There is a joke in our house, if I’m making bread that means I need to relieve some stress. It’s true, making traditional bread is hard work and can be used to release some tension while at the same time creating an artisan loaf. To make this bread, you don’t need to wait for a stress filled day because there is hardly any work involved! A longer fermentation time does the work for you. If you are new to whole wheat grains, I suggest starting with 1 cup of whole wheat and 2 cups white flour. Slowly work your way up to using 2 cups whole wheat and 1 cup white flour. I adapted this recipe to use pre-soaked rolled oats for added nutrition. Oats are very easy to find and use and are a great way to add whole grains to your diet. Our family’s favorite way to enjoy fresh bread is lightly toasted with a good slather of Irish Butter and a drizzle of raw honey. My boys love to have their “honey sandwich” at any hour of the day. The crumb in this bread is slightly chewy, moist and hearty. Absolutely delightful!
- ½ Cup Rolled Oats
- ¾ Cups Boiling water
- 3 Cups (12oz) Flour (I used 2 cups whole wheat, 1 cup white)
- 1½ Cups water (Reduce to 1¼ if using a starter)
- 1 Teaspoon Yeast (For sourdough use 4 oz starter)
- 1 Tablespoon Honey
- 1-2 Teaspoons Salt
- Pour ¾ cup boiling water over the rolled oats, cover and let sit for 30 minutes.
- With a paddle attachment or by hand, mix all the flour with 1¼ cups water.
- Let it sit, covered for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, add the yeast to the remaining ¼ cup water and 1 teaspoon honey. Stir to combine.
- Mix the dough for 2 minutes. Add salt, mix well.
- Add water with yeast, remaining honey (2 teaspoons) and the presoaked oats. Mix to combine, no kneading necessary.
- Oil a large bowl. Place the dough into the oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
- Let rest in a draft-free place in the kitchen or in the oven with the light on for 3 hours. The dough will be shaggy and sticky.
- After 3 hours, generously dust the counter with flour and place your dough on it. Sprinkle with more flour on top to prevent it from sticking to your hands.
- Fold over ⅓ of the dough, then the other side over the previous fold. Rotate 90 degrees and repeat the folds 3 more time. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 15 minutes.
- With floured hands shape into a round ball.
- Generously coat a square piece of parchment paper with flour, bran and/or rolled oats. Place the round ball of dough seam side down onto the parchment. Sprinkle more flour on top and cover with a towel. Let rise while the oven is preheating, about 15 minutes.
- Place a cast iron dutch oven with a lid into the oven and preheat the oven to 475.
- By this time the dough should feel spongy to the touch. Take the dutch oven out of the oven and remove the lid. Dutch oven will be very hot.
- Gently lift the ball of dough with the parchment paper and place into the dutch oven.
- Cover with the lid and place to bake in the preheated oven for 20-30 minutes. Remove the lid and continue baking for 5-10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack and enjoy!
*Update on final proofing: From my experience using a proofing basket or banneton worked the best for achieving a beautiful crumb. It creates a structured area for the bread to rise and flipping it over into the dutch oven will give the bottom of the bread a chance to get the best oven burst and makes for an evenly risen loaf.
Photo Step-By-Step
Pour 3/4 cup boiling water over the rolled oats, cover and let sit for 30 minutes.
With a paddle attachment or by hand, mix all the flour with 1 1/4 cups water.
Let it sit, covered for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, add the yeast to the remaining 1/4 cup water and 1 teaspoon honey. Stir to combine.
Mix the dough for 2 minutes. Add salt, mix well.
Add water with yeast, remaining honey (2 teaspoons) and the presoaked oats. Mix to combine, no kneading necessary.
Oil a large bowl. Place the dough into the oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
Let rest in a draft-free place in the kitchen or in the oven with the light on for 3 hours. The dough will be shaggy and sticky.
After 3 hours, generously dust the counter with flour and place your dough on it. Sprinkle with more flour on top to prevent it from sticking to your hands.
Fold over 1/3 of the dough, then the other side over the previous fold.
