Monday, July 16, 2012

Bread Baking Babes - Easy Little Bread


It was my turn to choose the Bread Baking Babes bread for July.  I chose a bread that I fell in love with earlier this year - Easy Little Bread from 101 Cookbooks.

I love the simple ingredients - oats, whole wheat flour, honey - I love the texture, I love that it really is an easy bread, and most of all I love the taste.  If I could bake only one bread for the rest of my life (I think all the Babes are shuddering at the thought) it would be this bread.


This bread isn't going to win any beauty contests; it isn't elaborately shaped - it is pretty much just a really wet dough you scrape into a pan and let rise briefly before baking.  But the flavor and the quickness are divine.


Thanks to the Bread Baking Babes for allowing me to choose the bread this month!  I hope you all enjoyed it.


I hope you out there too will enjoy this bread! Want to be a Bread Baking Buddy? Bake the bread before July 29 and send me an email at iliketocookATshawDOTca. Include a photo and a link to your blog.

Cheers!

Easy Little Bread
from 101 Cookbooks

 1 1/4 cups / 300 ml warm water (105-115F)
2 teaspoons active dry yeast (one packet)
1 tablespoon runny honey
1 cup / 4.5 oz / 125 g unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup / 5 oz / 140 g whole wheat flour
1 cup / 3.5 oz / 100 g rolled oats (not instant oats)
1 1/2 teaspoons fine grain sea salt
2 tablespoons butter, melted, for brushing


In a medium bowl, sprinkle the yeast onto the warm water and stir until the yeast dissolves. Stir in the honey and set aside for a few minutes, until the yeast blooms and swells a bit - 5 - 10 minutes.
In the meantime, mix the flours, oats, and salt in a large bowl. Add the wet mixture to the dry and stir very well.
Brush a 8-cup loaf pan generously with some of the melted butter. Turn the dough into the tin, cover with a clean, slightly damp cloth, and set in a warm place for 30 minutes, to rise.
Preheat the oven to 350F / 180C, with a rack in the middle. When ready, bake the bread for 35-40 minutes, until golden and pulling away from the sides of the pan. I finish things up by leaving the bread under the broiler for just a heartbeat - to give the top a bit deeper color. Remove from oven, and turn the bread out of the pan quickly. Let it cool on a rack so it doesn't steam in the pan. Serve warm, slathered with butter.
Makes 1 loaf.
Adapted from Gran's Kitchen: Recipes from the Notebooks of Dulcie May Booker.
Prep time: 10 min - Cook time: 35 min