Whole Wheat Oatmeal Bread

I've been looking to add more grain to the bread I make. I found a nice little recipe that adds another "level" of grain without being overwhelming. The secret is in make sure you grind the oats before adding. I'll remember this little trick--it will come in handy when I make meatloaf as well!

The ingredients of the bread recipe were borrowed from a neat little website called allrecipes.com with a couple of tweaks:

I used 2 c. soy milk (any kind of milk will work) and warmed it and then added 1 pkg (1/4 oz.) of yeast. I found that the  temperature of the milk suggested in the original recipe was a tick too low to get the nice foam from the yeast, so I upped it to a good 105-110 degrees. After about five minutes of mixing the milk and yeast together, add to this 1 1/2 T. sugar. Set aside.

Blend together in a large bowl the following--2 1/2 c. whole wheat flour, 1/2 c. ground oatmeal, and around 1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour, and 1 1/2 t. salt. Make a well in the middle of the flour and pour in the milk. Stir until blended. Use around 1/2 c. more all-purpose flour to work and knead the bread. Knead for around 8 minutes.

Put some olive oil in the bowl you mixed the bread in and roll the dough ball once in the oil. Cover and put in a warm place to rise for 45 minutes. Take the dough out and shape into a loaf, oil the loaf pan lightly, and drop in the dough. Cover with a damp cloth and let rest for 10 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake for a good 30-35 minutes. The loaf should sound a little hollow when done. Turn out onto a cooling rack. Enjoy!