazzzing. You will know if the loaf is done if it sounds hollow when you knock on the bottom.

Comments

[Mylifeunderthebus]

I really enjoy the fact that half the loaf is already missing. I also have the desire to use one as a pillow and have it all to myself - it looks smashing.

[Jean]

Beautiful bread! I'm going to have to try this recipe. Thanks for your kind comments about my crostata.
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[Chelsey]

I'm trying this! I've been meaning to make sandwich bread and not just bagels all the time. Looks delicious. ps. I've never bought buttermilk (mostly due to laziness), I just let regular milk sit with a tablespoon or two of vinegar for a few minutes.

[Delishliving]

wow, your bread looks amazing. i too, love a real, written out recipe. this post contains so many great tricks and tips - i've never made bread from scratch (um, the bread maker doesn't count, right?), and i ALMOST feel like with this post that maybe i could do it. thanks for all the info!!!

[Clare]

I really should NOT look at your blog when I am hungry...
I can just about taste this bread it looks so good!

[HoangLan]

Beautiful loaf. And it must taste wonderful. I really want to try, but as you said, the dough is very sticky, do you think if it is possible to knead it by hands? I don't have either kitchen aid or bread maker, but can't resist the idea of baking this loaf.

[Clockwork Lemon]

Without a mixer this dough is difficult to work with, but if you still want to make it I recommend greasing your hands with oil or butter and doing the kneading in a large bowl instead of on a counter. To get the dough off the sides of the bowl keep a spatula and a bowl of water close by and dip the spatula in water and use it to scrape down the sides of the bowl before continuing to knead

[Sabiha Hetavkar]

This is baking in the oven right now. I added 2 cups extra flour (did not listen to your advice, maybe next time I will be wiser) and replaced one cup all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour. Since the whole wheat flour we get here is low-gluten, added a tsp of bread improver. I liked the recipe a lot. It rose well. I think this would do fine even without the improver. It's smelling good too. Will post it and link to your recipe

[Alyssa N.]

When in this process can you freeze one of the loaves? how do you freeze it (what do you put it in) and how long does it keep in the freezer? I am new to bread making, only tried it once before but you have convinced me to try again!

[Clockwork Lemon]

Alyssa N: You can freeze the baked loaf, but be sure to let it cool completely. You can buy freezer bags that don't have that zipper thing at the top, you just close them with a twist tie like store bought bread. Then you wrap that in tinfoil to help it stay fresh longer. It should be good for a few months

I don't really freeze bread dough (doesn't mean that you can,t I just don't). Buns and pizza dough are a bit different because you can freeze them easily after the last rise so it doesn't matter if the yeast doesn't want to activate again after coming out of the freezer. But regular sized loaves might be a bit trickier to freeze and then get them to do their last rise

[Allison]

This is a follow-up to Alyssa's question about freezing: here is a great article from the NYTimes about freezing unbaked dough http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/12/dining/12appe.html?scp=2&sq=anadama&st=cse
- let it go through all the risings, then freeze, defrost overnight before baking.

I have my own question too for CL - have you ever restricted these lovely free-form loaves to pans? I like a more square shaped loaf for making sandwiches. What do you think?

[Clockwork Lemon]

Allison: Thanks for the link!

I've been baking this bread in loaf pans a lot recently because its easier to slice and then freeze. I use two loaf pans and then let the bread rise until it domes a few inches above the pan.

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J'ai été le chauffage de ce pain dans une poêle morceau une partie seulement du fait de sa plus simple de couper et après cet arrêt. . J'ai préféré la formule d'une partie. Il a grimpé bien. Je pense que cela pourrait faire amende, même sans l'améliorant. C'est l'inhalation de très bien aussi.

[Mara]

I just made this bread, without a mixer or bread machine, and figured I would post confirming that it can indeed be done, since it seems to have come up before.

To make it a little easier to work by hand and because a single loaf of bread is usually more than plenty around here, I halved the recipe - I imagine working with twice as much as I did would actually be kind of a pain, so I recommend the single loaf adjustment for anyone thinking of doing it this way. The dough was sticky, but it held together well enough so it wasn't much harder to hand knead than most I've tried.

I used the max recommended flour (the 1 3/4 cup measurement rather than 1 1/2), but didn't add any more after that. I also used all white flour (was out of whole wheat so I just made do with what was on hand), but I doubt that made a big difference in the kneading. I haven't cut into it yet, trying to be good even though it smells overwhelmingly amazing, but all seems well.

The forming of the loaf is very satisfying. So simple, but it makes a nice neat loaf. I love that.

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