Monday, August 8, 2011

Recipe: Whole Wheat Oatmeal Almond Beer Bread


It's a sad commentary on my life when I can't remember to drink a beer.

My husband opened a lovely bottle of oatmeal stout from a vegan-friendly microbrewery for me. I plum forgot it was there, and it ended up going flat. Luckily, I grew up on my mom's beer bread, so I know exactly what to do with flat beer!

Is your beer vegan? It may not be. Beers may contain milk sugar or honey for flavor, and may be refined with isinglass (ground fish bladders).

Want to find out if your beer falls under the "vegan-friendly" category? Check out Barnivore.com's beer list. Be sure to read Barnivore's FAQs to see how they determine what brands are vegan-friendly.

Here's the recipe I developed, using that flat oatmeal stout:

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Almond Beer Bread

Ingredients:

1 1/3 c. vegan oatmeal stout, flat, and at room temperature
2/3 c. warm water ("baby bath water" warm - not too hot, or you'll kill your yeast)
2 1/4 t. active dry yeast

4 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. oats
1 t. fine sea salt
1 c. slivered almonds, chopped

1/4 c. cane juice crystals or raw sugar
1/4 c. olive oil

1 - 2 t. olive oil

Directions:

Pour flat beer and water into a large bowl. Sprinkle yeast over liquid and allow yeast to dissolve.


In a large or medium bowl, combine flour, oats, sea salt and almonds.

Pour sugar and oil into beer and yeast mixture. Stir until sugar is dissolved.


Slowly add dry ingredients to beer mixture, stirring until all dry ingredients are thoroughly mixed. Dough should be stretchy/elastic, and not stick to sides of bowl. You may need to add a bit more flour or water to achieve the correct texture.

Gather dough into a ball. Pour a teaspoon or two of olive oil into the bottom of the large bowl, coating one side of dough ball, then turn ball over to coat the bottom.


Let dough rest in bowl, covered with a damp tea towel, until doubled in size - about one hour.

Punch dough down and allow to rest for five minutes. Turn dough out onto floured surface and divide into two parts.

To form loaves, flatten each portion of dough into a thick, wide rectangle. Starting at the narrow end, roll the dough tightly into a log.


Pinch ends of loaf closed and smooth out seam running length of roll.

Place each roll, seam-side down, in an 8.5" x 4.5" bread pan and allow to rise for another 35 minutes.


Your loaves may not look like they'll fill the pan, but remember - they'll rise quite a bit in the oven, as well.


Bake loaves at 350 degrees F for 30 to 35 minutes, or until tops begin to brown slightly and loaves produce a hollow sound when thumped on top.


After removing from oven, allow pans to rest for five minutes, then slide the blade of a table knife down each side of the pans to gently loosen the bread, then carefully turn the loaves out onto a cooling rack and cool completely before slicing with a serrated bread knife
.

This recipe produces two compact loaves of dense, chewy bread with a hint of that fabulous, dark flavor stouts are know for. The chopped almonds add a great texture. Great for toast or sandwiches!




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