Oatmeal - Sunflower - Flax Seed Bread

...Yeah. I know, right?

You know I've been working at the bakery in Eataly so you know it's inevitable that I continue trying out breads. We all knew it would happen. Unfortunately, this time, I didn't have any better yeast to use or different flour or anything. Some day I'll be able to go buy the fancy, expensive stuff... hopefully. But, for now, I'm still using Fleischman's and Trader Joe's flour (which I like).

Now for this bread I looked online at a few different recipes and ended up combining a couple recipes and keeping in mind Eataly's bakery habits and actually wrote my own recipe. Eataly doesn't use any dairy in their breads -- no butter, but olive oil instead. They also don't use any sugar, but I used some honey because it's needed. (Something about using levito madre for a basic sourdough and no need for sugar... I'm not really sure how it works at all.)

The biggest problem I had with this bread was how flat it came out. I think that after it rose the second time I let it sit for too long while I was cooking, so with all the heat on and near the stove, it just kind of deflated and spread out. I should also invest in some kind of a bread loaf pan so I can get a good shape and then I can use the bread for sandwiches.

What You'll Need:

• 1 package of yeast + 3/4 cup of warm water
• 3 tbsp honey
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup oats
• 1 cup boiling water
• 3 cups flour (about that, maybe more or less depending on the stickiness of your dough)

Put it All Together:

• Combine oats, oil, salt and honey.
• Add boiling water and let stand. (At least 20-30 minutes. You want the oats to get soft. I sped this up a little by giving the mixture a couple quick stirs with my immersion blender after about 15 minutes. Not to completely blend it, but to make it less thick.)
• Dissolve yeast in the warm water.
• Add yeast to oat mixture.
• Add flour about 1/2 cup at a time.
• Turn out and knead on a floured surface. Knead flax seeds and sunflower seeds into the dough at this point. Whatever works is fine -- sprinkle them on your surface and just knead as normal or make a little pocket, filling with seeds and continue to knead.
• Put dough in a greased bowl, cover with a damp towel and let it rise somewhere warm for about an hour. 
• Once it's gotten to about twice its size, punch it down and form the dough into whatever shape you want. Place in a loaf pan or on a cookie sheet (or a pizza stone is better, which I learned from the head baker at Eataly), cover again and let it rise for about 40 minutes. 
• Bake at 375... basically until it looks done. At least 20 minutes. 
• Out of the oven, drizzle with honey and sprinkle with oats. (And more seeds too, if you want.)

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