This bread is soft, yet chewy, with a nice nutty, slightly sweet flavor. Using a combination of steel-cut and rolled oats gives the bread a richer texture than rolled oats alone. Using one-third white whole wheat flour ups the nutritional value while keeping the crumb light and tender.
The bread is best the day it is baked, but it makes excellent toast and is great for homemade croutons and breadcrumbs.
The mild, slightly sweet wheat and oat flavor is one even white-bread purists will enjoy. (My resident white-bread-only eater really liked this bread warm from the oven, slathered with salted butter.)
Whole Wheat-Oatmeal Bread
1/3 cup steel-cut oats
2 teaspoons active dry yeast OR 1 envelope active dry yeast
1 1/4 cups lukewarm whole milk
2 cups bread flour
1 cup white whole-wheat flour
2/3 cup rolled oats
2 tablespoons melted butter
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
Oil, for greasing
In a large mixing bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the steel-cut oats, yeast and milk. Let stand 10 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients, mixing to form a shaggy dough. Knead dough by hand for 10 minutes, or in the stand mixer for 5 minutes, or until smooth and elastic.
Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover and allow it to rest for about an hour. The dough will be puffy, though it may not double in bulk.
Shape dough into a fat log. Place the log in a lightly greased standard 9-by-5-inch loaf pan. Coat a sheet of plastic wrap with oil and use it to cover the dough while it rises. Let rise for 1 to 11/2 hours, or until the dough rises 1 inch above the rim of the pan.
During the last 15 minutes of rising, heat oven to 350 degrees.
Bake loaf at 350 degrees for 35 to 45 minutes, or until loaf is deep golden brown and reaches an internal temperature of 190 degrees.
Makes 1 loaf.
Recipe loosely based on one from King Arthur Flour
Food on 03/18/2015