My husband is the bread baker in our home. Many weeks, he makes a batch that we use for breakfast toast, lunch sandwiches, afternoon snacks, or dinner sides. I encourage you, if you have access to locally grown, locally milled grains, to give them a try. You might be truly surprised at how they elevate whatever you're baking.
Recipe inspired by King Arthur Flour
Makes 2 loaves
Ingredients
- 2 cups boiling water
- 1 cup organic rolled oats (traditional or quick, not instant)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp. honey, local if you can get it
- 4 Tbsp. butter
- 2 1/2 tsp. fine sea salt
- 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 Tbsp. active dry yeast
- 1 1/2 cups locally milled Red Winter Wheat Flour (or other wheat flour)
- 4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the water, oats, sugar, honey, butter, salt, and cinnamon. Let cool to lukewarm (100°F to 110°F). This should take 10-15 minutes.
- Add the yeast and flours, stirring to form a rough dough. Knead about 10 minutes by hand (5 to 7 minutes if you're using your mixer) until the dough is smooth.
- Transfer dough to a lightly greased bowl. Cover and let it rise for 1 hour.
- Divide the dough in half and shape each half into a loaf. Place each loaf in a loaf pan.
- Cover the pans and allow the bread to rise until it's about 1 inch higher than the pan rim. This should take about an hour or an hour-and-a-half.
- Bake the loaves in a pre-heated 350°F oven for 35-40 minutes. Remove from oven when the loaves are golden brown.
- Turn the loaves out onto a rack to cool. Store at room temperature for several days or freeze to store longer.
