Whole wheat and oats bread

This whole wheat and oats bread is a 100% whole grain sandwich bread which is not only healthy, but it taste good too. Whole wheat flour and old fashioned oats combined with active dry yeast, oil, honey, vital gluten and milk powder, then kneaded and risen twice and finally baked to perfection. I have used non-fat milk powder to give this whole wheat bread a soft texture and vital wheat gluten flour is added to give this bread a nice structure.(Vital wheat gluten is a concentrated wheat gluten and is used with low protein flour bread.)

I love making bread at home. At first it was pretty difficult to make a 100% whole wheat sandwich bread, as it would either turn out to be dense or crumbly or sometimes dry but after so many trial and error I came up with this recipe and now my whole wheat and oats bread is soft and very flavorful.  Making bread is like a science project, you need the right ratio of ingredients, a proper time to knead the dough and right temperature for rising the dough. But when you'll see the freshly baked bread comes right out of your oven, it will make you feel so happy and very satisfied. In my opinion, there's nothing like the smell of homemade bread.

My journey of making homemade bread started, when I first noticed the ingredients of a store bought whole wheat bread. Not only the whole wheat bread is little on expensive side but many of the ingredients were alien to me, so I researched and decided to make my own bread. 
So, if you are regular bread eater like me, try out this bread recipe and tell me what you think. Though it takes some time and patience to make a homemade bread but it is totally worth the efforts, as you are aware of all the ingredients and it is quite pocket-friendly too. This bread is perfect for making sandwiches and it also goes well with soups and stews.   
 Below is the images of different stages of making bread.

Kneaded dough          1st rise of dough         Shaping the dough      Final rise       

Prep time: 2 hour 15 min
Cook time: 50 min
Yield :- One 9-inch loaf 
Ingredients for the whole wheat and oats bread :-

• 3.5 cups of whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup of milk powder
• 2.5 tsp of instant yeast dissolved in 1 and 1/4 cup of warm water
• 1/2 cup of Oats
• 2 Tb of vital gluten
• 1/4 cup of oil
• 1-2 TB of honey or agave nectar
• 1/4-1/2 cup of water
• 1 and 1/4 salt

Method for whole wheat and oats bread :-

1. Mix Yeast in 1 cup of warm water with honey and let it stand for 10 min until it becomes foamy. Add little hot water to oats in a small bowl for few min, just to make it soft.
2. Then in a large bowl, combine 1 cup of flour with yeast mixture and mix it well. Then add remaining ingredients and mix again and knead until the dough become smooth and supple. Adjust its consistency with additional water or flour, if necessary.
3. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover it loosely with damp kitchen towel or lightly greased plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise until it doubles in size about 1 to 2 hours, depending on the warmth of your kitchen.
4.  Now punch down the dough and transfer it in a work surface and shape it into a loaf or any shape you like. Place the dough in a greased 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pan and again cover and allow the bread to rise for about 1 to 2 hours, or till the dough reached at least an inch above the pan.
5.  Preheat the oven to 350°F and bake the bread for 40 minutes.(The internal temperature should reach up to 190 degree F)
6.  Remove bread from the oven, and let it cool down onto a rack. Rub the crust with a little butter for flavour.

Cool completely before slicing.
To prevent the bread from over browning, after 20 minutes of baking, cover the bread lightly with aluminium foil and bake it further for 20 mins.
Store the bread in a plastic bag at room temperature.

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