a little oat and honey bread

I just came back from a weekend in Lummi Island where I produced a photography workshop for Gentl & Hyers. Really beautiful adventure and I hope they will blog about it soon. I hardly had time to pick up my camera but I did share my experience on Instagram.

Fall is in the air and it really hit me when I found Andrea baking a French apple cake early Saturday morning. The warmth from the oven made the windows in the cottage fog up. The smell of apples and butter. “I’m ready for fall” I said. Everyone agreed.

I came home to Seattle eager for some early morning baking myself. Really invigorated from watching Andrea and Marty work, foraged foods, wild environment, foggy windows and the promise of more time spent in the kitchen.

Heidi Swanson’s new book “Near & Far: Recipes Inspired by Home and Travel” laid on my dining room table with a million bookmarks. I remembered her little rye bread and that photo of slices slathered in butter.

I was to make this.

A few tweaks to her recipe to make it gluten free. A little bit of brown rice, a little bit of teff and lots of oats. So good with that touch of honey and sea salt.

While I was photographing the bread at the studio yesterday, I cut some blue, topped it with Asian pears we gathered at Nettles Farm and a drizzle of maple syrup. Lunch and dessert in one, I thought.

Little oat bread

adapted from Heidi Swanson’s “Little rye bread” in Near & Far: Recipes Inspired by Home and Travel

makes one loaf pan

2 teaspoons dry active yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water (110 to 115 degrees F)
1 tablespoon runny honey
1/2 cup (70 g) superfine brown rice flour
1/2 cup (70 g) ivory teff flour
1 cup (140 g) gluten-free oat flour
1 cup (100 g) gluten-free rolled oats (not quick oats)
2 tablespoons flaxseed meal
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1. In a small bowl, combine the yeast and warm water. Whisk to dissolve the yeast. Add the honey and whisk to combine. Let the yeast ferment for 10 to 15 minutes until bubbles start to form on the top.

2. Whisk together the superfine brown rice, teff, oat flours with rolled oats, flaxseed meal and salt. Add the yeast mixture and combine until all well incorporated. It will feel like a loose dough, somewhere between cake batter and dough.

3. Brush the bottom and sides of a loaf pan with half of the melted butter. Spoon the dough into the pan and even out the top. Cover the pan with a damp cloth and let the dough ferment for about 30 to 45 minutes until it rises a bit (time will depend on how warm your kitchen is). In that time, preheat oven to 350F (180C).

4. Bake the bread for 35 to 40 minutes until top feels set and dough pulls away from the sides. Brush the rest of the melted butter over the top of the bread and finish it by broiling it for color. Remove the pan from the oven and as soon as it is easy to handle, invert it onto a cooling rack. Do not let it cool in the pan or the steam will make the bread soggy. Let the bread cool in the cooling rack completely before cutting. Store wrapped with parchment. It is great toasted.