I always scald the milk first thing in the morning and allow it to cool while we do the farm chores.
After it’s cooled I add in the yeast, butter, chia seeds, salt and honey and allow it to foam up and gel as the yeast softens up.
Make sure that the temperature of the milk has cooled sufficiently to not kill the yeast before you place the yeast into the milk.
After the yeast softens up and the mix begins to foam gently stir in the flaxseed or flaxmeal, the rolled oats or oatmeal and the flour about one half cup at a time. This creates a soft dough, so dust your hands with flour before you begin kneading it.
Knead your dough into a nice ball of dough making sure that you incorporate plenty of air into it. After you’ve kneaded your dough and the dough is smooth place it into a well-oiled bowl.
We use olive oil here but you can use any type of oil that you prefer. I then cover our dough with a bit more olive oil and plastic wrap gently laid over the top. I don’t seal the plastic wrap down so that it will rise with the dough. Finally I take a clean dishtowel out of the dryer and place that over the top of the bowl so that it will encourage it to rise.
The dough should rise for approximately two to three hours or until its above the bowl.
About half an hour before the dough has finished rising, I place the Dutch Oven into the oven and heat it up at about 250 degrees Fahrenheit. When the dough has finished rising, I coat the Dutch Oven again with olive oil and place my dough into the Dutch Oven.
I then allow the dough to rise up for a few more hours. If it’s particularly cold out, I may leave the Dutch oven with the dough in a warm oven. I set the oven as low as possible and close the door. I leave the lid off of the Dutch oven during the rising process.
When I’m ready to bake the bread, I remove the Dutch Oven from the oven and turn up the heat in the oven to 375 Fahrenheit. While the oven is heating I put the lid on the Dutch Oven and wait for the oven to be ready.
When the oven is ready I place the Dutch Oven, with the lid on it, inside of the oven and close the oven door. I set the timer for 40 to 45 minutes.
During the last 5 to 10 minutes I will then remove the lid to the Dutch Oven so that the bread will brown.