Oatmeal Bread - Recipe

About 15 years ago we started using a bread machine, and it gets used in cycles. My husband actually uses it way more than I do and has gotten several loaves tweaked to perfection. We'll go through a period of making bread in it quite often, and then we'll have a period where we tend to consume little to no bread. I'm not sure why, but we're going through one of the upswings in the cycle right now. Sometimes we'll let the bread machine do everything, and sometimes I'll just use it to make the dough and finish the rest of the process myself in pans, crocks or stones. I love the process of knowing what is going into the foods we eat and minimizing the processed foods. I really don't want my daughter used to eating the substance-less "pillow" bread like the white bread loaves in the grocery store. So we experiment a bit with varying flours and flavors, but one we always keep in rotation is this Oatmeal Bread. It has a denser texture and slight chewiness, than typical white or wheat store-bought bread.

Apple Butter Recipe

I have several sets of directions below for making without a machine, partially with a machine, or letting it do all the work.

Oatmeal Bread

Ingredients

1 cup + 2 Tbsp water
1/4 cup molasses
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
3 cup bread flour or other high protein flour
1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp oatmeal
2 Tbsp dry buttermilk
1 1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp active dry yeast

Bread Machine Directions

Add wet ingredients to the bread pan
Add dry ingredients and form a well in the top of the dry ingredients
Pour yeast into well of dry ingredients
Use the Sweet Cycle with a Light Crust option, I don't recommend the Rapid Cycle for this bread.

Sprinkle with oatmeal before baking, you can't beat the appearance of a manual 2nd rise.
This is before baking, the molasses gives it a rich brown color.

Manual Rise Directions

Add wet ingredients to the bread pan
Add dry ingredients and form a well in the top of the dry ingredients
Pour yeast into well of dry ingredients
Use the Sweet Cycle Dough option, I don't recommend the Rapid Cycle for this bread.

Turn dough out into an oiled bowl, and flip to coat.
Place into either 2 loaf pans, or a large oven safe bowl or stoneware or pan.
Either slash top in crosshatch pattern or sprinkle with oatmeal.
Let rise approx 45-50 minutes in warm place, or heat the oven for 1 minute and turn it off and let it rise in the oven.
Preheat oven to 400, bake for 35-40 minutes depending on how you like your crust.

Manual Directions

Add wet ingredients to the bowl of a mixer
Add dry ingredients and form a well in the top of the dry ingredients
Pour yeast into well of dry ingredients
Using the dough hook, turn it on medium to incorporate, then turn it down to low and let knead for 8 minutes.
Turn the mixer off and cover the bowl with a warm damp dish towel and let rise until double in size (approximately 45-50 minutes)
Turn mixer on low for 5 seconds to punch down.

Turn dough out into an oiled bowl, and flip to coat.
Place into either 2 oiled loaf pans, or a large oven safe bowl or stoneware or pan.
Either slash top in crosshatch pattern or sprinkle with oatmeal.
Let rise approx 45-50 minutes in warm place, or heat the oven for 1 minute and turn it off and let it rise in the oven.
Preheat oven to 400, bake for 35-40 minutes depending on how you like your crust.

This cooked for 40 minutes and has a slightly darker, harder, crunchy crust with a
lovely soft, chewy interior.  Much of the darker color of this bread is due to the molasses.

Tip

For a perfectly formed "loaf" of bread in a loaf pan, roll out dough after punch down to a rectangle or somewhat even thickness with one width being the length of your loaf pan. Roll up into a log the length of your pan and place it in the oiled loaf pan to rise seam side down. You will end up with a "perfect" loaf of bread.