Ready for another Tasty Tuesday featuring a tempting bread recipe by author Michele Stegman? I haven’t made bread in a while but this oatmeal bread recipe has me itching to do some kneading. Tell us more about this recipe, Michele.
All my heroes love bread. Maybe that’s because my own personal hero, my husband, Ron, and I both love bread. I make it two or three times a week and use a variety of recipes, sometimes making up my own.
In my book, Fortune’s Pride, the hero and heroine are at odds, but he starts caving because she makes such wonderful bread.
Let me tell you a little bit about bread. I often wondered why the Israelites didn’t have time to let their bread rise before their exodus from Egypt and had to make unleavened bread instead. It only takes a couple of hours for bread to rise. Why couldn’t they have made it while getting packed up? Reading up about yeast I learned that getting bread to rise before standardized yeast came along was quite time consuming. It could also be hit or miss.
Before the 20th century, yeast was obtained either from the beer brewing process or was a piece of dough kept from the previous batch of bread as a sour dough starter. Both could be contaminated with bacteria or wild yeast (there are about 1,500 species) and give bread a poor flavor or just fail to rise. And the yeast was slow. Women had to mix up their bread the night before, let it rise all night, and then make bread the next day.
It wasn’t until World War II that Fleischmann’s developed dry, standardized yeast. You know, those little ¾ ounce packets sold in the baking aisle. Well, I buy my yeast by the pound and right now have about five pounds of it in the house. Yeah, I make a lot of bread.
Sometimes I am in a hurry and make buttermilk bread from the Betty Crocker cookbook—less than two hours, start to finish. Other times I make an artisan bread, one of those loaves that rise overnight and then have to rise again the next day for two or three hours before baking. But, oh my! That bread it worth it!
Oatmeal bread is one of our favorites. Since I can never stop myself from changing recipes, here is my version of Oatmeal Bread from the cookbook More With Less by Doris Janzen Longacre:
Combine in a large bowl:
1 c quick oats
1 c whole wheat flour
½ c brown sugar
2 t salt
2 T margarine
Pour over:
2 c boiling water
Stir to combine and let cool to lukewarm.
Dissolve:
1 package (almost 1 Tablespoon) dry yeast in 1 c warm water.
When batter is cooled, add the yeast mixture to it.
Stir in:
About 5-8 cups bread flour, enough to make a stiff dough.
Knead on floured board until tough enough to spring back when poked.
Place in greased bowl and let rise until doubled (about 1 to 1 ½ hours). Punch down and let it rise again.
Shape into two loaves and place into two 9x5x3 inch bread pans.
Let rise for about ½ hour. Watch carefully! This last rise happens fast.
Just before baking, slash the top with a sharp knife. Very important!
Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 to 40 minutes. The bread should sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.
Thank you so much for hosting me on your blog today, Betty! I enjoyed talking about one of my favorite things—bread.
Fortune’s Pride
As long as no one knows who Irish really is, she will be safe. But Tyrus Fortune seems determined to uncover all her secrets. Can she fully love him without revealing her true self to him? But if she does, will it also put him and his family in danger?
Tyrus Fortune returns home after two years determined to unmask the woman who has found her way into the hearts of his family. He is sure she is a fraud—until he begins to fall in love with her. Now he only wishes she will trust him with her secrets and her love so they can face the future together.
Michele Stegman has loved history all her life. She lives in an 1840’s log cabin with her husband, Ron, and enjoys spinning wool into yarn then using it for her weaving or knitting projects. She has learned to make her own soap and bakes her own bread.
Although Fortune’s Pride is a sequel to Fortune’s Foe, each book can be read alone.
Visit www.MicheleStegman.com for information on her other books and to read excerpts. Or connect with her on Twitter or on Facebook.
Oatmeal bread may end up my all-time favorite bread to make! Thanks so much for sharing that recipe with me, Michele. And of course, the story sounds intriguing as well! Do you all love bread? Or is there another food that calls your name?
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