Honey Oat Artisan Bread
Published: October 11, 2021 | Updated: April 18, 2024.
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NOTE: This recipe has been updated to include an additional step in which the dough is cold proofed in the refrigerator prior to baking.
This beginner friendly Honey Oat Artisan Bread is no-knead, made with ingredients you probably already have in your pantry and super easy to make. Perfectly soft and fluffy on the inside with that crunchy, rustic crust we love, it’s one of my favourites.
I’m often asked how to adjust measurements to make a slightly larger loaf than my other recipes. This recipe will fit anything over a 4 Qt Dutch oven or 4 litre baking dish and produce a larger, family-style loaf.
This recipe builds on my simple 4-ingredient, no-knead Everyday Artisan Bread. It’s still super easy to make and requires just a handful of extra ingredients.
How to Make Honey Oat Artisan Bread in 5 steps
Mix the dough.
Cover and let it rise until it has doubled in size.
Shape your dough and dust with flour.
Cover and proof the dough in the fridge for 1 hour or as long as 24 hours.
Turn dough out onto parchment, score and bake.
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Baking Schedule
Making this Honey Oat Artisan Bread is a two-day process where the bread is mixed and prepared on day one, cold proofed in the fridge overnight, then baked on day two.
This is what it looks like:
Saturday morning: Mix dough, cover and let rise.
Saturday afternoon or evening: Shape dough, cover and put it in the fridge.
Sunday morning, afternoon or evening: Remove dough from the fridge, turn it out, top with oats, score it and bake!
Made with sweet honey and fibre-filled oats, this Honey Oat Artisan Bread is incredibly versatile. We love it for big, veggie-filled sandwiches, toasted for breakfast or brunch or served alongside soups and stews with lots of melty butter. I hope you love it as much as we do.
Honey Oat Artisan Bread
Makes 1 loaf; prep time 18 hours.
You can find additional notes on steps, baking tools and tips for beginners here.
Ingredients:
2 cups (470 grams) water, room temperature (at or near 70°F/21°C)
2 tablespoons (37.5 grams) liquid honey
1½ teaspoons (4.5 grams) active dry yeast
3¾ cups (487.5 grams) bread or all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 cup (100 grams) old fashioned rolled oats plus 2 tablespoons (12.5 grams) more to coat
1 teaspoon (3 grams) kosher or fine sea salt
Instructions:
In a large bowl, whisk together honey and water. Sprinkle with yeast and let sit for 10-15 minutes.
Add flour, oats and salt and stir together with a rubber spatula just until combined. The dough will look a little sticky and stringy and there should still be a little flour around the edges of the bowl.
Cover and let rise somewhere warm (see note below) until it has doubled in size, about 8-10 hours.
Once the dough has doubled in volume, use your hands (or a dough scraper if you have one) to pull the dough out onto a floured surface. With floured hands, gently fold the dough into itself several times until a soft, flour-covered ball is formed. Seam side up, lift and place it into a flour dusted proofing bowl like this one. Dust with flour, cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour or as long as 24 hours. You can even leave it for as long as 48 hours at this point if you’re not able to bake it right away.
When you're ready to bake your bread, preheat oven to 450ºF (232ºC) with a Dutch oven or covered baking vessel inside the oven.
Uncover then invert the bowl to turn the dough out onto parchment paper seam side down. If needed, gently turn it with your hands and nudge it into the shape of a loaf. Lightly brush the dough with filtered water and sprinkle remaining oats across the top and sides, gently pressing them into the surface. Score the top with a razor blade or the tip of a sharp knife with a design of your choosing. This will allow steam to escape while it’s baking.
Once the oven is preheated, remove the Dutch oven from the oven and transfer the dough, still on the parchment, into the Dutch oven. Cover and bake for 30 minutes, then remove the cover and bake for 15-20 minutes more. Your bread will be done once the top is browned, and it sounds hollow when you tap the top.
Using parchment edges, lift bread from Dutch oven and transfer it to a wire cooling rack to let cool for up to an hour before slicing.
Notes:
Rise time and temperature: An ambient rise temperature somewhere between ~70º-75º/20º-23ºC is ideal but even high 60's/18º-19ºC should work if the dough is kept away from drafts. Note that rise times can vary based on temperature, environment and ingredients used. You will know your loaf is ready to bake when it has doubled in size, and this can take a minimum of 2-3 hours or as long as a full day. With a little experimentation, you will find the time frame that works best for you.
Storage: This bread will store well on the counter for up to 3 days and in the refrigerator for up to a week. Sliced bread will freeze well for up to 3 months.
