Honey oat no-knead artisan bread Squash: a delicious side dish

Honey Oat No-Knead Artisan Bread

By Lori Mork

I’ve always been intimidated by the thought of making yeast bread. It always seemed like too many things could go wrong and I was just too apprehensive to give it a try.

Recently, though, I came across several recipes for no-knead bread that is baked in a dutch oven, so I decided to step out of my comfort zone and try for myself.

This recipe calls for a covered oven-safe Dutch oven. I have one by Le Creuset which is enamel coated cast iron.

I started out with a basic 4-ingredient loaf and was surprised at how well it came out. It was soft and moist on the inside with a crispy crust.

With that success, I moved on to a honey oat bread that again had a crispy crust and a moist interior, this time with the rich oat flavor balanced by a touch of honey. It tastes great toasted with butter!

Using the basic recipe, you can change this bread up by adding any special touches you might like – cheese, garlic, olives, nuts or sundried tomatoes – whatever your heart desires!

HONEY OAT NO-KNEAD BREAD

INGREDIENTS: 3-3/4 cups all purpose flour 1 cup oats 2-1/4 tsp. active dry yeast instant or rapid rise yeast 1-1/2 teaspoons salt 2 Tbsp. honey 2 cups warm water just above room temperature Parchment paper Extra flour for shaping the loaf

DIRECTIONS:

Add flour and oats to a large bowl, stirring together with a wooden spoon. The bowl needs to be large enough for the dough to double in size.

Measure yeast and add to one side of the bowl; measure salt and add to the other side. Stir the yeast into the flour on its side of the bowl and then stir salt into the flour on its side of the bowl. This will keep the salt from mixing directly into the yeast and ruining it. Now combine the whole mixture by stirring it together.

Add honey to water, making sure the water not too warm or too cold; otherwise it can kill the yeast. Stir to combine, then stir into flour mixture until all the flour is moistened. The dough will be sticky, which is normal. Just make sure the ingredients are well combined.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in a warm, draft-free place, letting it rise for about 1-1/2 hours.

After the dough has risen, pre-heat oven to 425 degrees, placing your oven-safe Dutch oven with the lid on it in the cold oven. If your Dutch oven is black on the inside, use an oven temperature of 400 degrees. Let it heat for approximately 30 minutes while your dough has a second rise.

Place a piece of parchment paper on the counter and dust with flour. Rub flour on your hands and use them to scrape the dough from your bowl onto the parchment. Gather it together in your hands as best as you can. Form it into a circular loaf. Don’t worry if it’s not perfect; that gives it a rustic look. Try not to handle it too much.

After shaping, sprinkle some flour and oats over the top and loosely cover with a clean kitchen towel. Let rise for about 30 minutes.

Carefully remove preheated pot from oven and use the parchment to transfer the dough to the pot, leaving the parchment under the dough. Cover with a lid and bake for 30 minutes. Don’t open the oven during this time. The lid helps the bread develop a crispy crust.

After 30 minutes, remove the lid and continue to bake for another 10 minutes.

Remove Dutch oven from oven and move bread to a wire rack to cool. Let the bread cool completely before cutting or it could cause the inside to get doughy or rubbery.

Bread dough after the first rise in the bowl (left). Dough on the parchment before the second rise (center) and after the second rise (right).