Do you know the “Seeduction Bread” from Whole Foods? If you do, you know. If you don’t, imagine a dense, seedy, incredibly satisfying loaf that whispers “healthy” while screaming “delicious.” My household, primarily my husband and mother-in-law, spent a good few years being completely addicted to this particular bread. So much so that my MIL would take a couple of loaves back to Bulgaria after every visit (overseas, folks!), and my husband eventually had to cut himself off because he, well, overdid it.
Lately, I’ve been trying to up my oat intake for a variety of health reasons. I figured I could make overnight oats, oatmeal cookies, etc., but all of that was just breakfast or dessert, and it wasn’t quite reaching my desire to become a literal “oat person.” I needed a savory, everyday oat fix. So, I looked up how to make an oat bread.
And then, Sally’s Baking Addiction’s amazing recipe popped up, and I knew that was it. I played around with her recipe enough to create the most perfect (and oat-ier!) small-batch version of this bread. I didn’t use the bread flour she recommended (I went heavy on the oat flour, because OATS!), so mine clearly wasn’t as chewy and crusty as hers might have been. But you know what? It came out exactly like the “Seeduction Bread” from Whole Foods, just a smaller, baby version!
I was beyond excited to be able to bring back the “Seeduction” obsession in our house. And needless to say, I finally got to eat oats in every meal without resorting to a bunch of extra sweets! Everybody wins!
I use a combination of flours for this bread (check the recipe notes for acceptable ratios), but I’ve found that it’s pretty forgiving, and most flours will work okay. I’ll even give you an update once I try the full gluten-free or full oat flour version ASAP.
On the other hand, if you’re not dying to use as much oats as possible as I do, use straight up all purpose or bread flour for the whole 1 1/2 cups. Similarly, if you would rather bake a full 3 cup flour loaf, just double up the recipe and bake for 40 minutes as Sally recommends. Speaking of which, watching her video might also help make it easier to follow the process (it’s not hard).
Please, make this! You won’t regret it.
Small-batch “Seeduction” Oat Bread
Equipment
- Cookie sheet or similar baking pan
Ingredients
Dry ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup flour (180 g) I used 1/2 cup each of oat flour, whole wheat flour and all purpose flour. Use any combination as long as at least half the mixture is wheat flour. I haven't tried going full gluten-free or full-oat with this yet.
- 1/2 cup oats (40 g)
- 1 tsp instant yeast
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup seeds (28 g) I used pumpkin and sesame seeds
Wet ingredients
- 150 ml warm water (150 g) about 95F
- 2 tsp maple syrup (14 g) sub honey or molasses
Shaping and decorating
- 2 tbsp seeds (14 g) I used pumpkin and sesame seeds
- flour or cornmeal for dusting hands and surfaces
Instructions
- In a large un-greased mixing bowl, whisk the flour and yeast together. Add the oats, seeds, and salt and whisk to combine. Pour the warm water and then maple syrup over the dry ingredients. Using a silicone spatula or wooden spoon, gently mix together. The dough will be very sticky. Shape into a ball in the bowl as best you can.
- Keeping the dough in the bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and set on the counter at room temperature (honestly any normal room temperature is fine). Allow to rise for 3 hours. The dough will just about double in size, stick to the sides of the bowl, and have a lot of air bubbles.
- You can continue with the next step immediately, but for absolute best flavor and texture, I strongly recommend letting this risen dough rest in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours and up to 3 days. (Even just a couple hours is good!) Place covered dough in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. The dough will puff up during this time, but may begin to deflate after 2 days. That’s normal and nothing to worry about.
- Lightly dust a large nonstick baking sheet (with or without rims, and make sure it’s nonstick) with a little flour and/or cornmeal. Using generously floured hands and gentle pressure so as to not deflate the dough too much, shape the risen dough into a ball. (I just do this right inside the bowl it’s in, or you can do this on a lightly floured work surface.) Dough is very sticky.
- Transfer ball to prepared baking sheet. Mix seed topping ingredients together. Sprinkle on top of dough, and if the seeds aren’t sticking, press them into the dough as best you can. Loosely cover and allow dough to rest for 45 minutes. You will bake the dough on this prepared baking sheet.
- During this 45 minutes, preheat the oven to 425°F (218°C).
- When ready to bake, using a very sharp knife or bread lame (you could even use kitchen shears), score the dough with a slash or X about 1/2 inch deep. (“Score” = shallow cut.) If the shaped loaf flattened out during the 45 minutes, use floured hands to reshape.
- Place the shaped and scored dough (on the flour/cornmeal-dusted pan) in the preheated oven on the center rack.
- Optional for a slightly crispier crust: Place a shallow metal or cast iron baking pan or skillet (I usually use a metal 9×13-inch baking pan) on the bottom oven rack. Carefully and quickly pour 3–4 cups of boiling water into the shallow pan. Quickly shut the oven to trap as much steam inside. The steam helps create a crispier crust.
- Bake for 25 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. If you notice the exterior browning too quickly, tent the bread with aluminum foil. How to test for doneness: Give the warm bread a light tap. If it sounds hollow, it’s done. For a more accurate test, the bread is done when an instant read thermometer reads the center of the loaf as 195°F (90°C).
- Remove the bread from the oven and allow to cool for at least 10–20 minutes before slicing and serving.
- Store leftovers loosely covered at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.
Notes
- I used 1/2 cup each of oat flour, whole wheat flour and all purpose flour for this bread. Use any combination as long as at least half the mixture is wheat flour. I haven’t tried going full gluten free with this yet.