- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon of your best salt
- 1 3/4 cups old-fashioned oats (Not Quick Oats)
- 3 cups boiling water
- 2 tablespoons of butter
- 2 1/2 teaspoons Active Dry Yeast ( or 1 pkg )
- 1/4 cup lukewarm water
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups whole wheat flour (I suggest Einkorn if you want non-GMO)
- 1 cup *Wildcard!* – your choice of additional grains or whole wheat flour (My favorites are Poppy Seeds, Chia, Flax Seed, Sunflower Seeds)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Stir brown sugar, salt and oats in a large mixing bowl. Add boiling water. Add butter. Cover and let stand at least 30 minutes or as long as overnight. Do not go further until it has cooled to room temperature.
- In a small bowl, sprinkle yeast over the 1/4 cup lukewarm water. Let this stand for about 5 minutes. It should become bubbly to indicate it is good active yeast. Add to the oat mixture and stir.
- Add the flour a cup or two at a time. Stir with the long handle of a wooden spoon in a smooth motion from the outside edge to the middle, repeating until incorporated. If I get really creative with the extra grains I want to add, I stir them in with the other flour before adding into the oat mixture.
- Transfer dough into a buttered bowl and cover with a damp tea towel or buttered plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm spot until about doubled in size (about 2 hours).
- Butter the inside of two loaf-sized bread pans. When dough has doubled, gently divide it into two equal portions. Place each portion into your prepared loaf pans. Cover again and let rise until dough has climbed at least above the rim of the loaf pans.
- Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Bake loave for 10 min. Reduce heat to 350ºF. Bake for another 40 to 45 more minutes or until the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped; (you will need to remove the loaf from the pan to test this). Turn loaves on their sides to cool. . .if you want to do it like my grandma did. (A wire cooling wrack will work fine too. )
