Walnut Oatmeal Bread

This bread was baked nearly three weeks ago, I have baked 3 other loaves since, but I have been lazy about updating the blog.

This bread is from Laurel Robertson's 'The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book'. The basic recipe (Oatmeal Bread) has instructions to use steel cut oats or rolled oats. I had made the steel-cut oats version in the past and liked it, so I tried the rolled oats version this time. There are two variations to the basic recipe: walnut-oatmeal and sunflower (seed)-oatmeal. I made the walnut-oatmeal version this time but I will definitely the sunflower seed version soon.

Preparation
The oatmeal is cooked well (with some salt) and set aside for several hours or overnight. Mixed into it is honey and oil. Yeast is mixed in warm water (in the measuring cup in the picture). The flour is all whole wheat flour.

Preparation

Stiff dough when ingredients are brought together

The recipe says: "Even if the dough seems very stiff, don't add more water just yet: the flour will absorb water from the oatmeal very slowly, so the dough softens as you work". I let it sit for 5 minutes before the 10 minutes of  kneading and sure enough, it came together very well.

2:35 pm: Ready for first rise

3:36 pm: First rise is done

3:39 pm: Ready for second rise

4:29 pm: Second rise is done

Proofing
The walnuts, lightly toasted and chopped fine, are added before shaping.

Walnuts spread onto the dough

Actually I am not sure how I got from the earlier picture to this stage.

4:50 pm: Ready for proofing

5:34 pm: Ready for the oven

A decent loaf

Decent crumb with a distinct ring of walnuts under the crust that would fall apart a bit.

The bread
I like oatmeal and I like walnuts, and this bread didn't disappoint. I had most of it with almond butter.

Notes
Date: Aug 21, 2011
Recipe: Walnut-Oatmeal Bread from Laurel Robertson's book, 'The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book'

Flours: Whole wheat, cooked rolled oats
Bread specific ingredients: Walnuts (toasted and chopped fine)
Sweetener used: Honey
Liquid: Water

Comments: It's been fairly long since this bread found it's way to our stomachs and I don't remember what I might have wanted to write here about the experience. I guess the lesson to learn is to post more promptly.

-RPH

Raisin Rye Bread

August is turning out to be a slow month in the baking department. It is simply too hot around here to want to turn on the oven. Can't wait for October.
I hadn't baked a rye bread in a while. Laurel Robertson's 'The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book' has several recipes with rye bread but many of them need a special sourdough starter. I hadn't baked this Raisin Rye bread before and was quite excited about it.

The ingredients
This bread uses a mixture of whole wheat flour and rye flour, about 3 : 2 ratio. Besides raisins, some molasses is also used, resulting in a fairly sweet bread. There's also cider vinegar to help with the flavor, caraway seeds and the usuals: yeast, oil and salt. I chose to puree the cooked raisins to help them blend better into the bread.

The ingredients

Clockwise from left: pureed raisins, flours + salt, yeast + water,
water from soaking raisins + molasses + cider vinegar + oil,

The raisins are mixed in towards the end of the 10 minute kneading.

5:12 pm: Ready for first rise

6:21pm: First rise is done

6:23 pm: Ready for second rise

6:59: Second rise is done

The loaf pan
I decided to use the cast iron loaf pan for a change. It would have to be non-preheated, since I don't think placing proofed dough in a preheated loaf would be easy or reasonable. I heated the oven to 400º F to help the pan heat faster, but turned down the temperature to the specified 350º F after putting the pan in the oven.

7:11 pm: After rounding, resting and shaping

7:40 pm: Risen, but not a whole lot. Underproofed?

8:39 pm: Out of the oven and glazed with some butter

Sliced well

Decent crumb but dense at the bottom and sides

The bread
Although the bread didn't rise very well, or get any oven spring, it sliced well and tasted pretty good. It had a distinct taste of rye and raisins, but the caraway were lost. It was too sweet for RH to have more than a couple bites, so I got to enjoy it for a long time, mostly with almond butter and sliced bananas, of course.

Notes
Date: Aug 7, 2011
Recipe: Raisin Rye Bread from Laurel Robertson's book, 'The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book'

Flours: Whole wheat, rye flour
Bread specific ingredients: Raisins, caraway seeds, cider vinegar
Sweetener used: Raisins, molasses
Liquid: Water

Comments: Pureeing the raisins was a good idea. They spread more evenly throughout the loaf and the specks looked pretty. I wonder if the denseness at the bottom and sides has something to do with using a cold cast iron loaf pan where the top of the loaf got more heat initially before the sides and the bottom. Would this taste good with less raisins or no molasses added?

