Aunt Kathie’s Buttermilk Oatmeal White Bread

This recipe — which is delicious and reminds you what bread should taste like — plus tomorrow’s recipe took me almost 8 hours to complete. And to think my Aunt Kathie would make this bread plus sticky buns plus several pies before every Thanksgiving whilst working in corporate America, running a household and raising two kids. I always knew my Aunt Kathie was an amazing woman but after attempting her bread recipe, I realized just how much I had to live up to because this bread makes any meal special.

The one thing I learned when making this dough was that Classics (SJs) are often bad at improvising and it’s why so many of us without deep culinary knowledge strictly cling to recipes. I accidentally bought steal cut oatmeal instead of regular oatmeal. My Organic Structure (NF) mom encouraged me to loosen up, not be so rigid, and use the steel cut oats. But, let’s just say the steel cut oats gave a certain amount of crunch to the bread that wasn’t truly desired. I feel like the best improvisers are Funs (SPs), Organic Freedoms (NFPs) and Smart Freedoms (NFJs). Other personality types can certainly improvise in the kitchen it’s just that without actual culinary training the results are not always fantastic.

The following recipe was developed from The Joy of Cooking.

Buttermilk oatmeal white bread

Makes 3 loaves or 1 recipe of sticky buns (tomorrow’s PixieTip)
Ingredients:

  • 1 Cup warm water — not too hot or yeast will die
  • Yeast – 2 packages or a cake — amount not critical
  • 1 Tbsp or so of honey — amount not critical, just want to give yeast something to eat
  • 3 Cup buttermilk — whole milk buttermilk is most delicious, but skim milk buttermilk is probably healthier
  • ½ Cup oil
  • ½ Cup honey
  • 1 Tbsp salt
  • ½ Cup oatmeal
  • ¼ Cup wheat germ
  • 1 egg
  • 4-5 Cups bread flour

In a 2 cup container mix the following:

  • 1 Cup warm water — not too hot or the yeast will die
  • Yeast – 2 packages or a cake — amount not critical
  • Tbsp or so of honey — amount not critical, just want to give yeast something to eat

Allow yeast to grow while mixing remaining ingredients.  If yeast does not bubble, you will have to start over.  Yeast may be too old, or water may have been too hot.

I like to make the bread in a large soup pan so that there is plenty of space for expansion. In a soup pan, warm  the following:

  • 3 Cup buttermilk — whole milk buttermilk is most delicious, but skim milk buttermilk is probably healthier.
  • ½ Cup oil
  • ½ Cup honey
  • 1 Tbsp salt

Stir while you are warming it.  Do not get it too hot or the yeast will die. Turn off heat.  Test to be sure it is not too hot. Mix in the following:

  • ½ Cup oatmeal [note steal cut isn’t ideal]
  • ¼ Cup wheat germ
  • 1 egg
  • Yeast mix

Next, mix in:

  • 4 or 5 cups of bread flour in two batches

Put on floured table and knead with more flour for 10 to 15 minutes, adding flour to keep bread from sticking [I needed a ton of extra flour as my dough was rather sticky]. You will notice that the bread becomes more coherent and elastic as you knead.  

In the meantime, soak the soup pan in water to get the dough off the walls and bottom. Dry it out and grease the side and wall.

Put dough in soup pan, flip over dough to put greasy side on top. Cover pan with damp dish towel. Allow to rise in a warm spot until double, between 1 and 2 hours.  When it is double, the imprints left by finger pokes will remain.  [I did my dad’s old trick of warming the oven and then turning off the oven to create a warm spot as initially my dough wasn’t rising fast enough]

Punch down in pan, turn over and allow to double again, about 45 minutes.

Grease 3 bread pans. Cut the dough into 3 piece – a serrated knife works best. Form the pieces into 3 loaves. Put in the pans upside down then flip over to get the greased side on top. Cover with the damp dish towel.  Allow to rise until double.

Place loaves in cold oven. Turn the heat to 400 degrees. After 15 minutes, reduce heat to 350 and bake 25 minute longer.

Test for doneness – bread should have shrunk from sides of pans a bit.  Or turn over one pan, tap on bottom to release the bread and tap the bottom.  If it sounds hollow , it is done.