Honey Oat Bread

I never thought one could make/bake Honey Oat Bread at home.  This was always my choice of bread at  a Subway outlet, and I thought of it as an exotic variety that had some special technique in its preparation till  I chanced upon the recipe at Maria's Menu .  It also led me to the original source at Bakingdom .  Both are great sites and worth browsing post by post .

Recipe - ( for one 9 x 5 " loaf )

All purpose flour - 3 cups - 380 gms + 2 tbsp
Oats - 3/4 cup - used quick cooking - but the other kind is ok too
Instant dry yeast - 7 g - 2 1/4 tsp
Salt - 1 1/2 tsp
Milk - 1 cup - 250 ml
Warm water - 1/4 cup
Unsalted butter - 2 tbsp
Honey - 1/4 cup  + 1 1/2 tbsp

Combine flour, oats, yeast and salt in a large bowl
In a small bowl take the milk, warm it make sure it does not boil - add butter - it should melt . Stir it in.  And then the warm water and honey

Pour the milk mixture into the bowl with the flour mixture.
I made the dough with my hand - remember the dough will be sticky at first, so flour your hands and work it well and patiently, adding little flour if necessary.  After 5 minutes the tough should be smooth and elastic.  If it gets too dry sprinkle a little water

Place in a lightly oiled bowl .  Cover and allow it to rise till it is double in size.  Should take an hour or also another half hour.

Prepare the loaf tin - line it with parchment paper

Now lightly flour a clean, dry work surface.  Place the risen dough on it.
Using your fingers, press dough to a 9 x 12 inch rectangle
Tightly roll the dough and tuck the ends as needed to make the loaf to 9 x 5 - the seam should be down as you place it in the loaf tin.

Cover with a clean towel and allow it to rise once again till is doubled.  Which should take another hours time

Preheat oven to 180C

Warm 2 tbsp of honey and brush generously onto the surface of the loaf.  Sprinkle the oats on top.

Place another empty loaf tin at the bottom rack.
Boil two cups of water and put in the empty loaf tin on the bottom rack

Place the loaf tin with the dough on a rack above the one with water and  bake for about 40 - 50 minutes till the loaf turns a golden brown

( In my oven , could be 'cos it is fan assisted - this happened a lot earlier about 35 minutes - so keep checking )


Allow to cool completely before slicing.