No-Knead Country Bread with Red Fife and Oats

This is my FAVOURITE new thing to make. It was inspired by Donna Hay’s no-knead seeded morning bread, but I changed a number of ingredients. In particular, I used red fife flour and chose to add oatmeal instead of seeds. I find the oatmeal cooks into the flour and instead of having oat chunks, you just have a super moist and dense bread.

I don’t normally eat bread, but I was craving it and didn’t want to go to the grocery store to get any. Plus, I hate how many ingredients are added to grocery store bread. Additives, sugar, starches, and chemicals galore! No thanks. This bread was really easy to make, and just required 5 minutes of prep the night before and then a reminder to get it in the oven in the morning. Marc and I enjoyed the most amazing smell of fresh bread in the oven this morning. That really can’t be beat.

Ingredients:

6 cups of a whole grain organic flour - I used red fife. You could use spelt, kamut, or whole wheat. Or, if you’re isolated and you just have white flour and want bread then go for it!

3 1/2 cups of warm water

1 teaspoon of dry yeast

1 tablespoon of maple syrup

3 teaspoons of salt

1 cup oatmeal

Instructions:

Get a large bowl (glass or metal, doesn’t matter) and add the water, yeast, maple syrup and salt. Mix and let sit for a couple of minutes until it starts to foam. Then, add the flour and oats and stir until you have a sticky mixture. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, form it into a circle, and then place it into a floured clean bowl (I just quickly cleaned the one I had used to mix the bread). Dust the top with a bit more flour, cover with a clean tea towel and set it aside overnight (or at least 8 hours).

In the morning, preheat your oven to 475 degrees and place a large pot or pan that has a lid (I used a cast iron dutch oven) in the oven to get screaming hot. I left mine for 30 minutes. Once hot, carefully remove it from the oven, dust with more flour and tip your bowl of dough into the pot. Dust with a bit more flour on the top if desired, and use a knife to cut an X on the top of the dough. Place the lid on the pot and place it in the oven for 40-45 minutes. Remove it from the oven, take off the lid, and place it back in the oven for about 20 minutes or until the bread sounds hollow when you tap the bottom.

Once done, serve with butter and whatever else you like! I used maple butter.