Oatmeal Bread

Bread is one of those things that I don't think I could live without.  Hot from the oven, slathered with a touch of butter or maybe topped with sweet orange blossom honey.   Crusty breads spread with thick slices of brie cheese, or maybe dipped into a fresh bowl of garlic herbed olive oil.  Ahhh... pure carbs and absolute love on my part.  I seem to have passed on these carb loving genes to the kids as it took me 3 loaves to get photos of our most recent Oatmeal Bread.  

The first loaf finished late at night, not optimum for photo taking.  Not a problem though... I popped another loaf in the bread machine two days later and knew the lighting would be just perfect when I got home from school pick up.  Imagine my surprise as I walked into the house just a few minutes behind the kids to find them both smiling in pleasure and munching on the still warm slices.   The third time had to be the charm... and it was!  With the kids standing behind me orchestrating my every move and the food design we got our shot.  Several to be exact.  

With the kids having such a good time helping, this was the most fun I've had shooting any of the foods that we have made.  They arranged the slices, sprinkled oatmeal and adjusted the shutter for that perfect shot.  Much as I hate to admit it, I believe the shutter for this shot was actually released by my son, not me.  Even more amusing was the total destruction of our "set" the second I proclaimed we had our shot.  I'm still cleaning oatmeal off of the floor!

With three loaves gone in just over a week, I'm thinking I don't need to tell anyone how good this bread is.  Frankly, I preferred it fresh out of the oven or toasted.  Soft and melt in your mouth on day one, it seemed to lose it's freshness fairly quickly.  48 hours later it was a bit dried out, only really good for toast (and really good toast it is!!).  However, we haven't really had to worry about any of those issues as ours doesn't seem to last for more than 24 hours! 

Oatmeal Bread

1 cup very hot water

½ cup old fashioned oats

1½ Tbs butter

2 Tbs honey

1 Tbs brown sugar

¾ tsp salt

1 large egg

3 cups bread flour

2 tsp yeast, sprinkled over top

Pour very hot water into bread pan and add oats.  Let stand ½ hour.  Add remaining ingredients to the bread pan according to your manufacturers instructions (if liquids are to go in last, mix oatmeal and water in a different bowl).  Run on basic setting, remove when done.

Note:  If desired, as the last rise begins you may brush the top of the loaf with milk sprinkle with a tablespoon or two of oats!