Easy Little Bread (No Knead, 30 Minute Rise, Whole Grain, & Delicious!)

This bread is delicious! And it was SO easy! It is another one of Heidi Swanson's great finds (from 101 Cookbooks--great blog--here is the original post). Ran across this bread on Pinterest. It may be the fastest, easiest little bread recipe I've tried so far. You can literally have bread within a 2 hours of starting this recipe. Though, I prefer my longer wait method breads (from Kneadlessly Simple), this one is a great one if you're short on time and would be a perfect bread to 'cut your teeth on' if you haven't made any yeast breads yet. 


The best part of making this bread is that it uses ingredients you will most likely have on hand in your pantry. The crust is crispy, the texture is hearty, and the flavor is still light enough to not feel overly cardboard-healthy--but it is still healthy! I wish I had made THREE loaves and frozen two of them. Next time, I will. Seriously, this bread is NO knead (use your stand mixer to blend the ingredients). And requires only a 30 minute rise. Check out how beautifully this yeast proofed! (Don't mind my falling-apart measuring cup. Santa needs to bring me a new one next year. Also, this may be the first time I can tell my new camera may actually take better pictures than my old one...)

I'm hoping to incorporate this bread  into toasts for dinner, later this week, by topping it with mushrooms, bell peppers, and provolone cheese and broiling the toasts. This would be a great bread for that kind of thing. It is the perfect Sunday afternoon bread--the kind you want to eat while taking a break from doing laundry. I am assuming that's how everyone spends their Sundays....laundry and dreading going back to work the next day. So how to make Sundays better?? I have found three ways: 1) Bake bread! It's a cheerful way to greet the week. 2) Finish a creative project--thank you Pinterest for more inspiration!

And 3) Take your kids for a neighborhood ride in a wagon at sunset into the early evening. 

Here's to hoping everyone's Sunday nights get happier!


By the way, check out those air bubbles--keep in mind this bread does NOT rise much at all. I wouldn't say it's an impressive looking bread, but get past the fact that it's a little brick shaped (as was Heidi's if you go to her original post); slather some butter on it, hot from the oven, and you'll be good to go--yes, I know you're not supposed to cut it out of the oven, but who can resist? 

EASY LITTLE BREAD 

• 1 1/4 cups / 300 ml warm water (105-115F)

• 2 tsp. active dry yeast (one packet)

• 1 Tbsp. honey

• 1 cup / 4.5 oz / 125 g unbleached all-purpose flour

• 1 cup / 5 oz / 140 g whole wheat flour

• 1 cup / 3.5 oz / 100 g rolled oats (not instant oats)

• 1 1/2 teaspoons fine grain sea salt

• 2 Tbsp. butter, melted, for brushing

  
  

In a medium bowl, sprinkle the yeast onto the warm water and stir until the yeast dissolves. Stir in the honey and set aside for a few minutes, until the yeast blooms and swells a bit - 5 - 10 minutes.

In the meantime, mix the flours, oats, and salt in a large bowl. Add the wet mixture to the dry and stir very well.

Brush a 8-cup loaf pan (just a regular loaf pan you have around, really!) generously with some of the melted butter. Turn the dough into the tin, cover with a clean, slightly damp cloth, and set in a warm place for 30 minutes, to rise.

Preheat the oven to 350F / 180C, with a rack in the middle. When ready, bake the bread for 35-40 minutes, until golden and pulling away from the sides of the pan. (Heidi says: I finish things up by leaving the bread under the broiler for just a heartbeat - to give the top a bit deeper color.)

Remove from oven, and turn the bread out of the pan quickly. Let it cool on a rack so it doesn't steam in the pan. Serve warm, slathered with butter.

Makes 1 loaf.