Apr 24, 2008
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!!
—Debora
