Cooking with Food Storage: Honey & Oats Bread

This is my favorite bread recipe of all! I find it to be a no fail recipe. It turns out perfect every time I make it. Here is the recipe:

Honey & Oats Bread
1/2 cups oat groats flour. (I have successfully used oatmeal as a substitute.)
2 cups whole wheat flour. (I use white whole wheat.)
2 cups bread flour. (I make my own bread flour. You can see here how to make bread flour and other specialty flours from wheat berries you grind yourself.)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
3 tsp yeast
3 tablespoons dough enhancer. (I make my own dough enhancer. You can see here how to make it.)
1 1/4 cup buttermilk. (You can use buttermilk powder. Mix it in with the flour and add 1 1/4 cups water instead.)
1 egg (I use egg powder. 2 tablespoons equals 1 egg.)
2 tablespoons honey

Mix all the dry ingredients together. I usually add the egg powder last. Mix well, breaking up lumps as necessary.

Make a well in the center of the bowl and add the buttermilk or water and honey. Mix well with a spoon and bring the dough together to form a ball.

Add additional water, if needed. Add it one tablespoon at a time. This may be necessary on a very dry day. Normally I don't need to add extra water. However, I did today. I turned the dough out on the counter to add it.

I added a total of two extra tablespoons of water to make the dough come together.

Next, knead the dough 300 - 350 times. This helps to ensure the dough will rise properly. When finished, place the dough in a greased bowl and grease the top of the dough ball.

Let the dough rise in a warm place for two to three hours.  I usually put mine in the oven. You can turn it on for a few minutes to warm it up if you want. Be sure to turn it off before you put the dough in. 

The dough should double in size.

Turn it out onto the counter and gently deflate it. Shape it into a loaf and place it in a greased pan. Since this recipe has four cups of flour, it works best in a bigger pan. Use a 9 x 5 or slightly larger for a nicely shaped loaf.

Let it rise in a warm place for about 1 1/2 hours. I put mine back in the oven. Here is what it looked like when I took it out.

Bake at 375 degrees for 35 to 45 minutes.  Here is the final result.

A perfect loaf every time!