Honey Oatmeal Bread

I think this might be my favorite bread recipe. It's a close one though. I adore French bread as well. This bread has a slight sweetness to it from the honey and stays soft even after 1 day. Normally bread starts to get tough the next day but this one stays fresh. This is great served with dinner, as a snack, or even as a sandwich. The original recipe uses a bread machine and cooks it in the machine as well. I skipped this because even though I love my bread machine, I tend to have better bread when it's baked in the oven. So I used my bread machine to mix it and then moved it to the oven. Worked beautifully!

And today is October 22nd!! My due date is only a few days away! I'm getting excited to meet baby Emmett and introduce him to his sister. I've been going over all of the pregnancy memories. I was thinking about when my husband and I found out the sex of the baby. I was getting the ultrasound and within seconds I looked over and saw my husband smiling. I assumed he was excited to find out the results but he had actually gotten a glimpse of the gender and knew we were having a boy. He would have been happy with a boy or girl, but deep down he was hoping for a boy so we would have one of each. Of course, I can't read ultrasounds at all and most of the time I have no clue what I'm looking at so the technician had to announce it to me. It was a fun and exciting day. :)

I am going to miss being pregnant though. Everything has been pretty simple from day one so I have few complaints. I will definitely miss the following:

1. Feeling the baby kick
2. Baby hiccups!
3. The long, difficult and even irritating name search but the relief when I finally found one
4. The growing belly
5. The overall excitement

I'll keep everyone posted. Hopefully he'll make his appearance soon!

Place into a pan

Brush with egg white and sprinkle on oats

Remove from oven

Remove from pan immediately and cool on wire rack

Honey Oatmeal Bread
Serving Size = 1 lb loaf
Original Recipe

• 1 cup of water
• 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil (I used EVOO)
• 1/4 cup of honey
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 cup rolled oats + extra for sprinkling
• 2 1/3 cups bread flour (plus more if needed)
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast (original recipe added 1 but based on the reviews I bumped it to 2)

1. Place in bread machine on dough cycle. Once the dough starts mixing, check it to see if you need to add more flour. The dough should be a bit sticky.
2. Once done, place into an 8x4-inch baking dish sprayed with oil. Cover with a towel and let raise for 30 minutes in a warm place (I usually preheat the oven for a minute, shut it off, and then add the bread). Brush with 1 egg white plus 1 tablespoon of water. Sprinkle on some oats. Bake in oven at 350F for 25 - 30 minutes. Remove from pan immediately and let cool on wire rack.
3. Note: If you want, you can cook it in the bread machine (I haven't tried). The original recipe recommends cooking it on the light setting.

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