For about a year now I’ve been baking my own bread. I wanted to find a simple oatmeal bread recipe with few ingredients to keep things simple. I tried several recipes before I found this one which I’ve tweaked slightly, so here is my version of the original recipe (linked at the bottom of the post).
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 cup warm water
- 2 tsp dry active yeast
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp oil
- 3 cups of whole wheat bread flour (or 2 cups of all-purpose and 1 cup whole wheat)
- 1 cup large flake oats oats
- 1/2 tsp salt
Directions
Combine warm water (temperature of water you would use to wash your hands), yeast, sugar and oil in standing mixer or bowl and let sit until yeast doubles in size. My house is usually kept pretty cold and since yeast likes a warmer temperature, I warm my mixing bowl under hot water before I add the ingredients to it.
Once the yeast has doubled in size, add in the salt, oats and flour and mix for 5 minutes in mixer or knead for 10 minutes by hand. I add the salt, oats and flour in that order with my mixer speed on 1 and then bump it up to 2 for 5 minutes. I find that the dough just balls up rather that kneads if the mixer speed is too high. For light fluffy bread, make sure the dough is sticky. If the dough is looking dry as it’s kneading, add some water 1 tbsp at a time until it becomes sticky.
While the dough is kneading, I add a splash of oil to a glass bowl for the dough to rise in. I also microwave a cup of water for 2 minutes just to create a warm environment in the microwave to place my dough to rise since my house is so cold. Dough doesn’t stand a chance out on the counter in my house!
Once the dough is kneaded, form it into a ball and roll it around in the oil at the bottom of your bowl until coated entirely. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and place in a warm place to rise for 1 hour.
Then punch down the dough, form into a roll and place in your greased 9×12 bread pan. Put back in a warm place to rise for another 30 minutes. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees during this time and bake for 25-30 minutes.
Make sure to resist temptation and let the bread cool outside of the pan for 10-15 minutes before cutting into it to make sure it doesn’t get squished. TIP: If you can’t resist the loaf for 10-15 minutes, turn the loaf on its side while slicing to decrease the amount of squishing.
Here is the link to the original recipe from Pennies & Pancakes.
