Best Porridge Bread Recipes

OLD-FASHIONED PORRIDGE AND MOLASSES BREAD

Steps:

• Pour boiling water over oats and shortening in a bowl. Stir until shortening melts; let stand for 20 minutes, giving it a stir once in a while.
• Meanwhile, dissolve sugar in lukewarm water. Add yeast and let stand for 10 minutes. Stir briskly with a fork.
• Stir yeast mixture into the partially cooled oat mixture with molasses and salt. Let cool to lukewarm, 5 to 10 minutes. Beat in 2 1/2 cups of flour, gradually adding remaining flour as needed.
• Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead, 8 to 10 minutes. Shape into a smooth ball and place in a greased bowl, rolling the dough so the top is greased. Cover and let double in size, about 1 1/2 hours.
• Punch dough down and shape into 4 loaves. Place into greased 8 1/2x4 1/2-inch bread pans. Cover and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Bake in preheated oven until tops are golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes.

OLD-FASHIONED PORRIDGE BREAD

Steps:

• Pour 3 cups boiling water Over 2 cups rolled oats 1/4 cup shortening. Stir until shortening melts and let stand for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Meanwhile, dissolve 2 teaspoons sugar in 1 cup lukewarm water (100 F) Over this sprinkle 2 envelopes active dry yeast Let stand for 10 minutes.
• Then stir briskly with a fork.
• Stir into partially cooled rolled oat mixture 2/3 cup table molasses 4 teaspoons salt Cool to lukewarm.
• Add softened yeast to the lukewarm rolled oat mixture. Stir Beat in 2-1/2 cups All Purpose flour Beat vigorously by hand or with electric mixer.
• Then gradually beat in with a spoon an additional 5-1/2 to 6 cups All Purpose flour Work in last of flour with a rotating motion of the hand.
• Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead 8 to 10 minutes.
• Shape into a smooth ball and place in a greased bowl, rotating dough to grease surface. Cover and let rise until doubled (about 1-1/2 hours). Keep in a warm place. Punch down and shape into 4 loaves.
• Place in greased 8-1/2 x 4-1/2 inch loaf pans, grease tops, cover and let rise again until doubled (about 1 hour). Bake in preheated 400F oven for 30 to 35 minutes.

CORN PORRIDGE AND ROSEMARY SOURDOUGH BREAD

Steps:

• Porridge
• Mill your dried corn on the coarsest setting of your countertop mill, and then re-mill the corn on the finest setting, where the stones are lightly knocking.
• Boil water and mix 130-150g of it into the corn flour. Yellow dent corn needs the higher end of that range, and niles red flint corn the lower end. (I didn't get a chance to try bloodly butcher corn.)
• Cover and set aside for about an hour or until the temperature is under 120F.
• Mixing the Dough
• In a medium bowl, add all of the ingredients except the rosemary. Remember to hold back some of the water if you're using volume measurements or a different type of corn porridge (e.g. pureed cooked corn).
• Mix until the ingredients are incorporated. The dough will be sticky and somewhat wet, but not a soupy batter. I like to leave some small chunks of unincorporated porridge for flavor impact.
• Bulk Fermentation
• Cover the dough and let it bulk ferment for 5-6 hours (that was my time frame in a 78F summer kitchen). During the first couple of hours, perform 3-4 rounds of gluten development with a 30-minute rest in between each round. Don't despair if the dough is quite sticky at first, it will become more manageable as time passes.
• Stop the bulk fermentation when the dough has expanded by about 75% and is bubbly on the surface. If your bowl is transparent, you will also see aeration through the sides of the bowl.
• Adding Rosemary and Pre-Shaping
• Flour your counter top and scrape the dough out onto it.
• Stretch the dough into a large rectangle, and alternate sprinkling rosemary on your dough and folding the dough over the rosemary. (For clarification, see the photo collage that precedes this recipe.)
• When you have a thick square of dough, round it into a boule, cover it, and let it rest for 20-30 minutes.
• Shaping and Final Proof
• Flour the top of the dough, flip it over and shape the dough into a boule, batard, or oblong loaf, depending on your baking vessel.
• Place the dough seam-side up in a floured proofing basket and cover.
• Let the dough sit at room temperature for 30-60 minutes before refrigerating it overnight. You can also proof the dough at room temperature only for 1-3 hours, depending on your kitchen temps. The goal is for the dough to expand a bit in size. (See the photo gallery below for before and after photos of the final proof.)
• Baking
• Thirty minutes before the final proof is complete, preheat your oven to 500F with your baking vessel inside.
• When the preheat is complete, remove your proofing basket from the refrigerator, flip the dough onto a piece of parchment paper, score it, and load it into the baking vessel.
• If using a clay baker, bake the bread:
• 20 minutes covered at 500F
• 10 minutes covered at 450F
• 5-10 minutes uncovered at 450F
• If using a cast iron vessel, add a sheet of foil under the parchment and bake the bread:
• 20 minutes covered at 500F, then add a baking sheet under the vessel
• 10 minutes covered at 450F
• 5-10 minutes uncovered at 450F
• The foil layer and baking sheet should prevent the base of the bread from overcooking.

