Whole Wheat Honey Oatmeal Bread

Recently I've become something of a baking fiend. I came to this discovery while I was in Romania. I think the best part about it besides eating a glorious mixture of baked goods is watching others eat a glorious mixture of baked goods. I decided that cooking/baking for people is my one of my favorite ways to serve people, and that realization hit me when I made what has become my famous banana bread for some fellow missionaries at the time and the eyes of one them open wide and sparkled with joy that moment he took his first bite. My banana bread will forever be dedicated to him.

My point is that I also like to share the love by offering up good recipes so that other people can experience the joy of delicious food. So heads up! You're going to be hearing about my cooking/baking adventures along with all my other adventures (for they are many).

I've been wanting to try this recipe I found on Pinterest for a whole wheat honey oatmeal bread. Sunday has kind of been my "try making a new bread" day. So when I got up, I only had one thing on my mind (okay, no. It wasn't about the bread. It was actually about curling tighter in a ball and not getting out of bed...but my second thought was totally all about bread.). You can find the original post where I got the recipe from by clicking here.

I didn't quite do everything as instructed, mostly because I prefer to make bread the old fashioned way and not with a dough hook. I tried the dough hook once, and it just didn't please me. I'll tray it again someday. But for now, I prefer stirring everything up by hand and kneading it myself. Also, I used salted butter so I didn't put in as much salt as she said. I put in about 1/4 tsp.

I was afraid it wasn't going to rise because my water/milk combo didn't seem like it was warm enough for the yeast, and the yeast didn't really get foamy like it normally does, but it actually did okay. It is a nice texture and very hearty. I would say to check it at 35 minutes when baking. I cooked it for the full 40 as instructed and the top crust is a tiny bit overdone, but not hugely so. Basically, it's still delicious, but take note that not every oven is the same.

I also don't have a ton of experience taking those fancy food photos. I ended up taking a whole bunch of ridiculous pictures of myself with a piece of this amazing bread smothered in butter in honey (divine!). Sometimes pictures are just more fun when you're a little weird in the process, right? Hopefully someone out there is nodding their head.

Full credit for this recipe goes to Kathy Gossen. Check out her site for more info and recipes!

Whole Wheat Honey Oatmeal Bread

Ingredients

·         1 cup water

·         1 cup milk

·         2¼ teaspoons (1 packet) active dry yeast

·         2 tablespoons honey

·         2½ cups whole wheat flour

·         2 cups bread or all-purpose flour

·         1 cup rolled oats

·         ½ stick unsalted butter, melted

·         1 tablespoon salt

Instructions

1.     Pour water and milk into a microwave-safe bowl; heat 30 to 45 seconds. Pour into the bowl of a stand mixer.

2.     Add yeast and honey. Let sit 10 minutes until yeast is foamy.

3.     Stir in remaining ingredients, adding slowly while mixer is on low.

4.     Using a dough hook, knead on medium speed 6 minutes until dough is smooth, elastic and only slightly sticky.

5.     Keep dough in bowl and cover with a tea towel. Let rise 1 hour until doubled.

6.     Turn oven on warm.

7.     Grease two loaf pans with butter, making sure to cover the entire pan surface.

8.     When dough is doubled, punch down. Split the dough into two ball. Work the balls under until they resemble two small loaves. Transfer the loaves to the loaf pans.

9.     Turn oven off. Place bread into the warmed oven for 45 minutes.

10.  Leave loaves in oven. Turn oven to 400 degrees. Bake for 40 minutes or until loaf is deep brown on top and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.

11.  Remove the bread from the loaf pans and cool on a cooling rack (or enjoy warm with butter and honey--our personal favorite topping on fresh bread)