Irish Oatmeal Bread

When I heard an advertisement on the television the other day about how households throw away over 50% of the food they buy, I thought how my mother would have cringed.  Now, granted it was focused on storage bags and preventing freezer burn, but nonetheless, why not reinvent the leftover to make something else. You see, when you have a family of eight, you don't throw anything away!

My mother was the Queen of Leftovers--using her magic to make the next day's meal seem like new.  So, with this in mind, when I had leftover Irish Oatmeal from our breakfast this morning, I decided to create a new recipe around it.  Yes, I could have "nuked" it for the next day's breakfast, but because I had been away, I needed to make bread for the week and the light bulb went on.

It's another rainy, cool day here in the Pacific Northwest; so good for baking.  After all, I was already in the mood after baking up a batch of bagels and setting out ingredients to make Spiderman Cake Pops to send to Ari for his 4th birthday tomorrow.  This recipe easily makes two loaves, but I decided to bake it in my Pullman bread pan for one large loaf.

Irish Oatmeal Bread
1 pkg. (1 T) active dry yeast
1/2 cup very warm water (about 110F-degrees)
1 tsp. honey
In a 1 cup measure, whisk the dry yeast and honey into the water and allow to set for 5 to 7 minutes until foamy.  This is called proofing the yeast.

While the yeast is proofing, heat the following ingredients in a small sauce pan over med/low heat:
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup honey
3 T unsalted butter (I used Kerrygold Irish Butter!)
2 T Boiled Cider

When the butter has melted remove from the heat.


In a stand mixer, using the dough hook, add the following:


1 to 1 1/4 cups leftover cooked Irish Oatmeal
5 1/2 cups (+ up to another 1/2 cup as needed) King Arthur Bread Flour
2 tsp. Kosher salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon


Mix on the #2 speed until combined.  Add the honey/butter mixture while the mixer is running, then the proofed yeast.  Add additional flour, as needed until the sides of the bowl are clean and the dough is clinging to the dough hook.

Sprinkle a board lightly with flour and turn out the dough.  Knead a few times, with the heel of your hand, pushing away, then making a turn and push again.

When the dough is smooth, place it in a large bowl or dough rising bucket, like I use.

Let rise an hour, or until doubled in size.

Turn out dough, once again, onto a lightly floured board.  Flatten into a rectangle, the length of the loaf pan(s) you are using.  Roll up the dough, towards you, pushing down to seal the roll.  When you get to the last roll, pinch the ends together.  Place the dough, pinched side down, into a lightly oiled Pullman loaf pan (or divide dough in half and use two 9" x 5" loaf pans).

Spray a piece of plastic wrap with a baking spray and lay over top the loaf pan(s).  Let rise, again, for 45 minutes or until doubled.

Before the bread finishes rising, heat the oven to 350F-degrees.  Remove the plastic wrap and spray with Quick Shine and sprinkle with some Old-fashioned Oatmeal.  (It's a way of letting people know what's in your bread!)

Bake for 35 minutes or until an "Instant Read" thermometer registers 180-190F-degrees in the center of the bread and the top is a golden brown.

Allow the bread to cool completely before slicing.  Heaven knows this is the hardest part about making homemade bread!

This bread turned out with the best texture and full of wonderful flavor.  My hubby said it's by far, his favorite, but then, he says that about every bread I make.  The moral of this post...think about reinventing the leftover you might throw out and you too can come up with a winner.  Enjoy!

Sunflower Bread & June's Give-Away

Today, I decided to create a bread to accompany the apron material I have chosen for this month--Sunflowers.  There are a number of reasons why I chose to celebrate this magnificent flower--it's Kansas' state flower and a symbol much associated with our prairie states which gave women the right to vote in the late 1800s before it was ratified in the 19th Constitutional Amendment on August 26, 1920.  There's also the fact that sunflower seeds and oil are good for you! The seeds are a good source of protein and fiber and the oil is affectionately called "Golden Child" because it's the highest in monounsaturated fat and lower in both saturated and polyunsaturated fats.

I'm proud to say I share a birthday with one of this country's most noted social activist, abolitionists and leader in the early women's movement--Elizabeth Cady Stanton [November 12, 1815 - October 26, 1902].  Along with Susan B. Anthony, they traveled through these midwest territories to spread the word of women's suffrage after the first Women's Rights Convention in 1848, in Seneca Falls, New York.  Unfortunately, Elizabeth died 18 years before women all over the United States held that right by the 19th Amendment.

I'm not going to make this post a whole history lesson, but to say I'm grateful that these women fought for us to have a vote and to honor a part of our country, where women stood right beside their husbands and family or even by themselves, to build a life and forge a living amidst these wild, wide-open spaces.  This apron with it's Prairie-like sunflowers is to honor these women.

Here is a list of the states that granted women the right to vote before the 19th Amendment:
Arizona
California
Colorado
Idaho
Kansas
Michigan
Montana
Nevada
New York
Oklahoma
Oregon
South Dakota
Utah
Washington
Wyoming

Sunflower Bread
1/2 cup warm water (between 105 - 110F-degrees)
2 T (or 2 pkg) active dry yeast
1 T honey

Whisk ingredients together and allow to set for 7 to 10 minutes until frothy; this is called proofing the yeast.

