Ivy Arts

I’ve tried a new oat bread a few times now, Oat Bran Bread from Allrecipes.com. First time was exactly according to the recipe, except of course, I don’t have a bread machine, just my trusty Kitchen-Aid mixer and I doubled it to make two loaves. It was just as described – a light, high-volume bread.

But I was again struck by the white flour guilt so I changed it up a bit the next time. This time I substituted whole wheat flour for half of the white and added some oatmeal. It became dense, still a nice loaf. On the third try, I wanted to return to the light, high-volume but a little healthier. A quarter cup of oat bran per loaf doesn’t seem like it tips the healthy scales. So I increased the oat bran to 3/4 cup for two loaves and added 1 cup of oatmeal to the water to soften it while I proofed the yeast. The result is just what I wanted, more oatmeal flavor and texture but light. I made my favorite sandwich with it yesterday - a tuna melt. Yum.