Oatmeal Recipes - Honey Oatmeal Whole Wheat Bread -

This is my favorite bread recipe, hands down. It's perfect and the kids love it. I've had lots of yeast failures, but this one hasn't failed me yet. I usually only make a half a batch and mix it in my bread machine (which makes one nice loaf). Whenever I've tried making it with my kitchen aid, the machine really sputters, and it's a really expensive machine to replace! I'm afraid I don't even know where I got this recipe from (it's been a few years), so if anybody ever figures it out, please let me know. :)

Honey Oatmeal Whole Wheat Bread

3 c. warm water
1 tbsp. instant or quick rise yeast
1/3 c. vegetable oil
1/3 c. honey
1 tbsp. salt
6 cups whole wheat flour (I usually do half whole wheat flour & half white flour)
1/2 c. oatmeal
1/4 c. gluten w/ vitamin C (I'll confess I don't have any gluten in my food storage ... yet ... and even without this the bread is always amazing, I just add a bit more flour to make up for the missed gluten)

Combine the first 5 ingredients and mix well. Add 5 cups flour, oats and gluten flour. Mix well. Continue to add the other 1 c. flour slowly until the dough forms a ball in your mixer, scrap the excess dough off the sides of the bowl. Allow the mix to rest for 5 - 10 minutes. While mixing, preheat your oven to 100 - 125 degrees.
Oil the counter surface & your hands (use oil, not flour). Pat your dough on the oiled surface and slice with a knife into 2 large even loaves. Pat down and roll into your loaf shape, then put into greased bread pans. Turn off your oven, cover the loaves loosely with saran wrap and put them in the warmed oven to rise until double (about 45 - 60 minutes, depending on the humidity in the air). Remove the loaves from the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the loaves for 25 - 30 minutes. Remove from pans and immediately place on a wire cooling rack.

**OR ... you can do what I do, half the recipe, throw it in your bread maker & set it to dough. It'll beep after 1 1/2 hours, ready to be shaped into a loaf and put in the oven ... easy-peasy.**