Oatmeal Wheat Bread

Source: Janet Markham

Prep Time: 2:30 hours (includes two rises)
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Servings: Two loaves

Ingredients
2 cups very hot water (near boiling)
1 cup oats (regular is best, quick oats work ok)
1/2 cup warm water
4.5 tsp yeast
1 tsp white sugar
2 tbsp oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup or more whole wheat flour (I usually use about 2.5 cups whole wheat)
1 tbsp salt
4.5 cups white flour (more or less depending on how much whole wheat you use)

1. Put 1 cup oats in large bowl. Pour 2 cups very hot water on top and stir. Let stand for 5 minutes. Meanwhile put 1/2 cup warm water in a smaller bowl and add 4.5 tsp yeast and 1 tsp white sugar. Whisk together with a fork and well stand until frothy.
2. Add 2 tbsp oil, 1/2 cup brown sugar and wheat flour to the large bowl and stir.
3. Add the yeast mixture, stir, and then start adding white flour. (I usually add it about 1/2 to 1 cup at a time). Add 1 tbsp salt and keep stirring. Add more white flour until the dough gets less sticky, starts to form a ball, and is hard to stir in the bowl.
4. Sprinkle a generous amount of white flour on a counter top. Dump the dough out on the flour and start kneading. Sprinkle more white flour as necessary to keep the dough from sticking to your hands and the counter top. Knead for about 5 minutes. (I like to think of kneading as stretching the fibers of the dough in a circular motion- fold the dough in half, push down and backward into the ball with your palm, and let the fibers from the bottom be pushed to the back and around to the top, if that makes any sense.) The dough should be sticky but smooth when fully kneaded. (Adding too much flour will make the bread drier.) When fully kneaded the dough will spring back gently when you push into it with one finger and will be "soft as a baby's bottom" to quote my mom.
5. Sprinkle a little more flour around the inside of the large bowl and place the dough in the bowl to rise for 1 hour.
6. After 1 hour, take the dough out, knead it gently, and cut in half with a knife. (Don't pull the dough apart- that breaks the elastic fibers that you worked so hard to make while kneading.) Shape two loaves by flattening it out into a rectangle on a floured surface and rolling it up.
7. Place in greased bread pans and let rise 35 minutes. Preheat oven to 350. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and hollow sounding when tapped on bottom. Let cool before eating- this lets the bread structure "set up" before cutting it.

Comments: I've always loved homemade bread, but I've always been intimidated to make a rising bread. My friend makes this weekly, and Ry and I love it so much I finally was motivated to try it. I still can't make it as good as she does (she uses a different kind of wheat, which is part of the issue), and I don't make it very often, but we still eat the two loaves fast when I do get around to it!