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Honey Oatmeal Bread.
Post from my recipe contributor: Mary Beth Johnson is a photographer and blogger with a passion for finding beauty in unexpected places and celebrating the everyday. Originally from the east coast, she now lives in Oklahoma with her husband and three children (dubbed “schooners”) and writes her lifestyle blog, Annapolis & Company, from a desk full of fingerprints and walls scattered with imperfect artwork.
This bread is like my favorite navy blue turtleneck sweater hanging in my closet. Classic, goes with everything, comfortable, cozy, and never disappoints. Bread making comes and goes in my life, depending on which season I’m in and where I choose to spend my time. But when I get back in the habit, it’s like entering my cozy comfort zone. It’s a warm fire and a Paris bakery, right in your very own kitchen.
I first began baking bread in high school. I was one of those girls who would rather sit in the kitchen and experiment with recipes and pretend I had my own cooking show, than date boys and paint my nails. My mom let me effortlessly create in the kitchen and never got frustrated if something I tried didn’t turn out. And believe me, she had plenty of opportunities. Like the time I tried to boil water in a glass pyrex measuring cup, only to have it shatter into a million pieces on the stove. Or the time I wanted to make cookie dough and thought the recipe called for 1.5 cups of baking soda, not 1.5 teaspoons.
I’ve come a long way.
I find a lot of people are intimidated by yeast bread and the process it requires. But I’ve discovered that bread is really just having a good dose of patience, and a love for carbs. 🙂 With a little bit of practice, it becomes second nature and you know how warm the water should feel and when the dough has risen long enough. It also that I make a lot of my bread in my Kitchen Aid mixer with the dough hook attached. It lessens the mess and keeps everything contained. This recipe is no exception.
When you go to bake it, get ready. Your house will smell absolutely divine. We love to make peanut butter and honey sandwiches with this, or compliment it with a soup for lunch or dinner. ENJOY!!!
Whole Wheat Honey Oatmeal Bread
{yields 2 loaves}
//ingredients
2 cups boiling water
1 cup rolled oats
½ cup honey
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons salt
1 (.24 oz) package of active dry yeast
½ cup warm water (110 degrees F)
1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
3 ½ to 4 cups bread flour
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons honey
handful of rolled oats
- In large mixing bowl (stand mixer bowl if you have one), combine boiling water to oats, honey, butter and salt. Let stand 1 hour.
- In small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
- Pour the yeast mixture into the oats mixture. Add the 1 1/2 cups of wheat flour and 1/2 cup of the bread flour to oats mixture and combine well. Continue adding the remaining bread flour to mixing bowl by ½ cup increments until dough pulls together. This will happen when between 5 ½ & 6 cups of flour has been added. You may not need the last ½ cup of flour.
- When the dough has pulled together, turn it onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Or add your bread hook to your mixer and knead for a few minutes.
- Lightly oil a large bowl, place dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hr. (I preheat the oven for about 5 minutes then turn it off, make sure it’s warm but not hot and put the bowl in there to rise, this seemed to work best because for this recipe as there is much more flour than yeast).
- Deflate the dough and turn it onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into two equal pieces and form into loaves. Place in 9 x 5 greased loaf pans and cover with damp cloth & let rise again until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes. (I return the pans to the oven for this step too.)
- Preheat oven to 375. While oven is preheating mix milk and honey together in mug and microwave for about 20 seconds. Brush warm milk mixture over loaves and generously sprinkle with rolled oats.
- Bake loaves at 375 for 25-30 minutes or until top is golden brown and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped (You may have to cover with tin foil for the last few minutes.) Let cool before removing from pans.
Source: Fly Through Our Window (I wish she was still blogging!)
*All photography is my own.
November 20, 2013
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