Time to brave the heat and bake a no-sign-of-sweet bread.

-RPH

Applesauce Walnut Bread 02

This bread is one of my favorites, so much so that I had been waiting to make it so I could blog about it. Then my sister pointed out that she had read about this bread in one of my posts. I checked back and indeed, I had made this bread in April. Looking back at the notes and pictures, it seems that the most recent attempt was more successful than the earlier one.

I stuck to the recipe this time as well. Compared to the previous attempt, I didn't add the vital wheat gluten, which, as I noted in my previous post seems to give better rising breads (at least for LR's recipes). Here are the pictures:

Ingredients

6:08 pm: Ready for mixing

6:29 pm: Some rest after mixing and then kneaded for about 10 minutes

7:32 pm: Good first rise in just over an hour

7:34 pm: Ready for second rise

8:15 pm: Good second rise in under 45 minutes

8:29 pm: After rounding and resting, ready for proofing
in a slightly greased and lightly floured pan

8:56 pm: Wonderfully risen

9:55 pm: Nicely colored crust....

...and some obvious ovenspring. The floured pan worked, because the
loaf slid out very easily

Sliced thin without too many crumbs

Love the crumb with flecks of walnuts

Notes
Date: July23, 2011
Recipe: Applesauce Walnut Bread from Laurel Robertson's book, 'The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book'

Flours: Whole wheat
Bread specific ingredients: Applesauce, walnuts
Sweetener used: None
Liquid: Buttermilk and water

Comments: Love this bread. I had some with almond butter topped with a sliced banana. New favorite breakfast.

-RPH

A Loaf for Learning

Or Yogurt Bread

Sometime last year when I was going through a phase of bad loaves, I baked the Loaf for Learning from Laurel Robertson's 'The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book'. This is the first 'recipe' in the book and covers several pages with detailed instructions and notes on how the dough should feel and why things are done a certain way. It was a great refresher then, and this time too.

The recipe
I stuck to the recipe closely, except using potato water instead of regular water because I had it available. I resisted the urge to add vital wheat gluten, which I sometimes do when the recipe uses whole wheat 'bread' flour. But I learned this time that it is not necessary.

Less talking and more pictures this time:

The ingredients

Flour + salt; yeast + water; yogurt + honey + oil + potato water

4:33 pm: After kneading well for 8-10 minutes, ready for the first rise

5:51 pm: Wonderfully risen

5:56 pm: Ready for the second rise

6:43 pm: First poke test was a tad early, hence the two pokes

6:54 pm: Rounded before resting

6:54 pm: Rested

Laurel's shaping process... flatten into a disk

Fold in a 'smile'... gently push air out left to right

Right side over left, gently push air out top to bottom

Left over right.. and flatten to pan length

The hardest part for me, rolling top to bottom into a log shape

Sealing the bottom seam. This side goes down in the pan

6:59 pm: Ready for proofing

7:31 pm: Quick decent proof

8:28 pm: Out of the oven

8:28 pm: Oven spring!

Finger digs trying to get the loaf out of the pan

Crust falling apart a bit

Light, airy, fairly even crumb, but broken slices

Notes
Date: July 16, 2011
Recipe: A Loaf for Learning from Laurel Robertson's 'The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book'

Flours/Grains: Whole wheat
Bread specific ingredients:Yogurt
Sweetener used: Honey
Liquid: Potato water, yogurt

Comments: The bread rose beautifully each time and even had decent oven spring. The whole bread baking process was going so well, until it was time to take the bread out of the pan. It was stuck to the sides and I was afraid it would come out in chunks. Several factors could have caused this:
1. The dough was overproofed
2. The oven temperature was not exactly 350º F at the start. I was broiling red bell peppers before baking the bread and forgot to measure the temperature when I changed from broil to bake.
3. The loaf pan is losing its non-stick quality (although there is no visible loss of coating, only some discoloration)

The crumb was incredibly light and airy. I want to say it is the lightest and airiest 100% whole grain loaf I have ever baked. (And this makes me think that vital wheat gluten has been messing it up for me in past attempts). The taste was good. Because the slices were somewhat ripped, it didn't make very good sandwiches, but it was great with soups and nut butters.

Thank you Laurel Robertson, Carol Flinders and Bronwen Godfrey for your Loaf for Learning.

-RPH