Oat Soda Bread

Oh no! Dinner's in 45 minutes and I need some bread to go with my soup! Oat Soda bread to the rescue!

Sure, you could run to the store, but lately we've been trying to save money on groceries by cutting down on spontaneous trips. So, we decided to make this bread instead, and it was the perfect accompaniment to our smoked paprika chickpea soup. 

My friend Naomi told me about this awesome bread before, but I hadn't gotten around to making it yet. In order to get the bread done quickly enough I baked it in 4 mini loaf pans so that it only took a little over 20 minutes to bake. If you need an emergency rescue bread, this is it!

Oat Soda Bread

from 101 cookbooks

butter or baking spray for the pan(s)

2 cups  rolled oats (7 oz)

   (if you have oat flour you can use 2 cups/7 oz of that instead)

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (10 oz)

1 3/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/4 teaspoons fine-grain sea salt

1 3/4 cups buttermilk or soured milk (plus more for brushing)

sesame seeds (I also did a loaf with fennel seeds, but didn't like it as much)

Preheat the oven to 400 with a rack in the middle. Prepare your pan(s) by buttering or spraying. Pulse the oats in the food processor until fine, like flour. Mix all the ingredients until they just come together and then turn out onto a floured work surface and knead until it comes somewhat into a ball (it took me about one minute). If you're using mini loaf pans, divide into 4 and make 4 balls. Shape loaves (or loaf) and put into pan(s). Brush the top with some buttermilk and sprinkle on sesame seeds. Place in the oven and bake. 

Small loaves:

Bake for 10-15 minutes then move the bread rack up a level to brown the top. Bake for another 10-15 minutes or until the loaves sound hollow when you knock and a hard crust forms.

Big loaf:

Same process, but the initial time is 30 minutes and the second time is 20 minutes.

Both:

When done, take out of the oven and let cool for 5 minutes in the pan. Then, remove from pan and cool on wire rack.

Enjoy!