Whole Wheat Oatmeal Sandwich Bread

By KatKD

Adapted from Good to the Grain by Kim Boyce and Amy Scattergood. A perfect whole wheat loaf for sandwiches and toast. Soft, a touch of sweetness to the loaf from the honey and molasses. Like the authors of Good to the Grain, we make this loaf in the mixer. If you want to make the bread by hand, they recommend kneading by hand for 15 minutes, adding flour as needed.

Ingredients

• optional:
• 1 c Water
• 1 c Milk
• 1 pkg (2 1/4 t, used 1 T) Active Dry Yeast1 T (20g) Honey
• 2 T unsulphured Molasses, not backstrap molasses
• 2 1/2 c Whole Wheat Flour
• 2 c Bread Flour
• 1 c Rolled Oats
• 4 T unsalted Butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 1 T Sea Salt
• bran or additional oats for topping loaf

Details

Servings 1
Cooking time 360mins
Adapted from whiteonricecouple.com

Preparation

Step 1

Lightly butter 9x5x3 bread loaf pan

1.Gently warm milk and water to about 115 F. Combine water, milk, yeast, honey, and molasses in the bowl of a standing mixer. Stir to dissolve yeast. (If you aren't sure if your yeast is good, wait 5 minutes to see if it blooms-bubbles. If it doesn't throw out and start over.)

2.Add flours, oats, melted butter, and sea salt to the liquid mix. Using the bread hook and stand mixer, mix for 6 minutes on medium speed. The dough should climb the dough hook and slap around the sides of the bowl without sticking. If the dough is sticking, add a tablespoon or two more of flour at a time until the dough comes cleanly away from the sides of the bowl.

3.Cover the bowl with a towel and place in a warm area to rise. Leave to rise for about an hour or until doubled in size (to test if it has proofed enough, gently poke the dough- if it springs back, it needs to proof longer - if a dimple remains, it is ready.)

4.Shape the loaf. Put the dough on a lightly floured work surface. Flatten out the bubbles while working the loaf into a square shape. Grabbing the top edge, fold the dough down towards the middle. Grab the bottom edge and fold up to the middle, bringing the two edges together. Pinch the seam and sides, sealing them with your fingers. Roll the dough back and forth, plumping it into an even log and about the size of your bread pan. Gently place the dough into your bread pan, seam side down. Press the dough gently into the corners of the bread pan.

5.Cover the loaf with a towel and leave it to rise in a warm area for about an hour or until the dough rises to half again its size and is puffing up barely over the edges of the loaf pan. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 400 F.

6.If desired, sprinkle the top of the loaf with bran or oats. Bake for about 40 minutes, rotating halfway through. The loaf is done baking when the crust is dark brown and sounds hollow when tapped. Remove the loaf from the pan and allow to full cool on a baking rack.