Honey Oat Wheat Bread

By KimberlyB

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 2 1/4 cups warm water (105-115 degrees)
• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1 egg
• 5 tablespoons quick-cooking or old- fashioned rolled oats
• 3 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 1/2 to 3 cups all- purpose flour

Details

Adapted from foodnanny.com

Preparation

Step 1

1. Generously grease two 9 x 5 x 3- inch loaf pans and set aside. Note: My favorite loaf pans for bread baking are glass. Your bread will brown beautifully and look even better than what you can buy in a bakery.
2. Combine the yeast and water in a small bowl. Cover and let stand about 10 minutes.
3. In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a heavy- duty mixer, mix the oil, honey, egg, oats, whole wheat flour, and salt. Add the yeast mixture.
4. By hand or with the dough hook of the mixer, mix the dough to a sponge like consistency, about 2 minutes. Cover and let rest for 20 minutes or until your begin to see little bubbles appear and the sponge is almost doubled.
5. Gradually add 2 1/2 cups of all- purpose flour. Knead in the mixer for 5 minutes or by hand on a floured surface. Add more flour a little at a time only as necessary to make moderately soft dough. (Put some canola oil on your hands if needed to make the dough easier to handle.) Return the dough to the bowl, greased, and cover with plastic wrap sprayed with cooking spray. Let the dough rise until doubled in bulk, 30 to 45 minutes. Punch down and knead briefly to remove air bubbles. Divide the dough in half.
6. Shape two loaves. Place the loaves in the prepared pans top side down to coat the dough with oil, then turn back upright. Top with a light sprinkling of oats. Cover with a clean towel and let rise until a finger mark remains when a corner of the dough is poked, 45 to 60 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
7. Bake for 34 minutes. For a soft crust, immediately remove the loaves from the pans and place on kitchen towels to cool. For a crustier crust, place the loaves on wire racks to cool.