Honey Oatmeal Bread

Honey Oatmeal is a versatile bread with a lovely texture and tender crumb.

Honey Oatmeal Bread 

1 cup instant oats                                1/3 cup honey

2 cups hot water                                  2 tsp. salt

1 package dry yeast                            1 Tbs. butter or oil

1/4 warm water                                   5 ½ cups of flour, approx.

Extra oatmeal for coating                   1 egg (optional)

Put the oats in a large bowl.  Bring 2 cups water to a boil, pour it over the oats and let stand for at least 15 minutes.  Stir the yeast into 1/4 cup of warm water and let stand for 5 minutes to dissolve.  Feel the oats at the bottom of the bowl to be sure they're lukewarm, then add the honey, salt, butter and dissolved yeast.  You can also add an egg for an extra rich dough.  Work in enough of the flour so that the dough can be handled, but remember that the oatmeal and the honey will make this a very sticky dough.  Turn out onto a lightly floured board, knead for a minute or two and then let rest for 10 minutes.  Resume kneading until the dough is elastic, but still rather sticky---don’t add too much flour at a time.  Place in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm spot until double in bulk.  Punch down and divide into two pieces.  Knead each piece to remove the large air bubbles, but do not use any flour on the kneading board---you want the dough to remain sticky.  Roll each loaf in the extra oatmeal until it is completely covered.  Place loaves on lightly greased cookie sheets or in loaf pans, and allow to rise until doubled.   Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Bake bread for 45 minutes.  Remove from cookie sheets and cool on racks.

--Dough made with honey may darken more quickly than other breads.  If the loaves start to get too dark, loosely cover them with aluminum foil and continue baking. The honey in this recipe will help keep the loaf from going stale as quickly as other loaves.

--I have made this bread in free form loaves and standard loaf pans as described, but also in long stoneware pans, Pullman pans, and even pie tins. What ever you use, the interior temperature of the loaf when fully baked should be between 200 and 210 degrees--use a digital instant read thermometer to measure.

--For an excellent lo-fat sandwich, use this bread with fresh garden tomatoes and smoked turkey; no need for cheese or dressing for added flavor.