4 cups King Arthur bread flour
1/2 cup Wheat Germ
2 T Whole-grain Bread Improver

4 T Unsulphured molasses
1 T Kosher salt
1/4 cup Sunflower Oil
1/3 cup Sunflower Seeds
1/3 cup Baker's Special Dry Milk

1 1/4 cups water
additional flour as needed

In a stand mixer, using a dough hook, mix the dry ingredients together.  Whisk together the water, molasses, and oil and add to the mixer, while it's running.  Depending on the weather, you might have to add additional water or flour until the sides of the bowl are "clean" and the dough is being kneaded around the hook.

 Transfer dough to a lightly floured board and knead a few minutes, until smooth.  Brush a bowl or plastic dough bucket with some of the sunflower oil.

Place the dough right side up, down in the oiled bowl (or bucket) and then turn it upright again.  This oils the top.  Let the dough rise until doubled about 1 hour.

Punch down the dough and divide into two pieces.  To form loaves, pat out the dough to 8"wide x 8" long.  Start rolling the dough, about 2 inches at a time and pinch the seam as shown.

Continue rolling and pinching until you come to the end--this keeps from getting "air pockets" in your loaf.  Brush a 9" x 5" loaf pan with the sunflower oil.

Place the dough, seam side down into the loaf pan and press lightly to fill the pan.  Cover with plastic wrap that has been sprayed lightly with baking spray, then, cover with a towel to add some extra "heat."

Let rise again until doubled--45 minutes to 1 hour.  Before the time is up, preheat oven to 350F-degrees.  As a final step...I sprayed the tops with "Quick Shine" and sprinkled some additional sunflower seeds on top.  I think you should say what kind of bread this is!

Bake 35 minutes, rotating pans half-way through to insure even baking.  Remove from oven and allow to cool about 10 minutes in the pan before turning them out to cool completely.

Golden brown and smelling delicious, I could hardly wait to cut into a loaf and slather with butter and jam.

I've met so many beautiful women through blogging and want to pay tribute to them with this post.  I also thought about my grandson, Ari, who loves Bob the Builder.  One of our favorite DVDs to watch together is where Bob helps Farmer Pickle build a new storage unit for his Sunflower Oil business.  I get to be Wendy his helper and listen to him giggle every time he says..."Farmer Pickles!"  Enjoy!

Rainy Day Bread--Sally Lunn

In 1993, we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary and took a three-week trip to England, Scotland, and Ireland that was organized by our oldest daughter, Erin (our personal travel agent!)  One of the towns we visited was Bath, England.  There, we discovered not only a quaint hamlet, but a marvelous restaurant called The Sally Lunn House.

Our first lunch, when we arrived, was a light vegetable soup with these wonderful buns, known as Sally Lunn Buns.  Sally Lunn (whose real name was probably, Solange Luyon) was a French immigrant who came to Bath with her daughter.  This is a yeast bread, but with the addition of eggs, butter, and milk, it's very similar to a brioche.  Today, because it's rainy and chilly, I decided that baking bread was a good thing to start the day.  I baked the dough in my Pullman loaf pan, but you could easily divide it up into a large muffin pan and bake up the buns that are infamous.

Sally Lunn Bread
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into cubes

1 T (or 1 pkg) dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water (about 110-115F degrees)
1 T granulated sugar

3 1/2 to 4 cups King Arthur all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. Kosher salt
1/4 + 1T granulated sugar

3 large eggs

To begin, heat the milk and butter in a small sauce pan over low heat.  You don't want it to bubble over, just heat up enough to melt the butter.  Once melted, remove from the stove top and allow to cool, slightly.

In a 1-cup measure, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and 1 T sugar.  Whisk to combine.

In a large bowl, measure 3 1/2 cups of flour and the rest of the dry ingredients--stir to combine.  Crack 3 large eggs into a small bowl and whisk with a fork.  Once the yeast has proofed (become bubbly), add it to the eggs.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the milk/butter mixture, then, add the yeast/eggs mixture and using a spatula, combine the ingredients.  This is going to be a "sticky" dough, but in my case, because of the rainy day, I ended up adding an addition 1/4 cup of flour.

No need to turn the dough out of the bowl, just make sure you scrape down the sides to clean it up a bit.  Then, cover the bowl with plastic wrap--I sprayed the underneath side (that goes over the dough) with a little bit of baking spray so it wouldn't stick.  Let rise for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Butter a Pullman loaf pan and scrape the risen dough into it, smoothing it out to cover the entire pan.

You can dust your finger tips with a little flour to smooth the top, but I chose to brush the top with more melted butter. Cover again with the plastic wrap.

Let rise, once more in the pan 1 1/2 to 2 hours.  When it's almost doubled, set your oven temperature on 375F-degrees.
Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, watching it the last 10 minutes to make sure it doesn't over brown.  The internal temperature of the bread should read between 180-190F-degrees.

I turned it our on a bread board to cool, but could only wait about 15 minutes before I cut the end slice, slathered it with some peanut butter and listened to the rain coming down.

The texture of the bread is so soft and the crust is perfect.  I made sandwiches today--it makes great grilled cheese, but honestly, it makes some of the best French Toast I've ever eaten.  My sister also suggested that it would make great bread pudding, but that's if any if left over:-D Enjoy!