kitchenMage's Leftover Oatmeal Bread recipe

 

When you bake bread as often as I do, it is easy to find yourself looking around covetously at ingredients in your kitchen that might have been headed for another use. Cooked cereal is one of those things that lends itself to ad hoc bread making, adding a whole grain depth to otherwise white bread. This also appeals to the frugal side that many home cooks have, turning leftovers that might otherwise be thrown away, into tasty bread.

This is less of a recipe and more of a formula to use up leftover cooked cereal, which it seems all too easy to end up with. I have a soft spot for oatmeal bread, but you can make this with any cooked cereal. Or leftover brown rice, for that matter.

kitchenMage's Leftover Oatmeal Bread notQuiteRecipe

This makes about a single loaf of bread, but it is easy to scale to make larger quantities. All quantities are approximate and should be adjusted to suit your taste.

cooked oatmeal	1 - 1 1/2 cups	355 ml	I have no idea what this weighs...
water	1 cup	235 ml	8 ounces	234 grams
brown sugar	1/8 cup	40 ml	1 ounce	25 grams
bread flour **	2 cups +/-	470 ml	9 ounces	252 grams
instant yeast	1 teaspoon	5 ml	1/8  ounces	5 grams
salt	1 teaspoon	5 ml	1/8 ounces	5 grams

** if this was measured, this would be an actual recipe...

In mixing bowl, stir oatmeal, flour water (thx for the correction, Novalis) and yeast together enough to break up oatmeal. Let mixture sit on counter for 15 minutes. Add brown sugar and 1 cup of flour and mix to combine into wet dough, about 1 minute. Add additional flour, mixing well after each addition until the dough comes together into a rough dough. This may take 2 cups, or it may take 3+ - it depends on all sorts of things.

When the dough holds together, turn it out onto a well-floured counter. Knead, adding more flour as needed, for 2-3 minutes. Cover and let rest (autolyse) for 20 minutes.

After the autolyse, add the salt and knead for another 3-5 minutes, adding more flour as needed. Determining when the dough is sufficiently kneaded is mostly a matter of experience. It will no longer be sucking up flour from the counter, the surface will smooth and be less sticky (although still a little tacky), and it will feel more bread-like. You will know it when you feel it.

Place the dough in clean bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in bulk.

Turn the dough out on floured counter and punch it down gently. Shape the dough into a loaf and let rise until doubled in bulk.

Preheat oven to 375°.

Bake for 30 minutes and check for doneness (hollow sound when tapped on bottom, 195-200° internal temperature. Let cool for an hour before slicing.

Toasted, spread with butter, and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, this bread makes some of the world's best cinnamon sugar toast.