Mum's Oatmeal Brown Bread

Yield: 2 loaves

​Let me tell you - THIS is a treat. If like me you aren't an expert bread baker, don't worry, you don't need to be in order to make yourself a tasty loaf.  I do think this recipe would be a great place to start for beginners though and even if you are an expert bread baker, that's cool too - this bread is amazing. It makes 2 beautiful loaves; slightly sweet from molasses and lots of healthy goodness from oats. The dough is very sticky which can be a bit of a challenge in theory, but instead of trying to knead it on the counter and making a sticky - doughy mess, my mum told me she just uses a wooden spoon to fold and push the dough around for 10 minutes in the bowl. It works like a charm. This recipe works best when baked in dark metal loaf pans. The dough sticks a lot worse in pyrex pans so I don't recommend those here. 

I have been eating this brown bread with my broccoli soup and it's a perfect pairing. I'm going to attempt some baked beans to have with the second loaf. (In the decade I've been cooking professionally I've never actually made baked beans … wtf?? wow)  Anyway, I got myself some vegan hot dogs - so beans, wieners and brown bread is definitely going to happen.   

I will be posting a video of this recipe on my Instagram stories, and I just started my you tube channel. So any recipe I record I will do my best to get it up there too. Still learning so it's a bit slow going... Stay tuned.  

and just a little thought …….

I hope everyone who is self isolating / practicing social distancing right now is able to make the most of it, or somehow see a silver lining. I know that's not possible for everyone because there is a lot of things going wrong in the world right now. My silver lining is having time to be creative. I am grateful to be able to keep testing recipes & sharing my food with readers while the Pub is closed. Will I be off work for weeks? Months? I don't know. So many unknowns right now, and that's not always easy to cope with, but one thing doesn't change and that's the fact that we still need to eat! Even with the ups and downs we might as well enjoy some good food if we can. So … onto the recipe. 

Much Love 

​Trisha

Ingredients:

• 1 cup quick oats (or 1 cup regular oats, blitzed a bit in food processor)
• 2 cups boiling water

•  1 tbsp softened vegan butter or shortening  
  
•  3/4 cup molasses
  
•  1 tsp salt (heaping)
  

•  1/2 cup warm water
  
•  1 tsp sugar
  
•  1 pkg yeast (2 1/4 tsp)

•  4 cups all purpose flour
  

Method:

1. Combine 1 cup oats and 2 cups boiling water in a large bowl, stir and let sit.
2. In a separate dish mix 1/2 cup warm water, 1 tsp sugar, and yeast. Let proof for a few minutes until foamy. 
   
3. Mix in to the oat and boiling water mixture : vegan butter, molasses, and salt
4. Now mix in the yeast mixture.
   
5. Now stir in 4 cups of all purpose flour. Keep incorporating until it forms into a sticky dough. 
   
6. Keep kneading in the bowl as best you can with a wooden spoon. Just fold it over itself, push it around. Do this for 10 minutes. Maybe incorporating a sprinkle or two more flour just so it all comes together a bit better. But should be very sticky. 
   
7. Let rise in a warm place until doubled. The time will vary depending how warm or cool your kitchen is. Mine took about 1 1/2 - 2 hours. 
   
8. Now punch down the dough. Divide in two. I just use a spatula to carve down the middle right in the bowl. 
   
9. Now take two metal loaf pans and butter liberally the insides and even the rim of the pan to prevent loaves from sticking. 
   
10.  Scrape dough into each loaf pan and spread to cover the base evenly. (takes a little effort)
    
11.  Let rise a second time. Again it will vary. Mine took about 45 minutes. Preheat your oven to 325F
    
12.  Bake for 40 minutes.