Overnight Oatmeal bread

I found a recipe years ago that used leftover oatmeal and I thought it was brilliant.  Hmm, I have this leftover oatmeal in the fridge and I don’t want to eat it like this.  What can I do with it to make it lovely again?  

This does make a lovely oatmeal bread and has never failed me.  

I always think, ok, this time it’s not going to work, but as long as it is given enough time for each rise, it will be good.

Don’t underbake it and don’t cut it too soon!

If you don’t have that kind of time, you can make  this Oatmeal topped Irish Soda Bread

If your yeast is older, test it by putting a bit in warm, not hot, water to make sure it blooms.

How to Make Overnight Oatmeal Bread

Measure out all ingredients

1. Put the oatmeal, water, butter, salt, and yeast in a blender. Blend until combined.

2. Add the 1 cup flour and blend again.

3. Pour all into a large mixer bowl. Cover with plastic wrap loosely. Not airtight, or use a damp towel. Then leave this to ferment at room temperature for about 20 hours.

4. After 20 hours, add the syrup and molasses and mix.

5. Add a cup of flour and mix.  Keep adding more flour until the dough becomes stiff.

6. Change to a dough hook or start using your hands to incorporate the rest of the flour.

7. Continue to add the flour just until the dough starts to pull away from the utensils and the bowl. If it is still too sticky to work with add a bit more flour.

8. Move the dough to a clean floured surface.  Knead the dough for another 5 minutes by folding and pressing the dough into itself until it is smooth.

9. Coat the dough with oil or butter and place in a large bowl.

10. Again, loosely cover this and let rise for 1½ to 2 hours. To check if the dough has risen enough, poke your finger into it and the impression should stay.

11. Once it has risen, punch it down and knead it again and either roll into a log shape and place in a bread pan, or form into a large oval or round.

12. Let this rise another hour.  Preheat oven to 360°F (182°C)

13. Make slashes across the top of the loaf and place in the oven for 35-40 minutes, depending on the shape of your loaf.

Once it is baked, either shape should sound hollow when you tap the bottom of the loaf.

If you’re not sure, let it bake longer. I think it’s a little better to be a little overdone than raw in the middle because underdone bread is very disappointing.

Let this cool at least an hour!

Do not try to cut bread when it’s hot. It kind of implodes and isn’t fluffy anymore.