No-Knead Oatmeal Bread

Hi Everybody! If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you will know how much I love to bake bread! I love baking all different kinds of breads, but the no-knead recipe is one of my all-time favorites. I’ve made a couple different flavor versions of it, and have another one to share with you today! This oatmeal bread has a great earthy flavor and is super hearty; it would be perfect alongside a big bowl of steaming hot soup on a cold wintery night!

YOU WILL NEED

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup plus 2 tbs rolled oats

1/2 tsp dry yeast

2 tsp salt

1 5/8 cup water

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl, mix together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, yeast, salt, 1/2 cup oats (reserve the oats for topping the loaf before baking) and water. (I used 2 cups all-purpose flour and 1 cup whole wheat flour, but you could reduce the amount of whole wheat flour to 1/2 cup and increase the amount of all-purpose flour to 2 1/2 cups if you prefer it.) Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for 12 – 20 hours (I usually make the dough the night before, then bake the bread off the following day) in a warm spot.

2. Once the rising time is up, uncover the dough, and you should see lots of bubbles on the surface (the dough will be very wet and sticky, but don’t worry, that’s exactly what it should look like). Turn the dough out onto a generously floured surface, and quickly shape it into a round loaf. Sprinkle it with more flour, then cover it with a kitchen towel and let it rest for another hour or two, until it has doubled in size.

3. Preheat your oven to 450 deg F, and place a Dutch oven or covered casserole dish inside it as it heats up. Once the oven is preheated, carefully take the dish out, and quickly place your loaf in it (optional: you can sprinkle it with the remaining 2 tbs of oats at this point), then cover the dish and bake for 30 minutes. Then, take off the lid and bake for another 15 – 30 minutes, until the loaf is golden brown and sounds hollow when you tap your fingers on it. Let the bread rest and cool before slicing.

*Recipe Notes: If you prefer less of a “whole wheat” flavor, reduce the amount of whole wheat flour and substitute it with all-purpose flour as mentioned above. My recipe also uses more salt and dry yeast than the original recipe does, but you can check out the original here.

For other no-knead bread recipes, check these out:

Left: NY Times No-Knead Bread (recipe) Right: No-knead Pesto Bread (recipe)

Left: Whole Wheat No-knead Bread (recipe) Right: No-knead Bread Bowls (recipe)

And speaking of cold winter nights, this is what it looks like outside right now… it’s a bitter cold wintery day, so a big bowl of soup and some of this freshly baked bread is definitely needed!

Happy Baking, Everyone!

I will be linking to these awesome blogs!