Description
Made without refined sugar and packed with whole wheat, this is a great recipe for beginner bread makers!
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 1/4 teaspoons (1 packet) instant or fast acting yeast
- 2 cups warm water
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup oats
- 4–5 cups white whole wheat flour
- egg wash (optional)
Instructions
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, mix yeast and warm water and allow to sit for 5 minutes for the yeast to dissolve.
- Add the honey and egg, and mix on low speed. Tip: Spray your measuring cup with nonstick spray before measuring the honey and it will slide right out!
- Add salt, oats, and 1 cup of flour. At this point, I like to switch to the dough hook attachment and turn the mixer to medium speed. Continue to add the flour 1/2 cup at a time, mixing in between. Don’t rely too heavily on the 4-5 cup measurement for the flour, but instead by the feel of the dough. When it is still quite sticky but just starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl, and gather around the dough hook, stop adding flour.
- Allow the mixer to knead the dough on medium speed for 5-7 minutes. The dough should still be sticky, but somewhat manageable. If you don’t have a dough hook for your mixer, you can knead the dough by hand for 12-15 minutes, or until it is smooth and elastic.
- Remove the dough from the bowl, just to grease the sides, then place the dough back into the bowl. Roll the dough around to grease the top of the dough, and then cover with a clean kitchen towel.
- Place the bowl in a warm place to rise. I love using the “Bread Proof” setting on my oven for this. If you don’t have this setting, you can turn your oven on for 30 seconds to warm it up a bit, and then turn it back off before putting your dough in it to rise.
- Allow the dough to rise for about 45 minutes, and then punch it down and place it on a well floured surface. Let it rest for 10 minutes, and then press it into a rectangle shape. Starting at the short end, roll the dough up and place it seam side down into a greased 9 by 5 inch loaf pan.
- Cover the pan loosely with the clean kitchen towel, and set it in your warm place to rise again (I use my “Bread Proof” setting on my oven for this step also). Allow the dough to rise until it has doubled in size, or about 1 hour.
- Carefully remove it from the oven, being gentle as you handle it so it won’t deflate, and preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- At this point, you have the option of brushing the top of your loaf with an egg wash (1 egg beaten plus 1 tablespoon of water). This will add a nice sheen to the top of your loaf, but it is optional.
- Carefully place your loaf pan in the center of your oven, and bake for about 30-35 minutes. Your bread should sound hollow when you tap on it if is done.
- Let the bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes, and then remove it from the pan to a cooling rack. Do have a slice while it is still warm!
- Once the bread has fully cooled, I like to turn it upside down and use an electric knife to slice it thinly.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Loaf
- Calories: 2431
- Sugar: 95g
- Sodium: 1170mg
- Fat: 22g
- Saturated Fat: 4.4g
- Unsaturated Fat: 12.7g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 512g
- Fiber: 65g
- Protein: 87g
- Cholesterol: 186mg