Honey Oat Bread

This was a crazy weekend! Parties, shopping, drinking, and baking; it was clearly not a bad weekend, just jam-packed. The final item on that list, the baking, bore one old standby recipe and one that I’ve been wanting to make for ages. I finally took the plunge – I spent an entire Sunday afternoon making bread from scratch.

Following the second time rising

I had been looking at a recipe for honey oat bread for months, never feeling like I could really devote the full four hours required to bake homemade bread. Granted, most of that time is not spent actively doing anything except waiting for the ingredients to work, but it’s still a solid block of time in which one must be at home to do things at varying forty minute or one hour or fifteen minute intervals.

The bread turned out fabulous, and freshly baked bread is one of the best scents to fill an apartment. My first true breadmaking attempt (not counting flatbreads) was not without hiccups – the first packet of yeast did not proof properly and had to be tossed – but I will definitely be baking breads again in the future. The honey and oats lend a slightly sweet, almost nuttiness to the flavor; far from overwhelming, just different enough to be interesting. Yum!

Honey Oat Bread

• 1 cup boiling water
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1/3 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 3 cups flour (I use half whole wheat, half white)

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine boiling water, oats, cup honey, butter and salt. Let stand for 1 hour.
2. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
3. Pour the yeast mixture into the oat mixture. Add 1 1/2 cups of flour; mix well. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 20 minutes. If the dough is too sticky, add more flour until it is workable and becomes smooth and elastic. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the 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 hour.
4. Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and form into a loaf. Place the loaf into a lightly greased 9×5 inch loaf pan. Cover the loaf with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
5. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Enjoy!

I couldn't even wait to take a photo before cutting into it!

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~ by lifebreathedeasier on December 7, 2008.