Bread From Hannah's Kitchen

Recently I wanted to make some healthy bread, but we didn't have any whole wheat flour, so I thought maybe I could make oat bread with ground oats as my flour. My mom found a recipe for me in our cook book called “Jane Brody’s Good Food Book”. The recipe is found on page 572 and is called Richard’s Best Bread. I used that recipe as my guide, but added several things and altered the recipe a bit. I wasn't sure how it would turn out, but it was delicious and my mom wanted me to write out what I did, so we could try it again some time. So here it is. ;). 

Hannah’s Everything Bread

2 cups milk, scalded

1/3 cups vegetable oil

1/3 cup honey

2 teaspoon salt

½ cup water

2 tablespoons yeast

½ teaspoon sugar

2 beaten eggs

2 ½ cups oats, ground in blender to a floury consistency (+ ½ cup oats not ground)

½ cup bran flakes crushed lightly

½ cup unprocessed wheat bran

¾-1 cup cornmeal pancake mix (optional, use only if you have some that you want to get rid of. Hehe!)

3 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons wheat germ

1 tablespoon flax oil

¼ cup flax seed

Cinnamon and nutmeg to taste

4 heaping tablespoons gluten

3 tablespoons dough enhancer

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the hot milk, oil, honey, and salt. Set the mixture aside to cool.

2. Place the warm water in a small bowl, and dissolve the yeast and ½ teaspoon of sugar.

3. When the yeast mixture is bubbly and the milk mixture has cooled to lukewarm, combine the two and add the eggs. Then add the oats and bran flakes and mix the ingredients well. At this point I add and mix in the rest of the ingredients, except the white flour.

4. Add as much of the white flour as needed to make the dough easy to handle (it should be slightly moist, but not sticky. Don’t add too much!).

5. Knead the dough for 6-8 minutes (I did this in my Botch bowl, but you can hand knead it, as well, if you prefer).

6*. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning the dough to coat it with grease. Cover the bowl with a damp towel or some plastic wrap, and set the dough in a warm, draft-free place to rise until double in bulk, about 1 ½ hour.

7. Punch down dough, and divide it into three equal parts. Place the loaves in greased pans, cover the pans, and set the loaves in a warm place to rise until they have doubled in bulk, about 1 ½ to 2 hours.

8. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put the loaves in the oven, and turn the oven down to 325 degrees. Bake the bread for 35 to 40 minutes or until the loaves sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.

*Note: I skipped step 6 because I didn't have time for two risings and it turned out great, but if you have time then I would recommend not skipping it. ;)

What has been cooking in your kitchen recently? I would love to hear about it. ;)