Over the years, I’ve found that the recipes provided by the ingredient companies are usually very good, since it’s in the best interest of the companies to have their name associated with successful recipes. This recipe from King Arthur Flour is no exception, it is easy to make and turns out a delicious, high, light, loaf. The recipe posted below makes one loaf, but I made two loaves, one with raisins and one without raisins. Either way, the effort was a success.
The recipe calls for 3 cups of flour. I know from previous experience that Jeffrey Hamelman, the head baking expert at King Arthur Flour, has indicated that one cup of bread flour is about 4 3/8 ounces, so that’s what I used and it worked perfectly. I got this figure by calculating some of the equivalences in this fine book, “Bread.” Other than that, the recipe is very easy and suitable for beginners and children.
Ingredients
| Ingred | Ounces | Grams | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bread Flour | 13 | 370 | |
| Lukewrm milk | 10 | 285 | |
| Rolled oats | 1 cup | 240 ml | |
| Dry Yeast | 1 packet | 7 gms | |
| Salt | 1 1/2 tsp | 7 1/2 ml | |
| Softened butter | 3 Tblsp | 45 ml | |
| Brown sugar | 3 Tblsp | 45 ml | Or honey |
| Raisins | 3/4 cup | 180 ml | Or currants, both optional |
Method
1. Grease a 9X5″ / 13X23 cm (?) baking pan. I’m not sure what metric pan sizes are, so use one that’s about this size.
2. Place all the ingredients in the bowl of a large mixer and mix for about 5 minutes.
3. The dough will be firm and just slightly sticky and the oats will still be visible in the dough.
4. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and let stand in a room temperature place for 1 hour. The dough will double.
5. Remove from the bowl and shape into a small loaf, just large enough to fill the loaf pan about 2/3 or 3/4 of the way up. If you are adding raisins or currants, add them here as you shape the dough. Knead them into the dough very gently so you don’t crush them.
6. Heat the oven to 350F / 175C.
7. Cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap and let the dough rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until the dough crests from 1 to 2 inches / 25 to 50 mm over the edge of the rim.
8. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until an instant read thermometer inserted into the loaf reads 190F / 87C.
9. If the top of the loaf browns too quickly, put an aluminum / aluminium foil tent over the top of the loaf.
10. Remove from the oven, remove from the pans and let cool on a rack.
Here we go:
Click the thumbnail to see a larger version of the picture.
Click the large image to return to the discussion.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |