Oatmeal Sandwich Bread

I've been meaning to get more into bread baking for...about a year. I've made the occasional baguette here or there, but I have pretty much made the same recipe every time. Last Monday, I decided it was time to get to it. Tuesdays are my long day at school and the only day where I have to bring a lunch. I was out of my usual sprouted wheat bagels so I decided to make some sandwich bread. I've also been meaning to bake more from Kim Boyce's Good the Grain, so I was able to kill two birds with one stone by making her oatmeal sandwich loaf.

I'm going to try to make some type of bread once a week, and so far I've made it two weeks in a row. Hopefully I'll keep this habit up, because so far it has been delicious.

Oatmeal Sandwich Loaf
Adapted from Kim Boyce's Good to the Grain

2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast (or one packet)
3 tbsp unsulphured molasses
2 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
2 cups bread flour
1 cup rolled oats
4 tbsp butter, melted and cooled
1 tbsp kosher salt

Butter a 9x5x3 loaf pan. My pan was a little smaller (8.5x4.5) and if yours is too, I'd recommend making a few rolls or a small boule with some of the dough. I crammed all of mine into the pan and it baked up ridiculously tall.

Combine the yeast and molasses with 2 cups of warm water and sit for about 5 minutes (until yeast bubbles). Add the flours, butter, and oats and stir with a wooden spoon. Then let sit, covered with a towel, for half an hour.

Add the salt and knead for 8-10 minutes, until dough is soft and only slightly sticky (or mix on medium speed in a stand mixer for 6 minutes). Put the dough into a buttered bowl, cover with a towel, and allow to rise until doubled in size (about one hour).

Before:


After:


Then shape the dough:


First, flatten it out on a lightly floured surface (if making some rolls, take the dough out for that now). Then fold the top down and bottom up so that they meet in the middle. Press together the seam. Then put the dough into the pan with the seam down. Cover the pan with a towel and allow to rise again for another hour. Start preheating the oven to 400 degrees about 20 minutes before the hour is up.



Bake for 40 minutes or until the loaf sounds hollow when you thump the top. Remove the loaf from the pan and let cool for a few hours until cutting, if you can stand to wait that long.

Vegan Banana Coconut Oatmeal Pancakes

I'd been planning to make this recipe straight out of the book, but I was out of milk and lazy. I decided if I was going to use the soy or almond milk in my fridge, I might as well ditch the eggs too and veganize the whole thing. As I was waiting for the skillet to heat up, I spied my glass jar of unsweetened shredded coconut and decided to add some in at the last minute. These pancakes are a lot different than the light, fluffy type I usually go for. The oat flour and oatmeal make them especially dense and...well, oatmealy. Different, but delicious. I also highly recommend chocolate chips.

Vegan Banana Coconut Oatmeal Pancakes
Adapted from Good to the Grain

Dry:
3/4 cup oat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour (whole wheat pastry would work too)
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Wet:
2 tbsp canola oil
1 1/4 cups nondairy milk (I used soy)
1 cup cooked oatmeal
1 tbsp unsulphured molasses (not blackstrap)
1 banana, mashed

Chocolate chips (optional)

Sift the dry ingredients together and set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, milk, oatmeal, molasses, and banana. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and be careful not to overmix. If not using immediately, it can be kept in the fridge overnight, but may need to be thinned with milk.



Heat a skillet over medium heat. When hot, scoop the batter (about 1/4 cup at a time) and cook until bubbles form and then flip.