EINKORN & AMARANTH PORRIDGE SOURDOUGH BREAD

Steps:

• Porridge
• In a small saucepan, bring the water and amaranth grain to a rapid boil on your smallest burner.
• Lower the heat to simmer, cover the pan, and set a timer for 20 minutes.
• After 20 minutes, turn off the heat, but leave the lid on for an additional 10 minutes. Your amaranth will be cooked, with minimal excess water, and not sticking to the pan.
• Bread
• Mix the flour and water until incorporated and let it sit for 1-2 hours.
• Add the leaven and salt to the dough and let it rest about 40 minutes.
• After the rest, stretch and fold the dough 4-6 times every 20-30 minutes, incorporating the amaranth porridge during the second stretch and fold. I use a wet dough scraper and my hand to pull the dough up and over on all four sides of the bowl twice around. By the fourth stretch and fold, the dough will feel quite wet. Do two more (six in total) rounds of stretching and folding if you have the time, as this will help strengthen the gluten.
• Let the dough ferment for a total of 8-12 hours (since adding the leaven), depending on room temperature. My dough fermented 10 hours at 69 F.
• Scrape the dough out onto a well-floured counter. Flour the top of the dough, then stretch it and fold it in thirds and then in half. Let it rest 15-20 minutes while you prepare your basket with rice flour and amaranth.
• Re-flour your counter, flip the dough onto the floured counter and shape it into a boule.
• Place the boule into the banneton seam-side down, cover and let it proof for 60-90 minutes, preheating the oven for 30 minutes before the proofing time is finished. My dough proofed 75 minutes at 69 F. (A different version went 60 minutes at 75 F.)
• The dough will be floppy during the transfer to your cooking vessel, but if you used rice flour, it should not stick to the basket. Score rather than relying on the seams as they have likely sealed.
• Bake:
• Covered for 20 minutes at 500 F
• Covered for 10 minutes at 450 F
• Uncovered for 10-15 minutes at 450 F
• The internal temperature should be at least 205 F.

TOASTED BUCKWHEAT PORRIDGE SOURDOUGH BREAD

Steps:

• Porridge
• Toast the buckwheat groats on the stove in a dry pan over medium heat, stirring regularly to prevent burning. When you smell a toasty aroma and most of the groats are a light-to-medium brown, remove from the heat and transfer to a bowl.
• Pour boiling water over the groats with at least an inch extra water over the groat level, cover and let soak for about an hour.
• Dough
• Mix all the dough ingredients in a bowl until thoroughly combined and cover.
• Stretch and fold the dough at the 20- and 40-minute marks.
• Drain the toasted buckwheat porridge in a tight-mesh colander, shaking the colander a bit to eliminate as much excess liquid as possible and also letting the porridge sit in the colander for about 5 minutes, with a bowl underneath to prevent a mess.
• See the photo gallery below for a visual explanation of these instructions: About an hour after mixing the dough, stretch it out into a large rectangle on a clean, slightly damp work surface. Place about 1/3 the buckwheat porridge down the center of the dough, fold the left side of the dough over the buckwheat, layer more buckwheat onto the dough and fold the right side over the buckwheat, layer more buckwheat onto half the dough and fold the dough one more time. Return the dough to your bowl or a straight-walled container and cover.
• Stretch and fold the dough at roughly 20-minute intervals at least twice more during the second hour since mixing.
• Let the dough grow by about 50%. The heavy weight of the buckwheat porridge will limit the dough's expansion, so this is actually a lot of fermentation. In a cool kitchen ~67F, this expansion took about 7 hours from when I mixed the dough.
• Scrape the dough out onto a heavily floured work surface and pre-shape it into a ball. Cover it with an inverted bowl and let it rest about 20 minutes. I like to do a pre-shape with this dough to strengthen it a little and to further ensure the porridge is well-distributed through the dough.
• Shape the dough into a boule, batard, or oblong loaf, depending on your proofing basket and baking vessel shape.
• Transfer the dough to a well-floured proofing basket and cover it.
• Let the dough proof at room temperature for about 30 minutes and then refrigerate it overnight. Or do the entire final proof in the refrigerator for longer, or at room temperature for 1-2 hours, depending on your kitchen temperature and the dough's appearance. See the photo gallery below for target dough expansion in the basket.
• Preheat your oven and baking vessel for 30 minutes at 500°F.
• Flip your dough out of the proofing basket onto parchment paper and score it.
• Transfer the dough to your baking vessel, cover, and bake for:
• 20 minutes at 500F with the lid on
• 5 minutes at 450F with the lid on
• 10-15 minutes at 450F with the lid off
• When the bread is done, the internal temperature should be over 205°F and the bread should sound hollow when you knock on the bottom of the loaf with your fist.
• Let the bread cool at least 2 hours before slicing.

PORRIDGE BREAD

Steps:

• Put the porridge in a large mixing bowl with 300ml lukewarm water. Stir in the flour, sugar, salt and yeast until fully combined. Cover with a damp tea towel and leave to prove for 1 hr, or until it has almost doubled in size.
• Tip the dough onto a well floured surface and knock the dough back, punching and kneading it - don't worry if it's very soft. Shape the loaf and put it in a non-stick 900g loaf tin. Cover with the damp tea towel and let it prove for another 45 mins. It should expand to fill the tin. Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 6.
• Make a slash along the length of the dough and sprinkle on the oats. Bake for 10 mins, then turn the heat down to 190C/170C fan/gas 3 and cook for another 30 mins. Carefully turn the loaf out and tap the bottom. If it sounds hollow, then the bread is ready. If not, put it back in the oven for another 5 mins. If any oats fell off when you turned it over, scatter them back over the loaf.
• Turn the loaf out onto a wire rack and leave to cool.