Almond Crunch Oatmeal Bread
They say necessity is the mother of invention and I sure believe it. This morning I realized I was out of bread. This brought on a mini baking frenzy which ended this afternoon. The result: 2 new bread flavors I’d never even considered before.
Some people, probably most people, would have just skipped off to the nearest grocery and picked up a loaf or two of bread. Not me. I try to stay away from the grocery mid-week. I mean, hey, a trip to the grocery for a gallon of milk can easily cost me $40 or more. I pick things up simply because they are on sale, I am hungry, I’ve got a winy kid with me, or they just look good. So, when I run out of bread, I bake bread. It may take more time, but it saves the dough (pun intended.)
Experimenting with the whole grains is another thing I like to do, and since I’ve got a bread machine, all of this is really pretty simple. Exchange a few ingredients and you have an entirely different-tasting fresh homemade bread. The trouble is that when it’s homemade, the family eats more of it and faster so I have to make 4 or even 6 loaves to replace 1 or 2 store-bought loaves of bread.
The first of today’s batches included Old-Fashioned Oats and Almonds. YUM! I suspect this will be delicious tomorrow morning with butter and orange marmalade.
Almond Crunch Oatmeal Bread
makes 2 loaves
1 1/2 c. water
2 T. olive oil
2 T. sugar
1 1/2 t. salt
1 c. finely chopped whole oats with almonds
1/2 c. whole wheat flour
2 1/2 c. white flour
2 1/4 t. yeast
Into the bread machine goes: water, oil, sugar, salt.
Next, into the chopper: Old Fashioned oats and slivered almonds. Sorry, folks, I didn’t measure before chopping, only afterward. It looked like maybe 1 1/2 cups before chopping. Maybe 1/3 c. of this was the almonds. Obviously, these amounts are very forgiving. Basically, you need 4 cups of dry ingredients.
Add the oats, nuts, and both flours to the wet ingredients that are in the bread machine already. Make a little well and add the yeast. I’ve always added my yeast this way and never have a problem with it.
Set the bread machine cycle to “dough.” I never use my machine for baking. The crust is always too thick and tough. When it is done with the dough cycle, I turn it onto a floured cutting board, knead it a few times, and then divide it in half. Form each into a small loaf shape. Next I spray my trusty old glass loaf pans and place the dough into them.
After about an hour, the dough should be roughly doubled in size. This could be more or less than an hour, depending on the room temperature. At that time, heat the oven to 375 and bake for 20 minutes or until nicely golden brown on top.
Remove from the oven. About 10 minutes later, remove from the pans. Do not attempt to cut it yet. (This is where my kids always fail me. They cut, the loaf smashes and is a flattened, non-loaf shape ever after. But, hey, the important part is that they got a piece of it while it was warm!) It will slice much better after cooling. If you absolutely HAVE to have a warm slice, wait at least 5 more minutes - the longer you wait the better it will hold its shape.
And THAT, my friends, is how you make Almond Crunch Oatmeal Bread. A sure way to please any bread-lover. If you’re trying to get out of the doghouse with the husband (or wife) for some reason, try this one out. Serve with butter and jam.
April 2nd, 2008