Bread Baking (Cat's Honey-Oatmeal Wheat Bread)
~Information on how to get the bread bowl pictured above...click here~
Let's see...we have white wheat flour, oatmeal, oil, sea salt, yeast, sorghum (I used in place of honey), a bit of raw sugar to help kick start our yeast and all the miscellaneous tools we will need. Only thing missing is a pair of loving hands and an apron. Got those? Good! Let's get started!
The Ingredients:
We are going to jump start the yeast and get it going while we get the rest of our stuff together. This is a very important step because you need to find out if the yeast you have is active or not...if it is not you don't want to continue because it will not only be a waste of time and effort but a waste of ingredients as well.
   
First I warm the mixing bowl by adding a bit of warm water to the bowl. (I use a Kitchen Aid mixer to mix all the ingredients- enough for me to take out and finish the process and knead the dough by hand. You can let the heavy duty mixers like Kitchen Aid and Bosch do all the work for you but that wouldn't be any fun! You can get a great upper body workout in kneading the dough and I didn't have to pay a gym to do that for me!)
After warming the bowl up, I add the 2 cups of warm water. Please note here that the water should be warm and not too hot or you will kill the yeast. A good gauge is to test it on your wrist and the if the water is a bit warmer than you would use to bathe your baby in you are good to go. Next goes in the 1 tablespoon of yeast and a pinch of sugar. I use the sugar to help speed up the activation of the yeast. Let this sit for about 5 minutes to get going while you get the other ingredients together for adding to your mixer...
 
Normally I use honey for this recipe but I was out and had sorghum on hand. You can also substitute molasses for the honey but the molasses might make your bread a little darker. Sorghum is high in potassium, protein, calcium & magnesium where molasses is a great source of natural iron...I love to sneak these items in knowing that my family is gettting some very much needed vitamins and minerals. For every cup of sugar called for in a bread recipe I use 1/3 of a cup of the honey, sorghum or molasses instead.
 
Okay the yeast is ready! How can you tell? After a minute or two you will notice little tiny explosions surfacing to the top of the water...almost like viewing a fireworks show but from God's point of view!  This is how you know you have active yeast and you can safely continue on. If your yeast does not bubble up Do not pass Go and do not collect $200! There are a few reasons why your yeast may not have worked. It could be old and therefore not good to use for making bread but can be used in your garden. You may have had the temperature your water too hot which will kill your yeast. Start over and try again which I had to do in the above pictures. I had the water temperature a bit too hot and my yeast did not activate.
I still make plenty of mistakes in bread baking but that's okay because I know that unless I get in there and try it I will never learn how. The more I make bread...the more I learn how it should look and feel like. I learn from my mistakes and just keep trying!
Now we are ready to add the rest of our ingredients...
  
...in goes the honey (sorghum or molasses), oil and salt. I add about 3 cups of flour to start with as well as my 1 cup of oatmeal and lock the mixer and mix on speed 2...
  
...I slowly add (1/4 cup at a time) the flour. The reason I have 5 to 7 cups of flour is that this amount will vary depending on the humidity. What I do is add enough flour to the mixer until the dough comes away from the side of the bowl and then I remove it and begin to knead the dough - adding flour as needed.
Tip: The remaining oil left behind in the measuring cup can be used to oil your bread bowl or bowl you are going to use to let your dough rise in and your bread pans. I simply turn my container upside down and let it drizzle down into the bowl while I'm mixing up the ingredients.
Now for the fun part...kneading! To me this is the most important part of baking bread for my family because I have the chance to put my love into the bread. With each turning of the dough and pressing down..I make a point of thinking of my family and praying over them while I'm kneading.
Add some of your flour to the bread bowl or table top and place your dough mixture on top, flour the dough and begin to knead. The point of kneading is to incorporate the yeast throughout the mixture along with the flour, oatmeal and sometimes I will add a 1/2 cup of wheat germ.
Kneading times will vary depending on the type of flour you use. White All-Purpose Flour: 5 - 7 minutes and for Wheat Flours: 9 - 12 minutes. I like to place my dough to rise in the oven and if it is a cool day out...I will place the oven light on to keep the temperature in the oven perfect for rising the dough. I turn the light on just before kneading.
 
Here I am using white wheat flour and I normally will knead this dough for about 11 minutes. Not sure if you can see the time on the clock but it shows 11 minutes!
   
My little David - what a cutie pie. We are a home schooling family and I love that my children can be right along side me. David is working on his English and while I have been kneading the dough, discussions are going on about his lesson and Sarah was busy reading her assigned book. By the time this picture was taken, the children have had their math lesson, English, Spelling and reading all before lunch time. We get up early during schooling days...everyone is up, has made their beds, breakfasted and teeth brushed by a certain time ready to start their day. With Blaine here teaching the children as well...we stay on schedule! Bread dough?! Oh Yes! Sorry Ladies...back to our bread!
Your dough is ready and will need to rise. Rising times vary depending on the flour. It may seem like there is a lot to remember about making and baking bread but once you start making bread on a regular basis you will get the hang of it. For the wheat...I allow my bread to rise for about 1 1/2 hours or until the dough has doubled in size - white flour for about an hour. If your family is not too crazy about eating wheat bread at first...may I share a tip with you? Start out with the white flour (see basic white bread recipe) and then replace a cup with the white wheat or wheat...slowly exchanging the wheat with the white until you work it out completely. I use white flour for making french bread and biscuits (see recipes on the left side module. Place a cover over your bowl and place in the oven. And don't forget to clean up!
  
I do try to clean up things as I go along. This makes things so much easier and if you attend to the mess now...it will be much easier to clean than if you let it sit. See...
 
...everything is back into order and I can start making lunch for my family. Lunch was Clean Out The Fridge Soup, Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches on homemade bread. I had a slice of bread with homemade apple butter on it. I will be sharing that recipe along with my Clean Out The Fridge Soup recipe later on. With lunch finished and more lessons to go over...an hour and a half has passed quickly and our bread has doubled in size...
  
Remove the bowl from the oven and punch the bread dough down. Cut in half. This recipe will make two loaves of bread.
  
Roll out one half and then hand roll to fit into your loaf pan...
  
With the seam side down, tuck under the sides and place in your greased bread pan.
 
Place back in the oven with a clean kitchen towel/napkin and allow to rise until...
the dough is about 1/2 inch above the pan. If you allow it to rise higher...you will get the mushroom effect on your bread. The bread will still taste good...just not look pretty! When your dough has risen, remove your kitchen towel/napkin and turn the oven on at 350°F for 20 minutes. Soon your house will smell wonderful and your bread will come out looking like this...
Nummy!
Allow to cool completely on a wire rack. Slice your bread...
Blaine and the children love the bread right from the oven with melted butter...that can be a meal in itself! The beauty about making your own bread is you know what is in it and what is not in it. Contrary to what some might want you to believe that it is necessary for bread to have preservatives in it...this is not true. I am not making my bread to be shipped across the country and normally two loaves of bread do not last us long enough for me to worry about it getting mold on it.
Crystal Miller, Homemaking On The Homestead column in Making It Home Magazine, has a wonderful site with wonderful tips on making healthy bread. Crystal also shares many of her tried and true recipes - recipes my family loves. Crystal has a beautiful new addition to her family...be sure to read her story about delivering her first grandchild into the world! Crystal...you are an amazing lady!
Added Note & Tip:
CJ from our MIH Group sent this great tip in when she noticed that my bread stuck to the bread pan...
What do you use to coat your pans before you bake your bread? I was reading your most recent log, and it looked like your bread may have stuck a little. I use a mixture called “Pan-Ease” that someone shared with me YEARS ago.
Mix equal parts shortening, flour and oil. Use a mixer and mix it ‘til it looks like soft butter. Store it in a container with lid (gladware is fine) in the fridge. It lasts “forever” and anytime I use it, NOTHING sticks, EVER. It doesn’t matter if the recipe calls for a greased pan or a greased & floured pan. I just brush it on the pans with a pastry brush, or if my brush is wet from a recent wash, a “baggie” on my fingers.
Of course, if your bread came out just fine, disregard my tip, LOL.
Oh—and what a great idea to cut the bread upside down! I never would have thought of that, but it makes perfect sense! Thanks for the idea 
--
CJ †
Thank you CJ! | 
Michel
