Buttermilk Oat Bread

Who doesn't love a good loaf of bread? I confess that I am one of those people who would have a hard time with a low carb diet, as I love my sandwhich for lunch! This loaf was a way of using some buttermilk that I had bought to make Double Chocolate Banana Cake.

Sometimes it annoys me that I can only buy buttermilk in a 1 litre size, but then it does last a while and there are so many delicious uses for it. I had not yet used it to  make bread though, so this was an experiment, and I was very happy with the result.

I ground up some rolled oats, in an endeavour to use the last of the bag, and this added a lovely nutty taste to the bread. The fresh rosemary was a lovely bright background flavour. I think I might add some ground black pepper next time.

In a coffee grinder, grinder until fine:

1 cup rolled oats

Set aside.

In a small pot, heat until just warmer than body temperature:

1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1/2 tablespoon honey

Add the warm buttermilk and honey to:


1 1/2 teaspoon yeast

Leave for a few minutes to proof.

Add:

the ground oats
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups flour




Mix on medium speed until well combined, stopping to scrape the bottom of the bowl if needed. Continue to mix, adding flour as needed until you have a soft, slightly sticky dough that forms around the dough hook.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead by hand, adding flour as needed, until it is no longer sticky, but soft, smooth and elastic.

I used between 2 1/2 and 3 cups of flour altogether.

Form into a ball and place in a lightly greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and leave to rise...

.....until doubled in size, about an hour, depending on how warm your kitchen is.

Lightly knead the dough and form into a loaf, placing it into a lightly greased loaf pan to rise.

When the dough has risen almost to the top of the pan, turn the oven on to 350F.

The dough should be starting to rise above the top of the pan when the oven is heated up.

Brush the top of the loaf with water, and bake for 45 minutes.

Remove from the pan immediately and allow to cool completely before slicing.







This loaf is soft, with a medium dense crumb, a crunchy crust and slightly sweet and nutty. The rosemary gives a nice background flavour, perfect for ham sandwhiches!

• If you have oat flour, use that instead of grinding the oats. Use between 3/4 cup and 1 cup of oat flour. 
• You can also use wholewheat flour instead of the ground oats, but I suggest using only 1/2 cup as it makes a denser, drier loaf. Use all purpose flour for the rest of the flour. Almond flour is another substitute for oat flour, and can be used as a direct substitute.
• Unlike in quick breads, where the acidity of the buttermilk reacts with baking soda to help with rising, this bread uses the yeast as the leavening agent. You can substitute milk, or water, or a combination if you have no buttermilk.
• Oats can be sprinkled over the top of the loaf before baking.
• Double the recipe and freeze one of the loaves.
• Omit the rosemary; try other herbs or spices instead. Add dried fruit or nuts if you like.