Whole wheat bread topped with oatmeal
I could never forget my time in Italy for a number of reasons, but the lovely friends I made from all over the world made the experience even that much more enjoyable. While cooking each day at the Mami Camilla cooking school in Sorrento, a different group of tourists and culinarians alike would participate in the hands on classes followed by dinner. One of my favorite people that I met pretty early on in my externship was my friend Kathryn who is a concierge at a hotel in Vail, Colorado. An amazingly well traveled and interesting person, Kathryn and I immediately hit it off. I felt like we could talk over dinner all night comparing culinary stories and recipes! Since returning home, Kathryn and I have kept up through email, exchanging recipes and the like.
One of the recipes that she has shared with me is a basic homemade bread recipe that she learned from a camp baker named Kay, on one of her international excursions. No eggs, no dairy, no oil involved– simply a lovely combination of the flours of your choice, salt, yeast, sugar and water. I chose to use a combination of whole wheat flour and whole wheat pastry flour and ended up topping the bread before baking with oatmeal for added texture. There is something so rewarding about making homemade bread; it does take a bit of time, but it is hands-off time while the bread rises. This bread is so delicious and so comforting to make in your very own kitchen, I am looking forward to making it again with yet another combination of flours.
Thank you Kathryn for sharing this recipe with me—it is one that I will always treasure!
The dry ingredients beside the bowl of yeast, sugar & water
(To view this recipe, click on the blue title of the blog post above*)
Kay & Kathryn’s Homeade Bread
Ingredients:
- Recipe courtesy of my friend Kathryn from Vail, Colorado
- 385gms flour (any kind or combo you want)—I used 300g whole wheat and 85g whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon yeast
- 2 Tablespoons sugar
- 2 cups water plus ¼ cup water for yeast to bloom
- Oatmeal, for top of bread
Directions:
- Mix the yeast and sugar in a large mixing bowl along with ¼ cup room temperature water. Allow a few minutes for the yeast to bloom and dissolve.
- Meanwhile, whisk the flour and salt together in another bowl. Once the yeast has bloomed, mix in the flour mixture and the remaining 2 cups of water. Stir it all together with a rubber spatula until the dough begins to form. You may need to add in additional flour at this point if the dough is sticky. You don’t want to dough to stick to your hand when you touch it, so play that part by ear.
- Knead the dough over and over again until it begins to take on a shine and is no longer sticky. This usually takes about 10 minutes of kneading time.
- Shape the dough into a large ball. Place the ball of dough into a slightly oiled large bowl so it can rise. Cover the bowl with a clean, dry cloth and allow the dough to double in size in warm spot in the kitchen. This can take anywhere from 1-2 hours, depending on the heat of the room, etc.
- Once the dough has doubled in size, punch the ball of dough down and knead it slightly. Shape the dough into a loaf big enough to fit in a loaf pan. You will need to spray the loaf pan with cooking spray before placing the dough into the pan itself.
- Cover the dough that is in the loaf pan and allow it to double again in size; this should take another hour or so. Then, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Top the bread with oatmeal if desired, before baking it in the oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- When the bread has turned a golden brown remove it from the oven and test it with a knife to make sure the center if baked through. Allow the bread to cook before slicing.
Tagged: bread, homemade bread, Italy, loaf, loaf of bread, oatmeal, whole wheat flour
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