Oat Bran Broom Bread

This is another delicious and healthy bread that I made a few days ago from Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads.  I've been having such great results making breads from this book that I'm tempted to bake through all of the recipes! Well maybe not all -- a whole wheat panettone doesn't sound appealing to me at all LOL.  I believe there's something about using a soaker and biga and leaving them to ferment for at least 8 hours (thus going through a gradual autolyse period) that allows for the development of flavors and enzymes which makes a very good loaf of bread.  

This is called Oat Bran Broom Bread, "Broom" because the whole grains included in the recipe cleanses your colon as it has a mixture of both water soluble fiber (from the oat bran and flaxseeds) and insoluble fiber (from the wheat bran of the WWF).  It tastes delicious as a sandwich bread or spread with butter and jam.  It doesn't make quite as good a toast as the Multigrain Struan though.

I used a 9 1/2" x 5 1/2" loaf pan instead of the 8 x 4 pan called for in the recipe and it was the perfect size.  

This bread rose perfectly and had a significant oven spring.  I was very pleased that I achieved the same look of the crumb as the one shown in the book!  It could benefit from a little more sweetness though so perhaps next time, I'll add a little more honey.


Note: This recipe is just one of the many delicious and healthy breads that you can find in Peter Reinhart's book "Whole Grain Breads." I highly suggest getting the book as there are a lot of whole grain variations of popular breads like brioche, cinnamon rolls, bagels, challah, and even pizza dough. But if you want to give this recipe a try first, this site has posted it as it's written in PR's book.


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