Rotate 90 degrees and repeat the folds 3 more time. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 15 minutes.
With floured hands shape into a round ball.
Generously coat a square piece of parchment paper with flour, bran and/or rolled oats. Place the round ball of dough seam side down onto the parchment. Sprinkle more flour on top and cover with a towel. Let rise while the oven is preheating, about 15 minutes.
Place a cast iron dutch oven with a lid into the oven and preheat the oven to 475.
By this time the dough should feel spongy to the touch. Take the dutch oven out of the oven and remove the lid. Dutch oven will be very hot.
Gently lift the ball of dough with the parchment paper and place into the dutch oven.
Cover with the lid and place to bake in the preheated oven for 20-30 minutes. Remove the lid and continue baking for 5-10 minutes.
Cool on a wire rack and enjoy!
Christa
So excited Victoria, I’m going to make this bread today.
I’ll comment back later how it turns out!
Christa
Victoria
Fantastic! We absolutely love this bread!
Constanze
I tried this recipe. The bread came out really good. Love it! It has a really good flavor and the crust is nice.
Victoria
I absolutely love this bread and am thrilled to hear you enjoyed it!
Tracy
If using sourdough, do you omit the yeast completely, or add some still? Excited to try this bread!!
Victoria
Hi Tracy,
Yes, I normally omit the yeast completely when I’m using sourdough. However, you can add a little yeast if you prefer. I hope you like it as much as we do, with or without sourdough!
Tracy
I new to the “bread-game” and still am figuring out the ins and outs. Would you recommend addI got a teaspoon of yeast or less than that? Thank you for responding!
Victoria
If you have a strong and active starter then I would recommend omitting the yeast completely. If you are fairly new to sourdough, and/or not sure if your starter is strong, I would highly recommend adding 1/2 teaspoon of yeast and you should get beautiful results! To check if you have a strong starter: after feeding your starter it takes only a few hours for it to bubble and double in quantity. If this is not the case with your starter then add the yeast.
Jenny
3/4 C water and /14C water is a total of 1 C water. These are from directions. Ingredients list 3/4 boiling water and 1 1/2 C water, which equals 2 1/4 C water, which is it? I am reading this wrong?
Jenny
Never mind! I just realized the other water went into the flour! Sorry!
Victoria
No worries! Happy bread baking!
Victoria
Hi Jenny,
The 3/4 cup boiling water gets poured over the rolled oats and the 1 1/2 cup water listed later in the ingredients gets mixed with the flour. I hope this is helpful!
Reach out with any other questions! Enjoy the bread!
Marie
I am making this today and the bread is REALLY wet. I floured it liberally when I put it on the counter to fold but it still was sticking to everything, never ‘folded’ like your photos, and was really difficult to handle in order to get onto the parchment. Was I supposed to add more flour? I was scared to add too much because I thought I was already adding so much?! About to put it into the oven so we’ll see how it turns out…
Victoria
Generally, if there is a drastic difference in the texture of the dough that you’re getting, I would double-check the ingredient amounts used. Most likely you would have to add more flour. I hope the bread turned out well for you!
Paula Armendariz
Can I make the dough for this bread on a bread machine?
Victoria
I wouldn’t recommend it. This is a no-knead bread and even a mixer is only used initially to mix the ingredients then everything is “hands-on”. A bread machine is best for recipes where you can put in all your ingredients and let the machine mix, knead and bake like it would a traditional loaf.
Joy C
I used molasses instead of honey. I mixed the final two teaspoons into the oatmeal them worked the oatmeal into the dough with my hands. It turned out perfectly! I make this bread once a week. I love it!
Victoria
Thats great! I’m sure molasses adds a nice flavor. We absolutely love this bread too!
M
I’m confused– recipe says 1 1/2 cups water (reduced to 1 1/4 if using starter) but the instructions say add 1 1/4 cups water to the flour. Which is it?
Victoria
Sorry for the confusion. Instructions say to add 1 1/4 cups water to the flour because the remaining 1/4 cup water is used to dissolve the yeast in. I hope that helps!