Victorious Bread!

Isn't it beautiful?

I was so put out by the miserable brick of whole wheat bread that I made a completely different bread - using bread flour for the first time. I don't know if the bread flour made a difference, but the bread turned out awesome! I even had a slice of it for toast this morning (and I've never had bread good enough for toast before.) And I just can't get over how beautiful and golden it turned out. *rapturous sigh*

So, I had to share the recipe. I know there are thousands of bread recipes out there, but the one thing that stood out to me in this recipe is that it tells you to test the temperature of the inside of the loaf to determine if it's done. THANK YOU! I was always so frustrated with the "tap the loaf to see if it sounds hollow". What the heck is that supposed to sound like?? The bread-tapping method is like testing a watermelon. You knock it and listen and you think it sounds hollow, but you don't really know if it's good until you open it and when you do, it's too late! Darn tapping. Forget you! And it's a good thing I took the bread's temperature. I would have taken it out 10 minutes too early!

(I got this recipe from the bag of King Arthur flour.)

Oatmeal Bread

Makes good sandwiches and toast!

3 cups bread flour (I used King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour)

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

2 Tbsp. butter or margarine

1 1/2 tsp. salt

3 Tbsp. brown sugar or honey

2 tsp. instant yeast or 1 packet active dry yeast*

1 1/4 cups lukewarm milk

3/4 cup raisins or currants (optional)

1 Tbsp. melted butter

*If you use active dry yeast, dissolve it in the warm milk before combining with the remaining ingredients.

In a large mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients with an electric hand mixer, mixing to form a shaggy dough. (I started with 1 cup of the flour, mixed everything and then mixed in the rest of the flour.) Knead dough, by hand (10 minutes) or by machine (5 minutes) till it's smooth. Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover and allow it to rest for 1 hour; it'll become quite puffy, though it may not double in bulk. 

Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled surface, shape it into a log. Place the log in a lightly greased 9 x 5-inch loaf pan, cover the pan (with lightly greased plastic wrap), and allow the dough to rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, till it's crested 1 to 2 inches over the rim of the pan. 

Gently brush the  melted butter on the top of the loaf. Bake the bread in a preheated 350ºF oven for 35 to 40 minutes, until an instant-read themometer inserted into the center registers 190ºF. If the bread appears to be browning too quickly, tent it with aluminum foil for the final 10 minutes of baking. 

Yield: 1 loaf