There always seems to be a few cups of pesky leftover buttermilk in my fridge. I buy it for one recipe then it sits. Me = racing time to come up with another way to use it before it spoils.
I usually collect buttermilk recipe ideas just for this purpose. So I was pretty smug when the half carton was peeping out at me from the fridge and I knew just what to do with it.
This lumpy but loveable loaf of bread is dense and sour in a good way. The oatmeal adds more heft to the recipe. I will tell you, a little piece goes a long way.
Just be aware this bread takes a significant amount of time to make. It has a one and a half hour rise time and takes an hour to bake. Everyone’s oven is different so I recommend checking the bread at the 45-minute mark. Tap on the bottom of the bread. If it sounds hollow, it’s done.
Top a slice of this bread with plain butter, cream cheese or some scrambled eggs for a satisfying small meal or snack.
Prep time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2+1/3 cups whole wheat flour
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 3 packages of active dry yeast (7 grams each)
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground anise
- 3/4 cup rolled oats (plus 2 tablespoons for decorating the top of the bread)
Directions:
- Whisk together the flours and the salt in a large mixing bowl.
- Bring the buttermilk to a like warm temperature, add it to a separate bowl and sprinkle the yeast over the lukewarm buttermilk. When the yeast starts to break up, add the honey, cumin, anise and 3/4 cup of rolled oats. Mix together.
- Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture.
- Use your hands or the dough hook attachment of your mixer to knead everything into a smooth dough.
- Place the kneaded dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a kitchen towel and let rest in a warm place for 1 hour.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- turn the bread dough out onto a lightly floured workspace and knead again.
- form a round shape out of the dough and transfer the dough to the prepared pan,
- cover with a kitchen towel and let rest in a warm place for another 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Sprinkle the top of the bread with the remaining 2 tablespoons rolled oats.
- Gently press the oats into the top of the bread.
- Place a cast iron pan or similar filled with water on the bottom of the oven.
- Place the bread in the oven and bake for 1 hour.
- Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing and serving.
