Whole Wheat Oat Bread

I've made this bread twice now since starting this post. The first time I didn't take any pictures, but wrote up the post. The second time I remembered to take pictures, but it took me forever to edit them and put them in the post, but the wait is over! 

This bread turned out great! Even my husband, who prefers everything store-bought, agreed. The problem with homemade bread, of course, is that it doesn't last as long a store-bought. I mean, we eat it SO fast! I'm not going to complain, though - at least the house smells really good while it's baking. Yum!

Whole Wheat Oat Bread

Yield: 2 9-inch loaves

Ingredients

• 2 cups warm water (95F-100F)
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 pkg active yeast
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup oatmeal
• 1 T vital wheat gluten
• 1 1/2 tsp salt

Cooking Directions

1. Dissolve honey in warm water in a small bowl. Sprinkle package of yeast on top of water mixture. Do NOT stir in yeast; simply let it sit for 5-10 minutes until yeast softens and forms a creamy foam.

2. Meanwhile, stir together the flours, oatmeal, gluten, and salt. Form a well in the center and add the yeast mixture. Stir until it all comes together.

3. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for 12-15 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.

   Tip 1:To determine if yeast dough is kneaded enough, break off a small walnut-sized ball of dough. Stretch the dough; much like stretching a balloon or a piece of bubble gum. If the dough is kneaded enough, it will be tear easily and a translucent membrane will be visible. This is known as a gluten window.

   
4. Lightly oil a large bowl. Place the dough in the bowl, turning to coat it with oil. Cover with a light cloth and let rise until doubled - about 45 minutes.

   Tip 2: I shared this tip before here, but to determine if the dough has doubled in size, gently press two fingers into dough. If indentation remains, dough has risen enough.

5. Grease two 8x4-inch loaf pans. Punch down dough and turn it out onto a lightly-floured surface. Use a knife to divide the dough into two equal parts - do not tear. Shape the dough into loaves and place in prepared pans. Cover and let rise until doubled in size, about 40 minutes.


6. Preheat oven to 350F. Bake loaves 25-30 minutes until top is golden brown and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped. Cool in pans for 5 minutes before removing from pans onto a wire rack to cool completely.