Honey n' Wheat Oatmeal Bread!

If you've been reading this blog long, you know that my hubby recently took a pastorate at a small church about 20 minutes from our home. It's far enough away that we really don't know anyone in the area, so we've been busy the past six months acquainting ourselves with the area and the congregation. We initially did A LOT of entertaining until our kitchen/dining remodel began....the work brought entertaining to a screeching halt, beginning in January. We weren't sure our "hospitality ethic" had caught on among the people of the church, but we were pleasantly surprised to be invited over to lunch by one of the Sunday School teachers. Bill was counting on having an afternoon off in the week, so he and his wife invited us to share the vegetable soup he planned to make. I offered to bring bread (of course!!) and so the invitation was sealed. Over a simple meal of soup and bread, we shared stories, laughed at each other's jokes and discussed the growth of the church.....and two hours later, we walked out their door with a better friendship than we had come in with! Amazing what a little breaking of bread will do! 

This is the recipe for the bread I made that day. I made two small loaves - one to take with us to the meal and one to snack on at home. I thought I'd be the only one snacking, as Dave is not a big "whole grain" bread eater, but  MUCH to my surprise, he stated that this was one of the best loaf-type breads I've made.......WHAT!!??? I was sooooooo shocked that he liked it that much! I hope you enjoy it too! 

Honey n’ Wheat Oatmeal Bread

Dough:

1 ¼ Cup warm milk (should be just warmed to the touch)

1 Tbsp/packet Red Star Platinum Yeast

1/3 Cup honey

3 Tbsp. butter, softened

1 ¼ Cup white whole wheat flour

1 ¾ Cup unbleached, all-purpose flour

1 ½ tsp. kosher salt

¾ Cup old-fashioned oats

Topping:

Small amount of honey, warmed

Small amount of old-fashioned rolled oats

Place warm milk and yeast in EZ DOH bucket and stir to dissolve yeast. Let rest 1 minute. Add one cup of flour, then additional dough ingredients. EZ DOH-it for 2-3 minutes, or until dough is smooth and soft and all ingredients are incorporated (add small amounts of additional flour if dough is too sticky). Remove dough from bucket, spray bucket with cooking spray, “smooth” dough and replace in bucket. Cover and let rise until doubled.

Remove dough from bucket and deflate. Roll dough into a small rectangle, then roll up from long side. Pinch seams. Gently fold ends under and place, seam-side down in a large greased loaf pan (or form two smaller loaves and place in two smaller pans).  Cover with a clean dishtowel and let rise until the loaf is nearly doubled. Gently brush the melted honey onto the top of the loaf and sprinkle the old-fashioned oats over the honey. Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes. You may want to tent the top of the bread after ½ hr. to prevent over-browning.

Recipe adapted from littlespicejar.com 

Honey n' Wheat Oatmeal Bread!