Oatmeal Bread

Recipes from Grand mothers rock. They might not be easy to make, but they sure are worth making it. I have no memories of my grand mother. Both my maternal and paternal grand mothers were dead when my parents were very young. The only memory of the grand mother I have is that of my mother's paternal aunt who helped my mother raise us.

Now, don't get confused. This recipe is not hers. She didn't see the oven her entire life. This recipe is from Susan's Great Grand Mother. Same Susan who writes the blog 'Wild Yeast'.
One Year back - Zucchini Bread
Adapted from - Wildyeast
Ingredients:
All purpose flour - 2 1/4 cups (See Notes)
Rolled oats - 1 cup
Very warm water - 1 cup (Original recipe uses milk)
Salt - 1 tsp
Olive oil - 2 TBSP (Original recipe uses shortening)
Molasses - 2 TBSP
Instant yeast - 1 1/4 tsp

Topping: (optional)
Non dairy milk - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tsp
Rolled Oats - 1 TBSP

Method:
Refer to the source to make by hand. I made the dough using bread machine. Place the rolled oats in the bread machine pan. Pour very warm water over it. Add molasses, salt, oil. Let the mixture cool down to luke warm. Add flour, yeast and start the machine on dough setting. When the cycle completes, remove from the bread machine and shape into a loaf. Place the loaf in a well greased 9 X 5 pan. Cover with an oiled plastic wrap and let it rise till double (about an hour or so). I went upstairs and forgot about the dough raising. Didn't hear the timer go off - thanks to TV. Dough had risen a bit more than what was needed. I didn't have the time to deflate it and re-shape it and let it rise one more time. I baked as is and that is the reason for a sloppy looking loaf. Towards the end of rise time, preheat the oven to 375 F. Brush the loaf with milk and oil mixture and top it with the reserved rolled oats. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350 F and bake for another 30 - 35 minutes or until golden brown and the internal temperature is about 205 - 210 F. If you do not have the thermometer to check the internal temperature, the loaf should sound hollow when tapped at the bottom. Cool on the wire rack completely before slicing. This makes a wonderful breakfast bread or sandwich bread. It is one of the very flavorful breads that I have baked so far.

Notes:
I started with 2 cups of flour. But it wasn't enough and I had to add 1/4 more cup to get the right consistency. Original recipe uses the same amount, but the grandmother's recipe used less.
Use whole wheat flour instead of all purpose flour. Use 2 cups of whole wheat flour, 2 TBSP of vital wheat gluten. Keep the remaining ingredients as is. It should come out perfect.Consistency of the dough should be smooth, elastic and very slightly sticky. Not a whole lot of dough should stick to your hands but a little bit here and there is alright.

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