I’ve been making an oatmeal bread lately, with several variations; and I thought I’d share the recipe with y’all.

3 C. unbleached flour
1 C. Rolled oats
1/2 C. Barley flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 C. molasses
1 Tbsp (2 pkts) yeast
1 1/4 C. warm milk
1/4 C. Olive oil

Mix milk, molasses and olive oil together and warm to about 110 deg. F.  Place this in a pre=heated mixing bowl.  Add yeast and mix well.  Let sit until foamy, about 10 min.

Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.  Then hand knead until smooth and elastic.

Place in a greased bowl and let rise in a warm place (in my oven over a bowl of very hot water) until doubled - about 20 to 34 min.
Punch down, roll to about 3/4” thickness, then roll the dough into a loaf.  Place in greased bread pan and let rise in warm place until about 2” over the sides of the pan.  Bake at 350 deg. for 30 to 35 min. 

Coat top with olive or canola oil.  Let cool on a wire rack.  Delicious! 

You can experiment, as I am doing, with different flavors added to the dough.

I tried this recipe out yesterday, substituting rye flour for the barley which I didn’t have. The dough seemed quite heavy in the making and took quite a bit of kneading to get smooth and elastic, but after an extended second proving at room temperature (low 30s C) the final result was a well-shaped, tasty loaf, substantial but not heavy. It went very well this morning with some non-blue Caerphilly and a bit of cucumber, and I imagine it would also be very nice with cream cheese or toasted with butter and jam. I’ll be making this again!