I’m a carbaholic. I could eat bread and butter all day. And when that bread is fresh, homemade, and hot out of the oven, you’ll later find me in a happy food coma! This Honey Oat Quick Bread has the added bonus of being made from scratch and baked in about 90 minutes. So fellow, carb lovers, let’s bake!
The Base
The base of this Honey Oat Quick Bread begins with a combination of bread flour, oats, and sea salt. Bread flour is essential when you are making bread. It has a higher protein content than All-Purpose flour, and will give you that chewiness you want in bread. Bon Appetit has a great breakdown of all of the different flours here, What’s the Difference Between Bread Flour, All-Purpose Flour, Cake Flour, and Pastry Flour? (Phew!)
When I make any kind of bread dough, I always start on the lower end of how much flour I think I’ll use. One of the worst sins when making bread is having those dense, hard, inedible loaves or buns. This is the result from too much flour. When you start with less flour you can ensure that your bread won’t turn into a dud!
The Yeast
One of my first recipe demonstrations ever was How To Activate Yeast. It is a pretty cringe worthy video, however, it will tell you how to get your yeast perfectly proofed! Basically, you must have a thermometer. Yeast is tricky! It’s as temperamental as your worst relative or Goldilocks , and you have to know how to handle it! If your liquid is too hot the yeast will die. If your liquid is too cold, it won’t activate. Furthermore, different yeast brands and types take different temperatures and instructions. Some love sugar. Others will stage a coup if the granules enter their domain. You get the idea!
First, you must read the instructions of your yeast. The ideal temperature of the liquid should be around 110 degrees for most. For fast acting though, it can go up to 120. Make sure you use a thermometer so you don’t have to use a guessing game!
This Honey Oat Quick Bread uses water as the liquid, so get that water to your ideal temperature. Then, sprinkle on the yeast and let it proof for about 10 minutes. My photo above is from my, Coconut Milk Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting (Video). This will give you an idea on what yeast should like like once activated. In essence, it blooms within the water, puffs, dances, starts the party!
To this yeast you will add a mixture of honey and butter. I premix the honey and butter prior to adding it to the yeast mixture. Meanwhile, you will get to work on your dough!
The Dough
Yep, this recipe is totally inspired by The Handmaid’s Tale! Hence the “hat”! And you can see the delightful video demonstration of making this Honey Oat Quick Bread from start to finish right here. Furthermore, I kneaded this dough for 10 minutes by hand! We will get into that in a second!
First, take your yeast mixture and add it into the flour mixture. Then, incorporate that into a ball of dough. This mixture will be sticky and wet. Second, turn this mixture onto a floured surface. This is the time you will add more bread flour, if needed. You will see in the video that I did indeed need more flour. However, I only added about a tablespoon and a half though, which was perfect. Remember, you are also going to be kneading this to release those strands of gluten. This will also make your dough elastic, so it will come together without needing tons of extra flour.
After you have done a quick knead and gotten your bread to where it’s ready for the big time, you get to either knead this the old fashioned way that a “Martha” would have done, or you can use your stand mixer with the dough hook! If you want the arm workout of your life, then take the hand route! If you would like a 10 minute magazine break, then go on and use that stand mixer!
The Quick Rise
After the dough has been kneaded for 10 minutes, it is ready to be get shaped into a little loaf. As you can see in the video, I formed a small loaf shape and pinched the bottom of the loaf. Then, I turned it into a buttered loaf pan and set it to rise for 20 minutes.
Baking Bread
You may be surprised by how much this dough rises in only 20 minutes! Before baking it, you will drizzle on some honey and sprinkle on some extra oats. Then, bake it for 45-50 minutes. Then butter up and eat the whole loaf, I won’t tell!
Honey Oat Quick Bread
Honey Oat Quick Bread
Honey Oat Quick Bread that is inspired by The Handmaid's Tale! This bread has a combination of bread flour and oats. There is a hint of sweetness from the honey. This Honey Oat Quick Bread has the added bonus of being made from scratch and baked in about 90 minutes. So fellow, carb lovers, let's bake! See the video on my YouTube Channel for the step-by-step demonstration!
Ingredients
- 2 1/2-3 cups Bread Flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon yeast
- 1 1/4 cup water
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 3 tablespoons melted, then cooled butter
- 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
- 1 teaspoon honey for topping
- 2 tablespoons oats for topping
Instructions
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First, activate your yeast and set aside. Do this by combining the warm water and yeast.
Then, stir together melted butter and honey. Add to yeast mixture.
In a large bowl, Combine the flour, salt, and oats. Start with 2 1/2 cups of flour.
Add the yeast mixture.
Use a wooden spoon to form a dough ball.
Turn onto a floured surface.
If dough is too wet, add more bread flour by doing this 1 tablespoon at a time.
Knead for 10 minutes by hand or using the dough hook of your stand mixer.
Then shape into a loaf. Put into a buttered loaf pan. Let rise for 20 minutes.
Drizzle on honey and sprinkle oats on top. Then bake for 45-50 minutes in a 350 degree preheated oven.
Check out these other Ritzy Recipes!
https://ritzymom.com/2018/01/22/french-bread-rolls/
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