Oatmeal Toast & Sandwich Bread Recipe

This is one of my favorite bread recipes. It's easy to make and eat (this is important when making for little kids), has modest nutritional value as well as high fiber, and tastes great. The recipe is based on a recipe from King Arthur Flour, a great source for recipes.

Ingredients:

- 3 cups bread flour
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 1 packet (2 1/2 teaspoons) instant yeast
- 1 1/4 cup lukewarm (105 F) whole milk

Things you'll need:

- 9 x 5 inch loaf pan 

Directions:

Combine all of the ingredients in a mixer or bowl and mix into a ball. It will be sticky and rough. Knead the dough in a mixer for 7 minutes or by hand for 10 minutes, when the dough should be smooth and no longer sticky. Add additional flour if the dough is too sticky to handle, although try to limit the amount of flour added, as this will reduce its ultimate moisture content.

Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a wet towel. This is to retain the moisture in the dough. Let it sit until it doubles in size, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Punch down the down, move it to a countertop, and with a rolling pin, roll the dough out to remove any large pockets of gas. You should hear popping gas bubbles near the edge of the dough as you roll it out into 1/4 to 1/2 inch thickness. Form the dough into a cylinder, 75% of the length and width of your bread pan.  Place the dough into the bread pan, cover, and let sit and rise for another 45 minutes, until the dough has risen above the edge of your pan (at least 1 inch).

Place the dough into a  preheated 350F oven, onto a rack in the lower half of the oven, for 35 minutes to 40 minutes. If you have an instant read thermometer, which is immensely helpful in bread making, testing for an internal temperature of 190F indicates the bread is done.