Recipes: Oatmeal Honey Bread or Fasting Bread

 

Good Morning!

Recipes: Oatmeal Honey Bread or Fasting Bread

This morning, I had the pleasure of waking up in Herzegovina. It is a bright and sunny morning and the air is starting to warm up as the sun rises over the mountain.

I picked up some wonderful bread from the local bakery here in a Medjugorje called Oatmeal Honey Bread or "Fasting Bread". The local baker offered me the recipe. So, I thought this recipe would be a nice addition to our Recipe Box. It is a great bread for fasting as it has plenty of protein and fiber. This recipe will make two loaves. It should take 4 hours from beginning to end.

Ingredients

Add 2 tablespoons of dry yeast to 1/2 cup warm water and let stand for 10 minutes (good yeast foams up)

In large mixing bowl add (mix well):
2 cups oat bran flour
3 1/2 cups white flour
1 flat tablespoon salt
1 cup quick (not old fashioned) oatmeal

Make a little hole in the center of your bowl before adding:
dissolved yeast
2 eggs beaten (eggs should be room temperature)
1/4 vegetable or canola oil
1/2 cup of honey, maple syrup or light molasses (your choice)
3/4 cup of warm water (Add water little bit at a time, when bread is dry add a little more, if too soupy too much water, no fear - can always add a little more flour to stiffen up the dough).

Roll onto floured surface and knead into a large ball. Place in a lightly oiled large bowl to let rise for 2 hours (on a warm place preferably). Cover with spray-oiled plastic wrap and let rise. Then when risen, punch down and roll onto floured surface again and split the dough into two balls. Roll flat and shape into elongated rolls and place in an oiled bread pan. Cover again with lightly spray-oiled plastic wrap. Let rise again for about an hour. (If you are planning to freeze all or some of the dough, this would be the part of the recipe to do so. Form the dough into loafs and put it in an airtight freezer bag. Good frozen up to one month.)

When dough rises to just above the top of bread pan, (a rounded look), you can take egg white and a little water and brush lightly on top of bread and sprinkle quick oats on top. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes and then lower temperature to 375 degrees for another 35-40 minutes. When bread is nicely browned and the top taps hollow sounding, take out and cool on wired surface.