Whole Wheat Honey Oatmeal Bread

Both of my Grandma's used to make such GOOD homemade bread.  I'm pretty sure that even if I had the recipes though, they still wouldn't taste the same.  Mainly because they really didn't even use a recipe anymore.  They knew it by heart, and they also knew exactly how they wanted the dough to feel and look.  MMM how I could go for a loaf of Grandma's bread right now.  I can still taste it.

I always thought that it was such a hard task to do, but the last few months I have been committed to it!  I really started questioning what exactly was in the bread that I was buying.  Some of it would last for weeks... and still be soft and fluffy.  This doesn't even take into consideration how long it was on the shelf or in transit.  Now I do realize that the flour we buy still has some preservatives in it as well, but at this point I'm not milling my own flour :).  

This recipe only makes 1 loaf.  I usually whip up one every weekend.  It does freeze nicely too though if you want to make more.

Lets just say that I AM HOOKED.  I have found a recipe that is to die for, and it makes a super rich whole wheat bread.  I haven't been using really any other recipes since I found this one.  It does get a little crumbly after a few days... but hey that's to be expected with fresh bread.  This recipe is also made with a mixer, but you could mix and knead by hand as well.

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup water
• 1 Cup Milk
• 2 1/4 tsp dry yeast
• 2 tbsp honey (I use raw honey)
• 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 cups of bread or all purpose flour

(I don't use the bread flour.  I use the complete 4.5 cups of flour with the whole wheat flour)

• 1 Cup Rolled Oats (or porridge oats)
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 1 tbsp salt.

Directions:

1. Pour water and milk into a bowl and heat for 30-45 seconds until warm.
2. Pour into your stand mixer and add yeast & honey.
3. Let sit for 10 minutes until yeast is foamy.
4. In a separate bowl mix your flours, oats, and salt together.
5. When the yeast is ready add the flour mixture and lastly butter slowly into your mixer. (Turn on low with your dough hooks)
6. Knead on medium for 6 minutes until dough is smooth, elastic, and only slightly sticky.
7. Cover and let rise for 1 hour or until it doubles in size.
8. Punch down & transfer to a floured surface.  Roll into a log shape, and press into a pan.  Sprinkle some oats on top.
9. Cover and let rise 30-40 minutes.
10. Bake 40-50 minutes rotating halfway through, until it sounds hollow when you tap on it.

Enjoy!  I always love having a fresh slice of bread after it comes out of the oven.  Give it a good half hour to cool down though!