always seem to put off making “Beka Bread” (aka Honey/Wheat/Oatmeal Bread) because we don’t have enough honey in the house.  So today I got brave and decide to adapt it to use with turbinado (raw) sugar.  This is what I came up with, and it yielded some beautiful loaves!

Wheat/Oatmeal Bread

Combine and cool to lukewarm:

• 3 cups boiling water
• 2 cups oatmeal (Beka uses old fashioned; I’ve been using my steel cut oats with good success as well.  That’s what we have on hand, and it gives a nice texture.)

Test:

• 1 1/4 c warm water
• 2 T yeast

Add to the oats:

• 1 c turbinado sugar
• 2 T oil
• 3 eggs (Beka uses 4 egg whites, but I always find those good yolks going to waste)

Combine all and add 4 cups flour (half white/half wheat)

Sponge for 15 minutes (aka “let it sit”)

Add 1 cup of flour at a time – about 5-6 cups (again, half and half)

IMPORTANT – add 1 1/2 t salt with the flour after sponging.  This gives additional time at the beginning for the yeast to do its thing.  I will get a cup measure of flour, dump half in the bowl, then stir the salt into the remaining half before adding it to the bowl.

Knead about 5-8 minutes

Let rise in buttered or oiled bowl for 1 hour

Make loaves (coat those bread pans too!) and let rise again.  If you have full-sized loaf pans, this will make 3 loaves.  If you have smaller ones, you could probably do  4. 

Bake at 350′ for 25-30 minutes.

contributed by Laurel Smith