Add to: Recipe Box | Grocery List | Meal PlannerRecipe submitted by adagio, 09/20/05
No Knead Oven-Raised BreadIngredients (use vegan versions): 1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 1/4 cups boiling water
1/2 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup cold water
1/2 tablespoon dried yeast
flour (*see note) plus 1 teaspoon salt
seeds to sprinkle on top (**see note)
Directions:I've been baking this bread for over 25 years. It is a recipe outline. Infinitely variable. Wonderfully delicious. Experience has proved that bread is hugely forgiving.
In a large bowl, dissolve 1 tablespoon of vegan brown sugar in 1 1/4 cups of boiling water. Add 1/2 cup of rolled oats and 3/4 cup cold water. Stir. Sprinkle 1/2 tablespoon of dried yeast over the surface, without stirring, and leave for 5-10 minutes, until frothy. Stir in enough flour (see note) plus 1 teaspoon salt to form a dough which resembles a scone (US biscuit) dough.
Well oil a 1kg (US 2 pound) bread pan and spoon dough in. Smooth the surface with an oiled spatula, pulling surface edges towards the center a little as you go. If desired, sprinkle the surface with some seeds, such as sunflower, pumpkin, sesame, linseed or poppy seed and press lightly onto the surface.
Place in a 50 degrees Celsius (125 Fahrenheit) oven (if using a fan oven, do not engage the fan at this stage, or switch the oven off once it has reached the desired temperature) to rise, until the dough has reached the top of the tin and formed a slightly domed surface above it. This takes approximately 35 minutes.
When risen, increase oven temperature to 190C (375 Fahrenheit) and bake for 50 minutes. Leave in the tin for 5 minutes before loosening the sides with a knife and sitting the loaf crosswise on top of the tin to cool. If using a fan oven, the final cooking time may be reduced by approximately 10 minutes. Experiment (the ultimate key to successful bread making).
*Flour options: This bread may be baked with innumerable combinations of flours and grains. To start with, try 1/3 white and 2/3 wholemeal. Vary this combination and add other ingredients as you become more familiar with the process.
**Other possible additions: Try whole or ground linseeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, wheat germ, ground millet, dried fruit and spice (makes great toast), kibbled grains. Let imagination be your guide.
Serves: 1 loaf
This is a great tasting bread but of course I had some problems! For some reason, it rose over the top of the pan and all over my poor oven. I took it out, added more flour, popped it in to rise again and it did the same thing! So I wiped out the oven, cleaned the side of the pan, and just baked it. The top was flat but the flavor is moist and rich for being whole wheat and flax! I think the problem is I never added enough flour since my pan was the right size. I'm going to try again since its soo good and be sure to add lots of flour to make a stifer dough.
Archived comment by: baypuppy
hi baypuppy ive never had the dough spill over in the oven. but a lttle more flour should do the trick i think. i always find it interesting when a recipe that has worked so well for one person becomes a different creature altogether in the hands of another. anyway, glad you found the flavour so agreeable. better luck next time. cheers! adagio
Archived comment by: adagio
hi baypuppy ive never had the dough spill over in the oven. but a lttle more flour should do the trick i think. i always find it interesting when a recipe that has worked so well for one person becomes a different creature altogether in the hands of another. anyway, glad you found the flavour so agreeable. better luck next time. cheers! adagio
Archived comment by: adagio
i did round two and this time it worked like a charm! it tried to be too big while I waited for the oven to heat up. Soo good. I can't wait to try using some different flours and stuff. I used wheat flakes instead of oats, yummmm. And lots of flax.
Archived comment by: baypuppy
Okay, how much flour do you add? How much have those of you who rave about this bread use, about? Cheers, in2insight
Archived comment by: in2insight
Huh, I don't know. Maybe 3-4 cups? Its a good amount of flour. I add about 2 c at first, mix, and then add more until the dough is firm. I also add flax and other junk to the bread, so its an educated guess. I have a big spoon in my flour container and i just add it until it looks right, but I bake a lot. I can see how it is a bit fustrating if you like to follow directions more..
Archived comment by: baypuppy
greetings baypuppy: great news about finally mastering the bread. enjoy your ingredient experimentation. and happy eating. adagio
Archived comment by: adagio
My 3rd loaf has just gone into the oven to raise. We still can not get over how easy this bread is to make! My 1st loaf didn't raise so well. My yeast packets, though in date, had been in my cupboard for a while. I went and bought a new jar of rapidrise/bread machine yeast, a bag of each of Gold Medals better for bread white & wheat. I use between 2 2/3 & 3 cups of total flour keeping the 1 to 2 ratio. This is very tasty bread, nice texture & color. The best part is that I can throw it together in under 15 min.... very important with a demanding 3yr old in the house!! Thanks sooooooo much for a great recipe! You all make it so easy to be vegan in our home.
Archived comment by: linaE
LinaE: great to hear about your positive experience with the recipe. By the way, yeast must be stored in the refridgerator. Probably explains why your previous loaf did not rise properly, though made with yeast that had not passed its expiry date, Cheers! adagio.
Archived comment by: adagio
My 3rd & 4th loaf did the rise all over the oven trick too! My 5th loaf is just perfect. I realized 2 things that I was doing that could have caused the over raising. 1st was not enough flour. 2nd, I wasn't letting my yeast return to room temperature before adding to the liquid. I have bad RSI in my right arm so mixing the dough when its firm is difficult for me. Next time I'm going to try letting my bread maker do the mixing for me, then put it into the oven.
Archived comment by: linaE
LinaE: if using granulated yeast, it is completely unnecessary to bring it back to room temperature before adding to the liquid. I wonder if perhaps you may be letting the dough rise too much before turning the oven up to full ttemperature. Just a thought. Congratulations for persevering. Cheers! Adagio
Archived comment by: adagio
