Sour Potatoes

I don’t know about you, but for me, there are few things in life as homey and comforting and just downright delicious as Homemade Bread. Yes, it is a bit more time consuming and, yes, you can mess it up if you’re not paying attention but Y-E-S, it is totally worth it! Homemade bread is much healthier, more affordable, and makes your house smell heavenly…with all these benefits, why not give it a try?

I personally love this recipe, it’s everything you’d want from a loaf of bread. Hardy, light, sweet but not too sweet, delicious and keeps well in an airtight bag. How can it be all those things AND be homemade, you ask? The answer is, I do not know…but it is.

Let’s give it a try, shall we?

Delicious Oat Bread

from the book, The Rhythm of Family by Amanda Blake Soule

*- indicate my own changes

2 cups warm water

2 packages of active dry yeast (4 1/2 tsps)

*4.5 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons brown sugar

5 cups flour plus an additional 1 cup for kneading

1 cup rolled oats (not instant and not steel cut)

2 teaspoons salt

*4 tablespoons salted butter, at room temperature

olive, canola oil, or cooking spray, of the bowl and the bread pan

Okay, begin by pouring the warm water into a mixing bowl. Then add in your yeast, honey and brown sugar and whisk until everything is well combined and starts to get frothy. Set aside for ten minutes or until it begins to get foamy.

Next, mix the flour, salt, oats, and butter in a large bowl. Next, using your hands, mix in the butter until it is worked all the way through.

As always, you want to use a nice, high quality flour. I always like to use His Majesty, King Arthur Flour.

Your Highness...

Next up, pour the yeast mixture into the flour mixture and mix until it is thoroughly integrated. You can add a bit more of His Majesty (flour) if the dough is too sticky. Now, pour the dough out onto a kneading surface and knead for 8-9 minutes, you can add up to a cup of flour to prevent sticking if you knead to…I mean need to. The dough is ready when it starts to feel a bit elastic.

Place your doughy friend in a lightly oiled bowl and cover it with a damp cloth. Let it rise in a warm place for about an hour. Punch down the dough gently, and let it rise for another half an hour. Now turn the dough out, again, onto a floured kneading surface and divide it into two balls for 2 loaves. Gently, knead each ball for 2-3 minutes and place in lightly oiled bread pans. Use the back of your hand to gently press down the dough and shape it to fit each pan. Sprinkle the top of the dough with some oats. Cover again with a damp cloth and place pans in a warm place to rise for another half an hour or so.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake until the tops of the bread are golden, about 37-40 minutes. For me, 38 minutes is just perfect!

If you can restrain yourself, let the bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then cool completely on a wire rack. If you can’t, treat the burns with butter but only after you’ve buttered your hot, delicious bread. Priorities, People.

And there you have it…delicious, homemade bread…you did it! Well, done. Now, slap some jam on a slice of that grainy goodness and enjoy! You can do your Jane Fonda tomorrow to work it off…