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Ingredients
- 1 cup dried cherries
- 1 1/2 cups rolled oats, plus additional for sprinkling on top of the loaves
- 1 (1/4 ounce) pkg. rapid rise yeast (2 1/4 t.)
- 1 cup unbleached bread flour
- 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour, plus more as needed
- 1 1/4 t. fine salt
- 1 1/4 cups warm water, about 130 degrees F.
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/3 cup sunflower oil (Sunflower oil is very high in monounsaturated fats ("good" fats). If you cannot find sunflower oil, you may use safflower oil or canola oil)
Details
Servings 2
Preparation
Step 1
1. Place the cherries in a bowl, and cover with hot water; soak for 30 minutes. Drain the cherries, and gently squeeze out any excess liquid.
2. Add the oats to the work bowl of a food processor, and process until finely ground, about 30 seconds. Place the ground oats, yeast, bread flour, whole wheat flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. Mix on low speed for 30 seconds to combine the dry ingredients. Whisk together the warm water and honey; add to the dry ingredients. Add the oil, and continue mixing until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 4 to 5 minutes. After the first 2 minutes of mixing, if the dough seems too sticky, add more whole wheat flour, 1 T. at a time, until the dough cleans the sides of the bowl. (Note: The dough may continue to stick slightly to the bottom of the bowl.) Add the cherries, and continue to mix for 1 minute. Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, and knead until the dough is smooth and the cherries are evenly distributed, about 2 to 4 minutes. (Note : The dough will not look completely smooth because of the ground oats.)
3. Place the dough in a lightly oiled mixing bowl; turn over to oil all sides, then cover with plastic wrap; allow the dough to rest about 10 minutes.
4. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface; divide into 2 equal portions. Form each portion of dough into an oval loaf. Mist the loaves lightly with water, and sprinkle with rolled oats. Lightly cover the loaves with an oiled piece of plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
5. Position the rack in the middle of the oven, and place a baking stone on the rack. Position a second rack in the lowest part of the oven, and place a medium cast-iron skillet (or saute pan) on rack. When the dough has almost doubled in size, preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. When the oven is up to temperature, heat 2 cups of water to a boil; carefully pour it into the skillet or saute pan. Lower the oven temperature to 375 degrees F, and place the bread on the baking stone in the center of the oven. After the bread has baked for 20 minutes, carefully remove the skillet (or saute pan) from the oven.
6. Continue baking the bread until firm and golden brown with an internal temperature that registers 200 degrees F. on an instant-read thermometer, about 20 minutes. (Note: lightly tent the bread with aluminum foil if the crust is getting too brown.) Remove the bread from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool.
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