Light Oat Bread

We recently had a the White Death roll through and drop a good 6" or so of snow on us.  As such, the office was very empty and by the time lunch rolled around, most people had bailed.  My boss' boss told the remaining people to feel free to go home.  I was a bit torn since my commute is less than a mile (literally I drive across the street to get to/from work)...even if the weather were bad, I could walk if worse came to worst.  I ended up working for another hour then decided I'd go work from home (and ironically ended up working longer than I would have if I had stayed in the office...I was just way more productive here at home and got on a roll!).

Anyway, so since I was home,  I decided to dump some ingredients into our bread machine so that we'd have some nice fresh homemade bread for dinner.  This bread is AWESOME!!!  It has a nice crunchy crust and a tender inside (the picture below KINDA gives you an idea of its awesomeness but you really have to try it yourself!).  It tastes pretty much like white bread but with a hint of nuttiness (from the oats I guess) and the added nutrition of oatmeal.  Yah for adding whole wheats and not noticing it's there!  This will definitely be staple around here.

Note: For those without a bread machine, you can still make this bread.  It'll just take a little bit more work.  Use your standard bread making technique.  I've outlined directions below.

Light Oat Bread
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Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 3 hours
Yields: 12 Servings (1 1/2 lb loaf)

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups water
• 2 tablespoons margarine
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Directions

For Bread Machine: Add ingredients to bread machine pan in order recommended by your manufacturer. Use regular light setting.

For handmade:

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine warm water, yeast, and brown sugar.  Stir until dissolved and allow to sit and get frothy.
2. Mix dry ingredients into bowl. Knead until combined then cover with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled in volume.
3. Punch dough down and then put into bread pan.  Let rise again. 
4. While dough is rising, preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
5. Bake for 35 minutes.  Slice and serve warm, with softened butter if desired.

Note: If you have leftovers like I did, you might want to restore the crisp crust and warm insides.  To refresh bread, place in oven at 350 degrees for several minutes.

Source: All Recipes