Can I use a stand mixer?

We love mixing this honey oat bread recipe by hand in a large bowl, but you can certainly use an electric mixer (like a KitchenAid stand mixer) fitted with the dough hook if you prefer! Just keep an eye on it as the mixer runs: Stand mixers can often trap pockets of flour on the very bottom of the bowl, which makes the mixing process take a lot longer. If your mixer feels like it's not really making progress, turn it off, remove the bowl, and flip the dough over a few times by hand to help it get back on track!

Can I bake this bread in a loaf pan?

We have not tested this bread in a loaf pan or bread pan for sandwich style bread, but we expect the dough would work in this style. If you'd like to try it, you'll need to use a lower temperature for baking (we tend to recommend reducing the oven temperature to 325°-350°F for sandwich breads). We typically bake sandwich breads and quick breads (like our lemon zucchini bread or pumpkin bread ) in a metal 9x5-inch loaf pan .

Can I use whole wheat flour in this recipe?

You can swap up to 100 grams of the all purpose flour in this recipe for whole wheat flour without altering the texture too much. If you use more whole wheat or whole grain flour, the loaf can feel a little bit dense. Check out our full whole wheat crusty bread recipe for more guidance on baking with whole wheat!

Have another question?

See even more detailed FAQs about bread baking in our Easy Crusty French Bread post, or enroll in our Everyday Artisan Bread course for step-by-step training lessons that take you through every technique, buzzword, and more!

Honey Oat Bread

Description

This soft honey oat bread is baked in a dutch oven for a crispy crust. An easy no knead recipe!

Ingredients

Scale

9 grams active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
36 grams honey (3 Tablespoons)
320 grams warm water, about 100° Fahrenheit (1 ⅓ cup)
100 grams whole rolled oats (1 cup), plus extra for topping
360 grams All Purpose Flour (3 cups), plus extra for dusting
12 grams kosher salt (3 teaspoons)
Splash of water, to help the oats stick to the top of the bread

Instructions

Proof the Yeast

Mix yeast, honey, and warm water in a large mixing bowl. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes, until yeast is foamy.

Mix the dough & first rise

Stir whole rolled oats into the yeast mixture.
Add all purpose flour. Use a wooden spoon or sturdy spatula to stir dough about halfway, then sprinkle kosher salt across the surface of the dough. Continue stirring until no dry flour remains. If it gets difficult to stir the dough with a utensil, use clean hands to knead the dough together until it’s well mixed.
Cover dough with a clean tea towel and let rise at room temperature for about one hour, until doubled in size.

Shape the dough & final rise

Preheat the oven. Place an empty dutch oven (with the lid on) in your oven and heat to 460° Fahrenheit.
Lightly flour a large cutting board.
Gently tip the dough out of the bowl and onto the cutting board. Don't punch the dough down - you want to preserve all those air bubbles!
Shape the loaf. Pull each edge of the dough in towards the center (like folding an envelope) a few times, until you feel the dough tighten up and start to resist your folds. Flip the dough over and gently pull it towards yourself to tighten it into a nice round loaf.
Flour a proofing basket or a small mixing bowl; place your loaf into it seam-side down. Cover with a tea towel and let rise another 30 minutes while the oven heats up.

Bake

Gently tip your bread dough onto a piece of parchment paper. Make sure the seam-side is facing up this time - that will create the beautiful cracks across the surface of your finished loaf.
Spray or brush the surface of your dough with a light layer of water; sprinkle another handful of whole oats on top.
Use oven mitts to carefully remove the hot dutch oven from the oven and set the lid aside. Use the edges of the parchment paper to carefully lower your loaf into the hot dutch oven, use oven mitts to return the dutch oven lid to the pot, then slide the whole thing back into the your hot oven.
Cook bread for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, use an oven mitt to remove the lid from your dutch oven. The bread should be crusty and lightly browned.
Return the dutch oven to the oven and cook, uncovered, for 5-10 minutes more, until the bread has deepened in color. Carefully remove bread to a cooling rack, and let cool for at least an hour before slicing.

Notes

Use whole rolled oats in this recipe, as opposed to instant or quick oats. We tested this recipe with and recommend Bob's Red Mill Old Fashioned Rolled Oats.

Please use a kitchen scale! Measuring ingredients by volume (with cups) is notoriously unreliable – for best results, use a scale to measure by weight with the gram measurements provided! We use and recommend Escali kitchen scales.

Additions and substitutions. Replace up to 100 grams of all purpose flour in this recipe with whole wheat flour if you like. You can use bread flour in place of any or all of the all purpose flour here. Add a pinch of ground cinnamon to the dough if you'd like additional fall flavor.

This dough may feel sticky when first mixed; as it sits, the oats will soak up a lot of moisture and the dough will become more elastic and easier to work with. If you're new to baking, we recommend starting with our beginner-friendly no knead bread recipe to get a feel for the process. As always, we recommend using a high quality flour like King Arthur, which has a high protein content that creates a smoother, more elastic dough.