Stan is out of town on a business trip at the moment, which means that I had a whole Saturday morning to myself. So I thought I’d make bread! This is one of my favourite recipes. It makes a dense, sweet oat bread that’s perfect for toast and great for sandwiches. I like to eat it slathered in butter. (Though who am I kidding? I like to eat anything slathered in butter. Heck, I just like eating butter.)

The amounts listed below are enough for two loaves.

Ingredients:

1 cup oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp salt
2 Tbsp canola oil
2 cups boiling water
2 1/2 tsp yeast
1/2 cup warm water
5 cups white flour

Combine oats, whole wheat flour, brown sugar, salt, and oil in large bowl. Add boiling water and stir.

In a separate bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add to large bowl when the boiling water has cooled to lukewarm. Stir in white flour.

When dough is stiff enough to handle, turn onto floured board and knead 5-10 minutes. Place in greased bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled. Punch down, divide, and let rise in 2 greased loaf pans.

Bake at 350F for 30-40 minutes. Cool on rack.

A few notes:

1. You’re not going to get much height on your second rise. Like as I said, these loaves end up short and dense.

2. It can take a while to get all the white flour incorporated into the liquids. Persevere. Adding it one cup at a time helps a lot.