Batter Breads Made Easy



Batter Oatmeal Bread
In the world of food in my opinion there are 2 kinds of people, cooks and bakers.  I think to be a good baker you have to be very exact in your measurements.  Cooking on the other hand is a little more forgiving.  I don’t measure ingredients exactly. I am a cook but the one thing I love to bake is bread.  I find it very therapeutic to knead out my frustrations on bread dough.  My next 2 blog posts are recipes for batter breads.

Batter breads are much easier to make than regular yeast breads because you don't have to knead them. This hearty loaf is ready in less than two hours, most of that rising time.  Here is the video post where I go through the steps of making this oatmeal batter bread.

Oatmeal Batter Bread
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour, 5 minutes
Yield: Makes one loaf

Ingredients:

    2 to 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I substitute ¾ cup whole wheat flour in this mixture)
  • 3/4 cup rolled oats
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 pkg. dry yeast
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1 egg
Preparation:

Grease an 8x4" loaf pan. In a large bowl, combine 1 cup flour, oats, salt and yeast and mix well. In a small saucepan, heat water, honey and butter until very warm, about 120 degrees. Add to flour mixture along with egg, and beat for three minutes. Stir in additional 1 to 1-1/2 cups flour to make a stiff batter. Cover batter and let rise until light, about 25-30 minutes.

Stir down batter and place in prepared pan. Cover and let rise until batter reaches top of pan, about 15-20 minutes. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Bake bread for 35-40 minutes until loaf sounds hollow when lightly tapped. Remove from pan immediately and place on wire rack to cool.
The second recipe for this post is for Cheddar Basil Batter Bread.  This bread is great to serve at a summer barbeque with ribs or pork chops.
Cheddar Basil Batter Bread

Prep Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours, 15 minutes
Ingredients:
  • 2 tsp. active dry yeast
  • 1-1/4 cups warm water
  • 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
  • 1 tsp. basil ( I sometimes use thyme or celery seed here in place of basil)
  • 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
  • 1 tbsp. sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 2-2/3 cups all-purpose flour ( I use half all-purpose and half whole wheat flour to make this a more whole grain bread)
Preparation:
  1. In medium bowl, add yeast and water. Stir until yeast is dissolved.
  2. Add cheese, basil, oil, sugar, salt, and 2 cups of flour. Mix well.
  3. Mix in remaining flour.
  4. Cover bowl with clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let rise in warm place for 30 minutes.
  5. Stir down batter.
  6. Scrape batter into a greased bread pan, 9x5x3 inches. Cover and let rise in warm place for another 30 minutes or until double in size.
  7. Bake at 375 degrees F for 45 minutes or until bread sounds hollow when tapped on.
  8. Remove loaf from pan and let cool.
I hope that you enjoy trying these batter breads over the next couple of months

Margaret Ann R.D.

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