Cracked Wheat Oat Bread

Very good recipe, but I somehow adapted it to be prepared without a bread machine: I made this by hand. Soaked wheat in 1 1/2 cups (slightly more than the recipe asks for) boiling water for 1 hour. When it was warm, I mixed in the oats, honey, a full teaspoon of salt, and in addition to the oil the recipe asks for, I added 3 tablespoons softened butter. Next, I dissolved 1 packet dry yeast in 1/4 warm water, and placed the wheat/oat mixture and the dissolved yeast in a large bowl. Next I proceeded to add the flour, 1 cup at a time. I did have to use slightly more than the recipe asked for, since I wanted to make free-standing loaves. I must have used a total of 3 cups flour. I kneaded by hand until ingredients were mixed (adding flour as necessary) and then placed the dough and let it rise until tripled (yes, it tripled!) in volume. Lastly, I formed the dough into two loaves, rolled them in oats and let them rise again, until almost doubled, in a greased cookie sheet. Baked at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes, until loaves were golden. Family tip: when forming yeast bread loaves, always save a little ball of dough (about the size of a cherry) and place it in a glass with room- temperature water. Let it sit in your kitchen while you wait for the bread to rise, gently mixing the water every now and then to prevent the dough ball from sticking to the bottom of the glass. When the ball rises to the top of the water, the loaves are ready to be baked!!

The oats get kind of lost in this, but the taste is still good. The recipe turns out a pretty dense loaf if you use whole wheat flour, even if you let it rise a long time. I added 2 T. gluten and used 1/4 c. flax and 1/4 c. wheat bran to replace some of the white flour. I think the recipe could use either some more honey or some more salt, depending on your preference.

A very good bread. It was very light and crunchy. A definate keeper!

Delicious, light bread with a crunchy crust. I used the bread machine to mix the dough, then baked it in the oven at 175C (350F) for 40 minutes.

Sounds good but where are the rest of the instructions? I don't have a bread machine & not a very good baker so it would be easier with a few more instructions. Thanks, Dartlove from Bolivia

This bread was great when fresh out of the oven. It was a little dry after it cooled. I made this in the oven after making the dough in the breadmaker, so that may have something to do with it. I will try again, but add a little more oil. Otherwise, the flavor was good, the texture just right and a crusty crust.

This bread didn't rise very high and didn't have a lot of flavor. We wouldn't make it again.