Vermont Oatmeal Maple-Honey Bread
- 2¼ to 2½ cups boiling water
- 1 cup thick oat flakes (rolled oats)
- ½ cup maple sugar or brown sugar
- ½ tsp. maple flavoring (optional)
- 1 Tbsp. honey
- 4 Tbsp. butter
- 1 Tbsp. salt
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 Tbsp. instant yeast
- 1½ cups whole wheat flour
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
In a large mixing bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the water, oats, maple or brown sugar, maple flavoring, honey, butter, salt, and cinnamon. Let cool to lukewarm. Add the yeast and flours, stirring to form a rough dough. Knead (about 10 minutes by hand, 5 to 7 minutes by machine or mixer) until the dough is smooth and satiny. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover the bowl with lightly greased plastic wrap, and let the dough rise for 1 hour; it should double in bulk.
Divide the dough in half and shape each half into a loaf. Place the loaves in two greased 8.5" x 4.5" bread pans. Cover the bread pans with lightly greased plastic wrap and allow the loaves to rise until they've crowned about 1 inch over the rim of the pan, about 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake the loaves for 35 to 40 minutes. Remove them from the oven when they're golden brown and the interior registers 190 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer.