Whole Wheat Oatmeal Honey Bread

Yield: 2 sandwich loaves.

ingredients

2 cups boiling water
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup maple sugar (or substitute brown sugar)
1 tablespoon honey (or substitute maple syrup)
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon instant yeast
1 1/2 whole wheat flour
4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

method

In a large mixing bowl, combine the boiling water, oats, maple sugar, honey, butter, salt and cinnamon. Let cool to lukewarm.

Add the yeast and flours, stirring to form a rough dough. Knead (about 10 minutes by hand, 5 to 7 minutes by machine) until the dough is smooth and satiny. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover the bowl with lightly greased plastic wrap, and allow the dough to rise for 1 hour.

Divide the dough in half, and shape each half into a loaf. Place the loaves in two greased 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch bread pans. (You can also free form into two boules or batards, as well, if you prefer). Cover the pans with lightly greased plastic wrap and allow the loaves to rise till they've crowned about 1 inch over the rim of the pan, about 1 hour. (When I bake a loaf with oats in them, I like to lightly wash the loaf with water and sprinkle with rolled oats before baking).

Bake the loaves in a preheated 360°F oven for 33 minutes.* Remove them from the oven when they're golden brown, and the interior registers 190°F on an instant-read thermometer.