September, 2019 Update:
Oh hey there! So I was THIS CLOSE to taking my blog down after years of inactivity BUT I changed my mind. Instead I decided to start cooking from it again, and make post/recipe updates when I do.
So many things have changed since I started writing this blog but one thing that’s stayed the same is I still love to cook and bake. This bread recipe was an old fave and I was so happy to make it again last week after pretty much forgetting the recipe was here on HGK.
Being a nutrition coach now, I am extremely conscious of the macronutrient content of what I eat, and I ask all my clients to be super conscious of it, too. So I used the recipe creator in My Fitness Pal to figure out the macros of this bread and here’s what I came up with:
The recipe makes 2 loaves and in the recipe, I give a range for the maple syrup and the butter. I used the smaller amounts this time around (1/8 cup butter and 1/4 cup maple syrup) and if you cut each loaf into 12 slices, then here are the macros per slice:
Calories: 142
Protein: 5.6g
Carbohydrates: 28g
Fat: 2.8g
It’s super important to be accurate with portion sizes when tracking macros. So the very best thing to do if you want to dial in the accuracy is get the total macros in the recipe by inputting all ingredients in MFP’s recipe creator as you go, weigh both loaves when finished, and then weigh each individual serving to determine the macros based on how that compares to total weight of both loaves. This sounds more complicated than it is, but if you cook/bake a lot and you are working on fat loss or any other goal related to food intake, it’s really the way to go so you can know exactly how what you are eating fits into your nutrition plan.
As I go through and update some of the recipes here in the future, I plan to offer suggestions for how to make my recipes more friendly to macro-based diets when appropriate. With this bread recipe, though, I am not going to offer up any addition changes other than adjusting the amount of maple syrup and butter. It’s bread, after all, and good bread has a lot of carbs…simple as that. If your carbs are limited, this recipe probably isn’t for you; if your carbs are on the higher side, go for it!
ps As a nutrition coach for https://strongeru.com/, I help people figure this macro stuff out each and every day. If you want to find out more about my coaching and our program, please let me know. You can contact me at winnieATstrongerufitDOTcom.
While I’ve definitely become a devotee of the Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day
technique in recent months, this recipe for soft oatmeal bread is still among my absolute favorite yeast bread recipes.
I learned the method for making this bread, which utilizes leftover cooked grains, from a fellow named Jeff Basom. Jeff was the chef at Bastyr University when I was a naturopathic student (and his bread was so good that some of his recipes appear in the book Feeding the Whole Family: Cooking with Whole Foods
by Cynthia Lair).
I love making bread with cooked oats (you could also use cooked brown rice, millet, or quinoa) because it is a great way to use up leftovers, it adds additional nutrients, and the resulting loaf has a lovely soft and chewy texture. Because you need to ferment the oats and some of the flour overnight, be sure you plan accordingly when making this recipe. It’s not hard to make…it just takes a little time.
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Serve with a couple of pats of organic butter, some raw honey, or your favorite all natural jam or marmalade; or use it to accompany a soup or as a sandwich bread…it’s wonderful no matter how you choose to eat it!
Soft Oatmeal Bread Recipe
Ingredients
Ingredients for the oatmeal starter:
- * 2 cups cooked oatmeal you can make this on the stove or in the microwave with 1 cup oats and approximately 2 cups water
- * 2 cups water or 1 cup water and 1 cup milk
- * 1/8-1/4 cup softened organic butter
- * 1 tablespoon sea salt
- * 1 tablespoon dry yeast
- * 1 cup organic all-purpose unbleached flour or whole wheat flour
Ingredients for the bread:
- * 1/4-1/2 cup pure maple syrup (use the larger amount for a sweeter bread
- * approximately 6-7 cups organic all purpose unbleached flour or whole wheat flour
Instructions
Preparation of the starter:
- Mix oatmeal, water, milk (if using), butter, salt, and yeast in a blender and then pour into a large bowl. Add 1 cup of flour and mix well: it should resemble a thick gruel. Cover the bowl with a damp towel or plastic wrap and leave for 12-24 hours at room temperature to ferment.
Preparation of the bread:
- 1. After the 12-24 hours, mix the sweetener into the starter dough. Stir in 2 cups white or wheat flour.
- 2. As you add the remaining 4 cups of flour (more or less), the mixture will become too difficult to stir by hand, so you can either mix it in Kitchen Aid mixer with the bread dough hook, or you can use your hands to knead in the flour in the bowl. When most of the flour has been incorporated and the dough is no longer sticky, transfer it to a floured surface.
- 3. Knead the bread dough for 10-15 minutes more or until dough is soft and springy. Wash and dry your mixing bowl and spread with a little butter. Place dough into the bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
- 4. When dough has risen sufficiently, punch it down. Remove from the mixing bowl and divide the dough into two equal portions. Knead each ball a bit more and then place your dough into two bread pans, or shape as you like (I usually make mine into round/oval shapes) and place on lightly buttered cookie sheet. If you want to make smaller loaves instead, go ahead. If you make 2 loaves, they will be pretty large, so you could make 3-4 smaller ones instead.
- 5. It will take about 45-60 minutes for the loaves to approximately double in size, so you should preheat the oven to 350°F. about 30 minutes into this rising.
- 6. Slash the top of each loaf 3-4 times with a serrated knife (or make a criss-cross pattern, like I did) and then place in the oven. Bake anywhere from 25-50 minutes, depending on the size and shape of your loaves. The bread is done when golden brown and a tap on the bottom of each loaf makes a hollow noise.
- 7. At this point, it's probably very hard to wait, but allow your bread to cool on a wire rack for about 30 minutes before slicing. If you baked your loaves in bread pans, allow them to cool in the pans for 5 minutes before transferring to the rack. If you don't wait for the bread to cool, it will have a gummy texture when you slice it (and you'll probably end up ruining the lovely appearance of your loaves).
