Vermont Oatmeal Maple-Honey Bread...

Yesterday I made some of the most delicious sandwich bread. It has a hint of cinnamon which makes it just a tiny pit "fallish" and it is very simple to make. The loaves turn out beautiful and taste wonderful. I found the recipe in my King Arthur Flour Baking Companion, this is a baking must have. I did not have the maple ingredients so I used brown sugar and did not put in any maple flavor. I hope you like the result as much as my DH and I did.

Vermont Oatmeal Maple-Honey Bread

2 1/4 - 2 1/2 cups (18-30 oz.) boiling water
1 cup (3 1/2) thick oat flakes (rolled oats)
1/2 cup (2 3/4 oz) maple sugar or brown sugar (4oz)
1/2 teaspoon maple flavor (optional)
1 tablespoon honey
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick, 2 oz.) butter
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon instant yeast
1 1/2 cups (7 3/4 oz) whole wheat flour
2 cups (8-9 oz) unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups (8-9 oz) bread flour

In a large mixing bowl, combine the water, oats, maple sugar, maple flavor, honey, butter, salt, and cinnamon. Let cool to lukewarm (110 degrees F).

Add the yeast and flours, stirring to form a rough dough. Knead (about 10 minutes by hand, 5 to 7 minutes by machine) until dough is smooth and satiny. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover the bowl with lightly greased plastic wrap., and let the dough rise for 1 hour; it should double in bulk.

Divide the dough in half and shape each half into a loaf. Place the loaves in two greased 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch bread pans. cover the pans with lightly greased plastic wrap (or a proof cover) and allow the loaves to rise until they've crowned about 1 inch over the rim of the pan, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake the loaves for 35 to 40 minutes. Remove them from the oven when they're golden brown and the interior register 190 degrees F on a instant-read thermometer.

Enjoy!