Oatmeal Rye Bread Quick and Delicious

Chef's notes

This bread was developed almost by accident. I was out of homemade bread and only had scraps of leftover ingredients. Remembering my traditional core bread recipe proportions, 6 cups flour, 2 1/2 cups water, 2 tablespoons instant dry yeast, and a tablespoon each salt and sugar, I raided the cupboard to see what I could come up. Hopefully something great (well, at least good).

I raided the cupboard to see what I could come up with. By surprise, the combination of oatmeal, whole grain rye and unbleached wheat flour with a hint of sweetness from light brown sugar and honey added proved to be pretty good.

By surprise, the combination of oatmeal, whole grain rye and unbleached wheat flour with hints of sweetness from light brown sugar and honey proved to be more than pretty good.

Here it is, recipe refined, ingredients measured, tweaked, procedures documented and tested.

Bakers generally believe the longer dough takes to rise, the more complex its flavors; 3 1/2 to 4 hours isn't excessive. These loaves rise in only an hour or two but will not disappoint. Finished loaves have wonderfully complex flavors, great texture and crumb.

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Ingredients

3 ½ cups boiling water
2 cups rolled oats
1 ½ tablespoon light brown sugar
2 ½ tablespoons active dry yeast
1 ½ tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup rye flour
3-4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
More flour as needed
2 Loaf pans approx. 5”x10”

Instructions

Add oats and boiling water into mixer with a dough hook. Combine for about a minute. When water cools to 120 degrees or less, mix in the yeast, salt, light brown sugar, honey, and olive oil. Add rye flour and knead. Gradually add the unbleached wheat flour while continuing to knead until the dough is uniform and begins to firm a ball. Dough is ready when pulling away from the bowl but remain slightly sticky on the bottom.
Empty the mix onto a floured countertop. Hand kneads for a few more minutes until smooth. Return to the bowl, cover with wax paper and a damp towel and place in a worm location to rise.
When dough doubles in size, in as little as an hour or two, place dough back on the floured countertop. Punch the dough down and form it again into a ball. Divide the dough to fill loaf pans about halfway. This recipe will make two large loaves.
Spray pans with non-stick oil and press the dough to the bottom of the pans. After resting them for about 5 minutes, place loaf pans on a rack in the middle of a cold oven. Also place an empty cookie sheet on a lower rack. Turn direct heat onto 420 degrees°, not convection. Bread will rise about double and will cook through in about 30 to 40 minutes. Bread is ready when they sound hollow when tapped. Cool slightly before cutting.

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Oatmeal Rye Bread Quick and Delicious