Ginger Jensen's Oatmeal Bread

4 loaves is a lot so I’m going to write out what a half-batch of this bread looks like (which is what I did in order to test this recipe). I tried this recipe twice. The first time I used a combination of whole wheat and all-purpose (it was mostly whole wheat). The second time I used all bread flower. The rise and sponginess was much better in the loaves with bread flour but the taste did not suffer in either version. And the taste was quite good - moist, a little sweet and very hearty.

If you have experience making bread, this may all sound really obvious to you but this is a note for those still learning about bread and bread-making: whole wheat flour is going to give you a denser loaf because there is less gluten than in all-purpose or bread flour and gluten is what gives bread it’s bready structure. If you prefer whole wheat or rye flour, adding vital wheat gluten to your dough will help alleviate some of the density and structural challenges. This is also a helpful trick when adding in other things like nuts, berries or oats to your dough.

To make 2 loaves:

Pour 2 cups boiling water over 1 cup oats. Add 1/4 cup molasses, 2 T+ 2 t sugar, 1 T salt, 1 T oil. Let cool. Soften 1 package dry yeast in 1/4 cup warm water. Add the yeast mixture and 5 cups of flour to your oat mixture. Mix well - knead till dough is smooth. Let double in bulk; punch down. Form into two loaves. Let rise again. Bake for 35 minutes in a 400-degree oven.

My whole wheat loaf is pictured above and my bread flour loaf is pictured below. Notice the difference in density - the bread flour loaf is more fluffy!

We don’t eat a lot of bread around here so we’ve frozen some of our loaves after slicing them. They will be great to pull out of the freezer and toast or use for grilled cheese. We have already made some into French toast - DELISH!