My family loves homemade bread. So do I. There is nothing quite like the deliciousness of a hot, buttered piece of homemade bread, fresh from the oven.
I have a bread machine that I purchased from a Craigslist seller for $20. I have been using it for about 3 years now, so I think I got my $20 worth. I prefer using the bread machine to mix the bread dough, and then cooking the loaf in the oven. I’m not sure why, but I like the way the loaves turn out better in a traditional bread pan.
My family of five can easily eat through a loaf of this bread in a day (sometimes less than a day). The beauty of this recipe is its simplicity. I have it memorized now, so it literally takes under five minutes to put the ingredients in the bread machine. Let me share this simple oatmeal bread recipe with you.
Step 1: Put 1.5 tablespoons of oil in the bottom of your bread machine. I use olive oil, but any oil will work.
Step 2: Add 1/3 cup sugar. If you prefer a healthier recipe, you may want to try substituting honey or maple syrup.
Step 3: Pour 1 cup warm water into the bread machine.
Step 4: Add ½ cup oatmeal. I use quick oats.
Step 5: Pour in 2 ½ cups of flour. I use regular unbleached flour. If you prefer whole wheat, you could experiment with that and see how your bread turns out.
Step 6: Add 1 heaping teaspoon of bread machine yeast.
Step 7: Turn bread machine on to “dough” cycle. Or, if you prefer to bake your bread in the bread machine, select your preferred setting. While the bread is initially mixing, I sometimes add a little more flour if it seems too moist.
Step 8: Let the bread machine do its job. When the dough is ready, place it into a greased loaf pan. Let it rise for another half hour to 45 minutes. During the final 15 minutes of rising time, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Step 9: Bake bread in oven. I normally bake my bread for approximately 45 minutes. If the top looks like it’s getting too dark for my tastes, I sometimes put a piece of foil over it during the remainder of the baking time.
Step 10: Remove bread from oven. Years ago, I learned to spread butter over the entire top of a newly baked loaf of bread to soften/glaze the crust. If you like really crunchy crust, you might not want to do this.
Eat and enjoy!
