A Smoother Bread Recipe

I baked a loaf of bread this past weekend.  I used a new recipe and I am happy with it.  It is lighter, airier, and moister than the other recipe I commonly used.  I love that the crust isn't hard.  It's chewy but not hard.

I got the base of this recipe from Foods That Will Win The War cookbook that I talked a few posts ago.  One of the things I liked about this book is that it explains how grains go together and the percentages of different grains you should use in a bread.  I decided to combine oatmeal with whole wheat and white flour.

Oatmeal Wheat Bread

1 cup warm water
1/2 cup quick cooking oatmeal
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups white flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon oil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
up to another cup of warm water

Pour water and oatmeal in a large bowl mix and let sit a few minutes to allow the oatmeal to soak up the water.  Add all additional dry ingredients and mix until it is crumbly looking.  Then add enough warm water to bring all the ingredients together into a dough.  Form a ball and place back in the bowl cover and let rise for 2 hours or until doubled in size.  Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead a few minutes until large gas bubbles are gone and form in to a loaf.  Put in a greased loaf pan and allow to rise another 30 to 40 minutes until it fills the loaf pan 3/4 full (until it rises another 50%) Slice the top about 3/4 inch down all across the top. Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 30-40 minutes or until done.  Take out of loaf pan and cool on a rack (or serve warm).

Yields one loaf.