Cheese and Oat Loaf – a recipe for your bread-making machine

I’ve always loved my bread-making machine. Or rather, I’ve always loved the way my house smells of freshly-based bread after it is used!

Eating a slice of Cheese and Oat Loaf is simply heavenly, especially when served still slightly warm, along with a generous spread of butter.

However my bread-making machine isn’t switched on every day – as portion control can be an issue. Home-made bread is so beautiful that it is inevitably cut into massive thick slices – not ideal for sandwiches or toast – or the waistline. More often it is used to make treats, and this bread-making machine recipe for a Cheese and Oat Loaf, found in the ‘Patchwork Pleasures Caithness’ recipe book is exactly that!

Patchwork Pleasures Caithness was a quilting workshop that ran in Freswick, 3 miles south of John o’ Groats, and the owner published a book containing a collection of delicious recipes once served there. I flick through its pages very often.

This particular recipe creates a lovely soft bread with a golden crunchy crust and a punchy cheesy taste! Eating a slice of Cheese and Oat Loaf is simply heavenly, especially when served still slightly warm, along with a generous spread of butter.

Ingredients

• 400g strong white flour
• 100g porridge oats
• 15g butter (or 2 tablespoons oil)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 medium egg
• 330ml water
• 1 teaspoon mustard
• 140g grated cheddar

Method

1. Dump all of the ingredients, except the cheese, into the bread machine pan.

2. For the cheese, we’d recommend using a mature full-flavoured cheddar for the best results. Put most of the cheese into the bread pan too, but hold back one tablespoon of grated cheddar for later.

3. Switch on the bread machine at an appropriate setting (we looked in the bread machine instruction manual and chose a setting that kneaded and baked a cheesy bread, and took 4 and a half hours to do so).

4. An hour before the end of the bake, sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of the loaf.

5. Remove from the bread machine once the cycle is complete, cover with a clean dish towel and allow to cool a little.

6. Cut into slices and serve – this Cheese and Oat Loaf is very moreish when eaten by itself, or makes a delicious accompaniment for soup!

If you’d rather make the recipe in an oven, knead the ingredients together (holding back one tablespoon of grated cheddar) and place in a loaf pan. Bake in an oven at 180°C/350°F/Gas 5 for about 45-50 minutes, adding the last of the cheese 15 minutes before the end.

By Magnus Dixon
Orkney and Shetland enthusiast, family man, loves walks, likes animals, terrible at sports, dire taste in music, adores audiobooks and films, eats a little too much for his own good.

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