Yeast Breads: Toasted Oat Bread

Toasting the oats before you bake them gives this bread a deeper, almost nutty flavor. There are toasted oats in the bread itself and used as a topping before baking. Toasting the oats is easy enough, just make sure they're cooled before you add them to your recipe.


This bread makes wonderful toast, so use it as a breakfast bread. It is hearty enough to give you an excellent start to the day.


Ingredients


For the Bread
½ cup rolled oats
1¼ tsp bread machine or quick rise yeast
3 cups all purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup milk
3 tbsp butter or margarine
1 egg


For the Topping
1 tbsp rolled oats
1 tbsp water
1 egg, lightly beaten


Preparation


Start by toasting the oats. Heat oven to 350°F. Take all the oats you'll need for this recipe, including the oats for the topping, and spread them gently on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, until oats are just slightly browned. Set oats aside to cool, separating into the oats for the bread and the oats for the topping as you do so.


Now you can make the bread. You don't need to dissolve the yeast, so place all bread ingredients into a large bowl and mix until a loose dough forms. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until soft and elastic, about 5 to 10 minutes. Place dough in an oiled bowl and cover. Allow to rise in a warm location until doubled in size, about 1 hour.


Punch down the dough, removing all air bubbles from it. Spray a bread pan with cooking spray to prevent sticking. Shape the dough into a loaf and place it into the bread pan. Cover and let rise until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.


Heat oven to 375°F. Uncover dough. Combine water and egg to form an egg wash. Use a pastry brush to coat the exposed parts of the loaf. Sprinkle top of the loaf with toasted oats. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until loaf is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped. Let cool for 5 minutes before removing from the bread pan. Allow to cool for a further 20 minutes before slicing.


This bread will keep up to 5 days in an airtight container.