Everyday Oatmeal Bread

Kitchen Tip: According to Simply in Season, you can brush milk on top of the loaf for a softer crust. I, however, did not ’cause I kinda like a crusty bread. See, it pays to read those little notes in the margins of cookbooks!

FOR PRINTABLE VERSION CLICK HERE: Everyday Oatmeal Bread

1 1/2 cup boiling water
1 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup molasses
3 Tbs butter
2 tsp salt
2 cups water, lukewarm
1 Tbs active dry yeast
6 cups bread flour
2 cups whole wheat bread flour

1. Combine the boiling water and oats, and let stand for 30 minutes.

2. Stir the molasses, butter, and salt into oatmeal.

3. Mix the water and yeast in a large bowl until the yeast is dissolved, then add the oatmeal mixture.

4. Work the flours in to make a medium-soft dough. Add more flour as needed. Turn onto floured surface and knead 8-10 minutes until smooth. Place in greased bowl and turn to grease both sides. Cover with damp cloth and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch down. Divide into 2 loaves. Place in greased 9×5 loaf pans. Cover and let rise in warm place until double, about 45 minutes. Bake in preheated oven at 400F for 5 minutes, then lower heat to 350F and bake until loaves sound hollow when tapped, 35-40 minutes. Brush tops with milk for soft crust (which I didn’t do, I like mine crusty).

Servings: 32
Yield: 2 loaves

The verdict: I don’t have the whole hollow sound thing down, but it started smelling kind of burned 35 minutes in. Then I realized it was the molasses. I really don’t have much experience with molasses, so it took a bit of getting used to. The loaf turned out perfectly done, it cut well and would be a perfect sandwich bread. However, it does have the molasses flavor – which is growing on me, admittedly.

Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1/32 of a recipe (2.6 ounces).
Percent daily values based on the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) for a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutrition information calculated from recipe ingredients.

Amount Per Serving
Calories 166.79
Calories From Fat (10%) 15.85
% Daily Value
Total Fat 1.84g 3%
Saturated Fat 0.8g 4%
Cholesterol 2.86mg <1%
Sodium 150.21mg 6%
Potassium 167.15mg 5%
Total Carbohydrates 32.6g 11%
Fiber 1.16g 5%
Sugar 4.51g
Protein 4.59g 9%

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