Whole Wheat Oatmeal Buttermilk Bread

Around here, our favorite bread is this whole wheat buttermilk bread.  It’s soft, delicious and it has caused us to stop making all other kinds of bread.  But, the only thing that is missing from the bread (in my opinion) is oats. 

When I came across a delicious-looking buttermilk bread made with oats, I decided to break from our tradition and give it a try.  It’s a large batch of dough, makes two loaves (8-inch pans) and it was a winner in my mind. 

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Buttermilk Bread – Adapted from Tracy’s Culinary Adventures

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 C old fashioned oats
• 1 C water, boiling
• 1/4 C water, room temperature
• 1 1/2 C buttermilk, room temperature
• 2 T honey (just slightly overflowing)
• 2 tsp. yeast
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3 T olive oil
• 2 C bread flour
• 3 C whole wheat (or white whole wheat) flour
• Additional oats and warm honey for garnish

Directions

Combine 1 C boiling water with 1 1/2 C old fashioned oats and stir well.  Let the oats soak for 10 minutes, stirring every 2-3 minutes. 

Meanwhile, in the bowl of your stand mixer, add 1/4 C room temperature water, 2 heaping T honey, 2 tsp. of yeast, 3 T olive oil and 1 1/2 tsp. salt.  Add in the oats, 1 1/2 C buttermilk and 2 C of bread flour along with 3 C whole wheat (either red or white will work) flour. 

Using your stand mixer, knead the dough for 10 minutes.  You may need to add in some additional flour (I added about 1/8 C) during the kneading process if the dough is sticky.

Place the dough in a large lightly greased bowl to rise, covered, until doubled.  This took my dough about 1 hour. 

Remove the dough from the bowl and place onto a lightly floured surface.  Punch down and knead the dough 6-7 times.  Then, divide it into two. 

Shape each half of the dough into a rectangle, with the length of the dough matching the length of your bread/loaf pan. 

Roll the dough up lengthwise and tuck the ends under the loaf.  Pat and shape and set into a lightly greased (and/or parchment papered) 8-inch loaf pan.  Repeat for the other loaf. 

Mix together 1 tsp. honey and a 1/2 tsp. of hot water and brush the top of the loaves with the honey mixture.  Sprinkle 1/8 C of old fashioned oats over the top of each loaf, if desired. 

Cover and allow the dough to rise until it just pops up over the top of the pan.  Then, preheat your oven to 375.  When preheated, place the bread loaves on the bottom rack, and bake for 50-60 minutes.  You’ll know the bread is done when they sound hallow when gently tapped or the internal temperature has reached 200 degrees F.

Remove the bread from the pan and place onto a cooling rack; cool completely. 

I recommend freezing any extra bread so that it stays just as delicious as it is right now.  Here’s our kitchen tip on keeping bread fresh.