Honey Oatmeal Super Seed Bread

Is there anything better than the smell of fresh bread baking in the oven? This Honey Oatmeal Super Seed Bread not only smells and tastes Heavenly, but it is  packed with oatmeal, whole grains, and two Super Seeds.  Not only that but it is soft, moist, slightly chewy, and dare I say fluffy?  Nothing like some store bought counterparts that resemble cardboard.  It is sturdy enough for sandwiches and is perfect toasted with some butter and jam.  

I am so happy with how it turned out! What started out as an experiment has become a new go-to. 

This recipe makes 2 loaves.  They didn't puff up as much as some bread recipes do, but I've decided that I actually love it being a little smaller. It's perfectly portioned for a sensible sandwich!

Since it doesn't have any preservatives in it, the bread will spoil faster than store bought, but I solve this problem by freezing one loaf in a freezer safe bag and pulling it out after I've used up all of the other one.  

Honey Oatmeal Super Seed Bread

yield:  two loaves

Ingredients:

3/4 cup quick oats

1 3/4 cup water

2 1/2 tsp Active Dry Yeast

1/4 cup salted butter, melted and cooled to room temp. 

1/2 cup milk

1/3 cup Flax seeds

2 TBSP Chia Seeds

1/4 cup Honey

1 TBSP salt

1 C Whole Wheat Flour

~2 1/2 cups bread flour

3 TBSP Vital Wheat Gluten

Directions:

In a small saucepan, bring water to a boil.  Add oats and take off heat.  Set aside to cool to room temperature.

Warm milk in the microwave for 20-30 seconds until warm, but not hot. Pour into the bowl of a stand mixer and add honey, butter, and yeast.  Stir gently then allow mixture to sit until bubbles form.  

Add in oats, salt, Whole Wheat Flour,  2 cups bread flour, Flax Seeds, Chia Seeds, and Vital Wheat Gluten.  

Mix with bread hook until well combined.  Gradually add more of the bread flour with the mixer running, until dough is pulling away from the edges of the bowl and is tacky but not sticky.  Meaning, if you touch it the dough will feel sticky but not come off onto your finger.  

Continue to mix for 2-3 minutes more until bread is smooth and elastic.  

Remove bread hook and cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm area until dough has doubled in size, about 45 min-1 hour.  Or, if you are short on time, preheat the oven to 180, turn off the oven after it reaches that temperature and place the bread inside.  The bread proof setting is perfect for this as well if your oven has that setting.  No need to turn the oven off if using this setting.  

Grease two standard bread pans.  Oil or Pam Spray work well for this.  Lightly flour your counter or workspace and dump the dough out onto it.  Divide dough into two pieces and gently knead to remove air bubbles.  

Using your hands, gently flatten each piece into a rectangle about as wide as the length of the pans and twice as wide.  Roll the rectangle up and place into the prepared pan, tucking the edges under if needed.  If desired, spray the tops with pan spray and sprinkle with oats.  Cover each pan with a piece greased saran wrap and allow to rise until doubled.

Remove the plastic wrap and bake at 350 degrees for about 35-40 min.  You can tell when the bread is done by knocking on it and getting a hollow sound.  Or, if you have an instant read thermometer it should read 200 degrees.  

Take the bread out of the oven and brush with melted butter.  Allow to cool in pans for 10 minutes then remove the bread from the pans and allow it to finish cooling before slicing.