Oats and Whole Wheat Bread

The last month was filled with cooking a lot of Diwali sweets and snacks. I also made cakes for a couple of birthday parties. It was a great month. We ate a lot of great food and had fun with all the different celebrations. However, in the midst of all this activity, I just didn't get time to do any leisurely baking. I had been wanting to bake bread, but I just didn't get to it. I have been wanting to make some whole wheat breads, and I finally got to bake a loaf  last weekend. This is a recipe from the book "Whole Grain Baking" and the first one that I tried from it. Considering the success of this recipe, I am looking forward to trying the other bread recipes from this book. Since, all the recipes in this book include whole grains, they should be healthy as well.

This bread recipe contains whole wheat flour as well as rolled oats. It turns out very delicious and moist. A perfect sandwich bread.

Ingredients
1 and 1/4 cups boiling water
1 cup old fashioned rolled oat (not the quick cooking ones)
2 tbps unsalted butter, cut into 3 pieces
1.5 tsps salt
1/4 cup honey
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 and 2/3 cups unbleached all purpose flour/maida
1/4 cup milk powder
2 tsps instant yeast
some oil to grease the bowl and pan
1-1/2 tsp melted butter (optional)

Method
Mix together the oats, salt, honey and butter and pour the boiling water and stir. Let the mixture cool to a lukewarm temperature. This will semi cook and soften the oats. Also, make sure that the temperature is lukewarm and you can easily dip your finger (clean) in the mixture and hold it for a minute without burning it. If it is not cool enough and you add the yeast, the yeast die.
Then add the flours, milk powder, yeast into this mixture and knead the dough. Knead well till the dough is soft and smooth. If you are doing this by hand then you will need about 10-15 minutes kneading time. Shape the dough into a ball.

To see step by step photographs of the process see the Whole Wheat Bread recipe.

Then, place this in a well oiled bowl and roll the dough in the bowl, so that the dough is lightly covered with oil. Then, cover the bowl with a plastic wrap and let the dough rise till it has doubled in size. This will take about an hour to an hour and half, depending on the ambient temperature.

Then, deflate the dough and shape it into a log which can fit in your rectangular bread pan. Now cover this lightly with a plastic wrap and let the dough rise again till it has doubled in size, which will take another hour to hour and half.

Preheat the oven to 350 and bake the bread on the center rack in the oven for about 45 minutes.  After 20 minutes have passed, check and if you see that the top has lightly browned, then take a piece of aluminium foil (large enough to cover the pan), fold it in the center to create a crease, then  open it up and create a tent on top of the baking tin. Let the bread bake for the next 25 minutes, covered with foil.

Take the bread out of the oven and set to cool for 5 minutes before removing it from the tin. If you want, you can lightly brush the entire bread with some butter. This will help retain the moisture and keep it soft and moist.  Slice it as you go.

Tips
Yeast should never be added to hot water or hot mixtures, as that will kill the yeast. If you are not sure, add the yeast to room temperature ingredients. If the temperature in the room is very cold, it will take longer for the dough to rise. You can keep the dough in the oven, with its light on to provide the warmth for the yeast, so that the bread will rise. Else, add additional time to the rising process. The key to look for is, if the dough has doubled in size. Similarly, if the room temperature is really warm (think hot summer weather), then you may need just 45 mins or an hour for the dough to complete doubling in size. For photos on how to shape the dough into a loaf after the first rise, see the Whole Wheat bread recipe.

Healthy Oatmeal Cookies - An Oxymoron? - Maybe not!

The last thing I think of while devouring... umm eating cookies, is "healthy eating". Cookies translate to something sweet and decadent. At this point, you are probably wondering - what's up with this title then! Please read on. I enjoy cookies as much as the next person, but I also feel guilty after eating them (what's the saying? once on the lips, forever.... ).  It so happens that I run down to the cafe a couple of times a week, to get an afternoon snack, but faced with limited options, I end up getting chips or cookies. This just adds to my guilt. So, finally I decided it would be a better idea if I made cookies with healthy ingredients, cut back on the sugar and fat. Homemade is the best right? So, I used oatmeal, whole wheat flour, wheat bran and apple sauce. The end result was healthy and akin to granola bars. The texture is more on the "cracker" side because I baked them till they were well browned and no longer soft. (Of course you can stop when they are cooked through if you like soft cookies.) Now, there is no guilt, I can indulge and  it is a great to go breakfast. Tasty, filling and sweet minus the decadence. The best part is that my family loved it too.

Ingredients
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 tbsp wheat bran
2 cups rolled oats (not the quick 1 min cook ones)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp butter, melted and cooled
1 large egg
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup raisins

Method
Grease a cookie sheet/ baking sheet and heat the oven to 350F. Sieve together the whole wheat pastry flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the wheat bran and mix with a whisk. In another bowl, whisk together the egg and vanilla extract. To it add the melted butter, apple sauce, both sugars and mix well. To this add the wheat flour mixture and stir till ingredients are mixed. Then fold in the rolled oats. Using an icecream scoop or two spoons, scoop a little mixture into small dollops onto the sheet. Make sure you leave a couple inches between the dollops, as the cookies will expand while baking. Bake the cookies for about 20-30 minutes or more till they are brown. I baked them till they were well browned and dry. If you prefer soft cookies, stop baking when they are light brown and cooked through.

Tips
You can substitute the white sugar with brown sugar as well. The cookies will be a little less sweet. Brown sugar is white sugar mixed with molasses. I am not sure how much healthier it is compared to white sugar, but the resultant dishes are definitely  less sweet.