Honey Oatmeal Bread
Source: Father Dominic
Yield: 2 Loaves
1 cup instant oats, uncooked
2 cups hot water
1 package Active Dry Yeast
¼ cup warm water
⅓ cup honey
1 Tablespoon butter or vegetable oil
2 teaspoons salt
1 egg, beaten (optional)
About 5 ½ cups flour (divided)
Additional oats for coating
Put the oats in a large bowl. Bring water to a boil, pour it over the oats and let stand at least 15 minutes.
Sprinkle yeast over ¼ cup warm water in a small bowl; stir to mix. Let stand 5 minutes to dissolve.
Feel the oats at eh bottom of the bowl to be sure they're lukewarm. Add honey, butter, salt, and yeast mixture. For an extra-rich dough, add egg. Mix well. Work in enough of the flour so the dough can be handled, but remember that the oats and honey will make this a very sticky dough.
Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead 1 or 2 minutes. Cover and let rest 10 minutes. Knead until dough is elastic but still rather sticky, adding flour as needed, don't add too much flour at a time.
Place dough in a greased bowl and turn to coat. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free place for about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk.
Punch down dough and divide into 2 equal pieces. Knead each pence to remove the large air bubbles. Do not use any florin the kneading surface, you want the dough to remain sticky. Form each piece into a loaf. Roll each loaf in additional oats until completely covered. Place loaves on lightly greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise about 30 minutes, or until doubled.
While dough is rising, preheat the oven to 350º. Bake loaves about 45 minutes, or until they sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Remove from baking sheets and let cool on wire racks.
Note: Breads made with honey might darken more quickly during baking than other breads. If the loaves start to get too dark, loosely cover them with aluminum foil and continue baking.
Honey Oatmeal Bread for the Bread Machine
1 cup water
3 Tablespoons honey
1 ½ tsp. butter
1 tsp salt
½ cup instant oats, uncooked
2 ½ cups bread flour
1 ½ tsp. yeast
Add ingredients to the bread machine pan in the order suggested by manufacturer.
Set to basic cycle; medium/color setting
