Greenstein's Whole Wheat Oatmeal Bread
This bread was made from the Whole Wheat Oatmeal Bread recipe in George Greenstein's book Secrets of a Jewish Baker. It's a really good bread, which has a very nice flavor and somewhat reminds me of a Scandanavian bread in texture; fairly open but substantial. The recipe call for a sponge but this bread isn't difficult to make and is baked in a loaf pan. As Mr. Greenstein says in the short intro: "The bread is best when baked in a loaf pan and sliced for sandwiches or toasted' Oatmeal adds a distinct rough texture and nutty flavor and keeps the bread moist." Like Mr. Greenstein said, it's excellent sliced and eaten with butter and marmalade or toasted. My wife, who critiques the breads I bake really likes this bread. I like to try different recipes and this one, for my taste, is a winner.
Comments
Toasted with peanut butter!
They look wonderful. So many loaves to try, so little time.
Marni
I do the same thing you do...toasted with peanut butter and add fig jam, strawberry preserves or orange marmalade on top of the peanut butter. Thanks for your kind words.
Howard
I love whole wheat toasted with anything on it and your loaves look yummy.
We had hurricane Ike come through here and my computer was out until yesterday! Ike missed you and came to Ohio after causing so much damage along the way. The wind was scary but all I could think about is the people who really get hit bad by these storms. I did miss TFL and I"m catching up now. Great job Howard. weavershouse
Weavershouse,
Sorry to hear that Ike made it up to your area. We got lucky this year. A few years ago when Charlie came through here we were without electricity for 10 days. Cold showers, no air conditioning, lost the contents of the fridge and freezer...not fun, but we survived without major damage. Charlene and I were up at the height of the storm, around 2 a.m., watching a very tall Washingtonian palm tree in our back yard twisting violently, back and forth, in the wind and just as we turned to go back to bed it snapped and the top third of it came crashing down but didn't do any damage. So I know what you were going through with the high winds. We were watching some of the footage from Galveston shortly after it hit. They showed before and after photos and and it was tragic. For a while it looked like New Orleans was on target and then it made a turn toward Texas. Once they hit the Gulf of Mexico and the warm water they really pick up speed and force.
Thanks for the complement on the bread. I really like this bread, it's quite good and it's a great breakfast bread.
Glad you're reconnected to the Internet and back on TFL. Hang in there. Best to you and yours.
Howard
Hi, Howard.
That sounds really good. I've been lost in exotica for too long. I'm missing whole wheat bread and raisin cinnamon bread. You may have given me the shove I needed. Thanks!
David
David,
I'm really partial to whole wheat bread and Charlene prefers rye bread so I have to alternate and do both. Anyway, don't know which WW raisin cinnamon recipe you use but I was looking through Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads today and he has a recipe that looks really good, which I tabbed for baking next time i bake whole wheat bread. From the photo in the book the texture looks similar to what I got with Greenstein's recipe sans raisins.
Howard
Hi, Howard.
I haven't made a WW version. The one I make is the Raisin Cinnamon Walnut Bread in BBA. We really like it. I've read about Hamelman's Oatmeal Raisin bread on TFL. That sounds really good too.
David
Hamelman's oatmeal raisin bread (in the levain chapter titled golden raisin bread) is so good that it's the REAL reason I went back to baking school! :)
Seriously, the day I went for the school's info session, I bought a loaf to bring home. Whatever's left at the end of the day from students' output is sold at half-price. I didn't know at the time, but my purchase was JH's oatmeal raisin with some walnuts thrown in. I was hooked. If I could learn to make bread like that, sign me up!
Another day, I went for the entrance exam. Danged if that same bread wasn't there again, only with pecans. Musta been a plot. It took me the whole program to figure it out, whether it was the golden raisin, the ww with pecans or the sourdough rye with walnuts. The instructor couldn't remember for sure what they were baking at the time.
It was the Golden Raisin, page 172-3. Make it! Make it now, if not sooner. You'll love it. Well....<respectful backtracking> I do. I'm making it tomorrow, as a matter of fact. Will try to post a picture.
Carol
p.s. He also has an oatmeal with cinnamon and raisins in the straight dough chapter. Haven't made it myself, but I expect it's good too.
That does look and sound like a hearty loaf. Do you slice it thin like rye or is it light enough to have a big thick slice? It's nice to see something along the lines of a hearty winter bread. Nice post Howard.
Eric
Are those spots punctuating the crumb the oats? I love chewy bits! Sure looks good, Howard.
Rosalie
Yes, the spots are the oats in the bread. They give a nice texture and taste.
Howard - St. Augustine, FL