Soft and Squishy Homemade Bread*

In almost every blog I read, there is the requisite homemade bread post. So in that spirit, I'll share my bread making endeavours yesterday afternoon. This is an adaptation of oatmeal bread that my (our) mom has been making since forever.

Start by putting 1 cup oats in boiling water with two tbsp butter (below right) and let cool in a mixing bowl.  

Put two tbsp yeast, 1/4 c warm water, and 1 tbsp sugar in another small bowl (below left). It will fizz up so this is a good step to let the children do.

(My mom's recipe put molasses in at this stage, but I didn't put any so I can't be sure how much- 1/2 c maybe?)

When the oatmeal has cooled to just warm (baby bath temp) add the yeast mixture to the oatmeal bowl.

Slowly add 6 cups whole grain flour by sifting it in. I used a very seedy 8 grain flour with the seeds already added. 8 cereais com sementes

I started to panic at this stage because it just seemed like too much flour, but once I got the dough on our big marble counter and kneaded away, it started to look better.

I had olive oil all over my hands so the dough wouldn't stick and it helped smooth it out a lot.

Put the dough back into the big mixing bowl, cover with a moist cloth and let it rise until it doubles in size. Our kitchen is so very cold so I let the dough rise in our oven.

This recipe makes two big loaves, but since I was getting so close to the school run, I made three mini loaves and 1 medium sized loaf. The house smelled divine like oatmeal cookies, but the bread doesn't have a very strong oatmeal flavor. The kids all had it for snack with sheep and goat cheese and then for breakfast this morning as toast. I froze the biggest loaf.

This is Freddy's breakfast creation. I think I speak for the whole family when I say that it was the cutest toast to ever grace our breakfast table. The entire process was so easy. I have no idea why I always think bread making is fussy, but it is so fast, easy, and yummy.

*This is a line from one of our favorite books: The Seven Silly Eaters