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Sesame-Crusted Oatmeal Bread
As per usual, when I find a recipe I love, I make it over and over and over to perfect it. My husband is very patient and fortunately likes my food OVER AND OVER AND OVER. He knows my shtick and my need to make recipes my own. AND – he also happens to have a great palate and gives excellent feedback.
This recipe originally came from the King Arthur website and was titled “back of the bag Oatmeal Bread.” First of all, I weighed every single ingredient so there is zero room for error. My best touch, however, is that I use a LOT of toasted sesame seeds and an egg yolk wash to help them stick to the top of the bread. To me, this is what makes this bread so delicious. It could not be easier to make or to clean up if you make this with a dough hook in your large mixer.
I did try using egg white per the original recipe and it didn’t look as pretty AND the sesame seeds fell off. SO, use the yolk mix. Truth be told, this was an unintended ingredient because I had leftover egg yolk wash from making challah. Kismet!
Sesame-Crusted Oatmeal Bread
Ingredients
- 361 grams King Arthur unbleached bread flour
- 99 grams old fashioned oats
- 40 grams dark brown sugar
- 7 grams sea salt
- 8 grams regular granulated yeast (Red Star is fine)
- 283 grams lukewarm milk (I put in the microwave for 30 seconds combined with the butter)
- 28 grams softened butter (mine was salted)
- 1 large egg yolk with ½ tsp granulated sugar (mixed together)
- 2-3 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
Weigh all the dry ingredients above (except the last four – milk, butter, egg yolk/sugar and sesame seeds) and put in the stand mixing bowl. (I actually weigh the stuff right in the mixing bowl that goes on the stand mixer). Mix well with a dough hook.
Weigh the milk and butter, and put both together in the microwave for 30 seconds.
Pour the warmed liquids slowly into the dry ingredient while the dough hook is mixing. When everything seems wet, put on a timer for seven minutes. The dough is very soft! Do not add more flour even though it is sticky – it will come together at the end, trust me. When the seven minutes are up, remove the dough from the mixing bowl and knead a few times on the counter, then lightly oil the mixing bowl (no need to clean it) and put a tea towel over the top. Place inside your oven with the light on for an hour.
The Dough
After an hour, the dough won’t be doubled but it is time to form and shape into a log. Look at the King Arthur recipe for an in-depth description of how to do this. Place the log into a lightly greased 9 x 5” bread pan (mine is a non-stick). Cover loosely with lightly greased plastic wrap and put back in the turned off oven for 1 – 1 ½ hours until it has crested 1” over the rim of the pan.
About a half hour into the rise, turn the oven on to 350 degrees with the shelf in the lower middle shelf.
Ready for the Oven
Once risen an inch over the edge of the bread pan,remove the pan from the rising spot and remove the plastic wrap. Brush lightly with the beaten yolk and sprinkle with lots and lots of TOASTED sesame seeds all over the top. I very gently press these into the top of the bread. Bake the bread for 33-38 minutes until a digital thermometer stuck into the center registers at least 190 degrees.
Remove the bread from the oven and after 3 minutes shake the pan and remove the bread from the pan onto a rack to cool. Put a piece of parchment underneath to catch the sesame seeds that fall off. Cool completely before slicing. Leftover bread stays fresh at room temperature for a few days!
Enjoy!
