Robots that Bake Bread

When I was a kid my parents had a bread maker that looked a LOT like R2D2. We'd make the best oatmeal bread in that bread maker. It was like magic - toss in the ingredients - out came a loaf of yummy bread. Roaming Goodwill one day we found a very similar bread maker so I excitedly tried making that same bread, meh, not so great. I've even made it by hand kneading and still can't seem to get that great bread. We were having my parents over for soup and bread after they helped me with a fundraiser at church and I opted trying my hand at this no knead oatmeal bread recipe. Guess what? It reminded me of that bread we used to make! So clearly the answer is to not knead it... OK maybe not... but this recipe is wonderful. It's easy, mixes together quickly, rises a whole bunch with doing very little to it, well worth the little effort and enjoyed. This bread is amazing toasted with butter and cinnamon sugar on top. Perfect. Also great dipped into yummy soups or just eaten with some butter.

No-Knead Oatmeal Bread
3 cups flour, plus extra for dusting
1/4 teaspoon dry active yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt
1 cup whole grain oats
1 3/4 cups water

Mix 3 cups of flour with the yeast, salt and oatmeal. Pour in the water and mix until combined. Cover with plastic wrap (or a plate) and let stand in a warm area for 3 hours or more if needed. (FYI-The ideal temperature for yeast growth is 37° C degrees Celsius or 98.6°F but the dough will rise at room temp.). Prepare a square piece of parchment paper and have a large clean bowl ready.
When the mixture has little bubbles on top and a flat surface, turn it out onto a well-floured surface (this is a very wet and sticky dough), and using a dough scraper (it’s less messy if you use one, this is a very useful tool to have), fold the dough over at least 10-12 times. Place the dough on the prepared parchment paper and put it in the clean bowl. Cover with a dish towel and let rest for 30-35 minutes for the second rise. Place a Dutch Oven in the oven with the lid on. Preheat oven to 450°F. ***450°F is very hot, please make sure you have proper oven mitts for both hands for handling the Dutch oven.**
Take the hot Dutch oven out. Take lid off and pick up the bread dough in the parchment paper and place it into the Dutch oven. Cover with lid. Put the Dutch oven in the center rack of the oven and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, take the Dutch oven out of the oven, remove parchment paper and place bread back into the pot without the lid for 10 minutes or longer, if you want a harder crust. When it’s done, you should hear a hollow sound when you tap the bottom. Let cool on a wire rack. Once cooled it can be stored up to about 3 days in an airtight container.