For Kel

Here is the oatmeal bread recipe, as well as the cereal bread recipe (which is pretty similar) that I use. I'm typing up the original recipes and instructions, then I'll leave notes if I do anything differently. Hopefully the instructions make sense; I'm recreating them. All my recipe cards have is how long to let the oats/cereal sit, and what temperature you bake the bread at and for how long. :) When you've made something enough times.....

Oatmeal Bread

1 C. oats (I use old fashioned rolled oats)

2 C. boiling water

3 T. butter

1 envelope (2 1/4 tsp) yeast (either instant like SAF yeast, or active dry like Red Star)

1/4. C. warm water

1/2 C. honey

2 tsp. salt

1 C. whole wheat flour

4 1/2 C. white flour

Combine oats and boiling water in mixing bowl. Let sit 10 minutes; add butter and let sit an additional ten minutes. Proof yeast in 1/4 C. warm water for 5 minutes; add to oats mixture. Add honey, salt, whole wheat flour, and 2 C. white flour; mix until combined. Add two more cups white flour, one cup at a time. Continue adding white flour until dough is combined and cleaning the sides of the bowl. Knead 6-8 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Place in greased bowl, cover, and let rise until double - about 1 hour. "Punch" the dough down, divide in two pieces, shape, and place in greased 8.5x4.5x3 loaf pans. Let rise about 45 minutes. Bake at 375 about 30-35 minutes, covering with foil if needed.

My notes: I don't worry about adding the butter halfway through - I just dump it in with the water. I also sometimes (when I remember!) add a handful of flax seeds at this point. Forgot that step this last time. If I have instant yeast on hand I don't bother proofing it; I just add it with the rest of the ingredients. Right now I only have Red Star yeast. I use a 2 C. Pyrex measuring cup, add my honey, then add water using the leftovers from the teakettle I boiled for the oats. By the time 20 minutes is up it's usually just nice and warm. Then I'll sprinkle the yeast on and proof 3-5 minutes. Red Star usually doesn't take too long. Also, I use about half whole wheat half white flour, instead of just a cup of whole wheat. I figure if I'm going to the effort of making bread, I might as well make it more healthful. Especially if I'm grinding the wheat! :) Usually I'll measure out the white flour first, then add whole wheat until the dough is good. I usually use a bit more than the recipe calls for. (This is especially true of the cereal bread. In fact this last time when I divided the dough up (I use my kitchen scale to check my loaf weights) I realized if I divided it into four loaves instead of three they would only be about 3-4 oz less than my oatmeal loaves. Not sure why it ended up so much bigger.) I've also been using vital wheat gluten lately, especially as I keep upping the whole wheat/white flour. The stuff I use I bought at King Arthur Flour (gift card!) and you use up to a tablespoon per cup of whole grain flour. I also always make a double recipe, divide in three, and use a bigger loaf pan. I have Norpro 10x4.5x3 pans. My loaves usually have good "oven spring", so I tend to put them in to bake even when they look a bit small (I was probably preheating the oven in the picture of the loaves on the stovetop). All of the notes except for the butter apply to the cereal bread recipe as well. I usually buy Bob's Red Mill cereal grains for the cereal.

7-10 Grain Cereal Bread

1 C. cereal grains

1 1/2 C. boiling water

1 envelope yeast

1/2 C. warm water

1/2 C. honey

1/3 C. oil (I use Trader Joe's expeller pressed Canola)

2 tsp. salt

2 eggs

3 C. whole wheat flour

3 C. white flour

Combine cereal and boiling water in mixing bowl. Let sit 20 minutes. Proof yeast in 1/2 C. warm water for 5 minutes; add to cereal mixture. Add honey, salt, whole wheat flour, and 1 C. white flour; mix until combined. Add one more cup white flour and combine. Continue adding white flour until dough is combined and cleaning the sides of the bowl. Knead 6-8 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Place in greased bowl, cover, and let rise until double - about 1 hour. "Punch" the dough down, divide in two pieces, shape, and place in greased 8.5x4.5x3 loaf pans. Let rise about 45 minutes. Bake at 375 about 30-35 minutes, covering with foil if needed.