Sesame oatmeal bread

One of my favourite recipes in Bernard Clayton Jr’s Complete Book of Breads is Oatmeal Sesame Bread. The crumb is delicious and moist, from the oatmeal, and great for sandwiches. So I decided to convert it to weights and to use a sourdough starter.

100 gm white flour starter at 100% hydration
120 gm rolled oats
360 gm white flour (I use grano duro 0)
30 gm butter, cut into small pieces
15 gm salt
15 gm sugar
340 ml water
A little milk or eggwash and sesame seeds for the crust

In a large bowl, whisk the starter into the water, then add the oats and 120 grams of the flour, the sugar, salt and butter. Mix well with a wooden spoon and leave to rest in the bowl for about 15 minutes.

Add the rest of the flour and work in the bowl and on a counter to incorporate all. The dough can be quite sticky. Return it to the cleaned bowl and cover with a plate or plastic wrap. Stretch and fold 4 times at 30 minute intervals, and then allow to rise until doubled in size, about 2 hours.

Turn out of the bowl, shape into a ball and rest on a floured board under the bowl of about one hour.

Transfer to a baking tray, reshaping if necessary, tucking the edges under, then brush with a little milk (or eggwash if you prefer). Sprinkle the top with sesame seeds and make three cuts across the top. Cover the loaf with some kind of cloche and put into a cold oven set to Gas Mark 8 or 230℃. After 20 minutes remove the cloche and after a further 20 minutes turn the temperature down to Gas Mark 6.5, 215℃, for a final 10 minutes.

Place on a rack and do not slice until completely cool.

I’m sending this to Yeastspotting, with holiday greetings and appreciation. Also, I’ve made this recipe as a kind of crown loaf by forming small balls, dipping them in eggwash and sesame seeds, and heaping them in a round tin. The balls are easy to tear apart and make a great alternative to dinner rolls.

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