Oatmeal bread time!

A friend asked about making bread and I thought it might be the perfect time to share a passion if providing that daily bread for my family and my child care. So, I took out the new iPad and set to work photographing every step of my bread making process.

My ingredient list:

6-7 cups of bread flour (if you're not using bread flour be sure to add some gluten)
1 cup of rolled instant oats
3 tablespoons sugar (for my oatmeal bread I use brown sugar but any kind is okay.)
2 tablespoons of some type of fat ; whether butter, shortening, oil. I use melted butter usually unless the taste will interfere and then I use organic shortening.
1 tablespoon of salt
2 1/4 cup of hot, not boiling water
4 1/2 teaspoons of instant yeast

First, I let my yeast proof. To do that, I combine the sugar and water and sprinkle the yeast evenly over top of it. Once it looks foamy and fluffy, I add the butter, salt and the first 2 cups of flour and the oats. I put it in in my mixer bowl and then use a dough hook to mix it. I let it mix on the stir speed for about 10 minutes.

I then start adding flour, one cup at a time, letting the dough have about 3 minutes after each cup to incorporate the flour. When the dough gets stiff, but not dry, I put my finger in. If it leaves an indentation, it
S ready for the first rise.fd

I let it stay in the bowl but use nonstick spray to coat the dough and the bowl and then cover and place it in a warm st to rise for about 40 minutes.

When the dough has about doubled, I punch it down, and then turn it onto a floured countertop. I knead it a bit just to work out air bubbles. Then, using a rolling pin, I roll it out flat and cut into 2 sections. I roll up each section, turn over the ends and place into a greased bread pan.
I spray the dough with non stick spray, cover with plastic wrap, cover that with a towel and let rise for about an hour or until the dough is above the rim of the pan.

Then, I put the bread into s PREHEATED oven (very important...the bread needs that blast of hot air when its first put in the oven) and cook until a goldebrown color, about 25 minutes. Bread will sound hollow when you tap on it when done.

Then it's placed on a cooling rack and left to cool until no longer warm and then is placed in bags. It can be frozen and it will keep for about 3 days on the counter, do not refrigerate! It's terrible for bread and it spoil quickly.

Pictures of the bread making process are here...I'd like to incorporate them in the blog but just got my iPad and am just not sure how!Bread Photos Here