Well, having see a couple of oatmeal bread recipes go by, I thought I'd post my version. It's based on the oatmeal bread recipe in _The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book_. My changes eliminate the extra fat, and uses half white and half whole wheat flour because it's quicker (only one rising time). Sometimes I make it with all whole wheat.

Put oats in heat-proof bowl and pour boiling water over them. Let stand about 5 minutes. Stir in cool water, honey, and salt. Let stand until lukewarm (another 5-10 minutes depending on how cold your kitchen is). Meanwhile dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water. Put flours into large mixing bowl and add oatmeal mixture and yeast. Stir to mix and knead until smooth and satiny. Dough may seem dry at first, but don't add water right away. It takes a while for the water to work it's way out of the oatmeal. If after 5 or so minutes of kneading, the dough seems too stiff and dry, add a tablespoon or two of water. If dough seems soggy, add more flour. (I use my Kitchen-Aid, and it takes about 10 minutes of kneading.) When dough is ready, shape it into a ball and put in a clean, large bowl. Cover with a clean, damp towel and let stand in a warm place about 1 hour. Dough has risen enough when you can poke a hole into the top of it with a wet fingertip and the hole doesn't fill in (or fills in very slowly). If the dough sighs and sags a bit, it has risen a bit too long.

Turn dough out of bowl onto a floured countertop and flatten to work out any large air pockets. Divide dough in half, shape each into a ball and cover again with the towel. Let stand 10 minutes. Meanwhile spray two 8x4 inch pans with cooking spray and sprinkle a tablespoon or so of uncooked oats in the bottom of each pan. Shape each ball of dough into a loaf and put in the pans. Cover with the damp towel, and let stand in a warm place until almost doubled. (That is, when you do the fingertip test, the dough should fill back in the hole). Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes, or until browned and loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. (Someday I'm going to take a loaf out after 20 minutes and tap on it just so I know what it sounds like when it's not done.) Cool on a wire rack.

Fatfree Digest V96 #47

From the Fatfree Vegetarian recipe list. Downloaded from Glen's Mm Recipe Archive, http://www. Erols. Com/hosey.