Oatmeal Bread

Sunday is usually my bread baking day. Other than occasionally buying a specialty loaf from Great Harvest or Zingerman's, I'm proud to say that we haven't purchased sandwich bread in over a year. I like to make bread on Sunday so that Joe has a fresh loaf for his sandwiches all week. Yes, he is in his late 20s and still takes a pb&j to school for lunch almost everyday. Albeit, his is a much healthier version with almond butter or all natural peanut butter...no Jif for our sandwiches. I have three basic whole-grain bread recipes that I alternate between, two of which are done in the oven and one of which I use my breadmaker for. The oatmeal bread is Joe's favorite. It has a slightly crumbly texture which requires careful cutting, but it's hearty and slightly tangy from the greek yogurt and buttermilk used. I made myself an almond butter sandwich with the fresh bread for my breakfast on the airplane this morning, and was happy with how the loaf turned out this week.

Yield: 1 Loaf

Ingredients:
1 cup + 1 teaspoon whole wheat pastry flour, divided
1/2 cup + 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 cup + 1 Tablespoon old-fashioned rolled oats, divided
7 ounces plain, 2% greek yogurt
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup low-fat buttermilk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Coat 9x5 inch loaf pan with olive oil spread on a paper towel or rub pan with a stick of butter. Sprinkle pan with 1 teaspoon whole wheat pastry flour. Shake until all sides are coated and then shake off excess flour.

In a large bowl stir together flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, brown sugar, and oatmeal.
In a seperate bowl whisk together yogurt, egg, olive oil, and buttermilk.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until combined.

Pour batter in the prepared loaf pan and sprinkle the top with remaining 1 Tablespoon of oats.
Bake for 40-45 minutes, rotating pan halfway through the baking time, until the bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow bread to sit in the pan for 10 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool the rest of the way to room temp. Store the bread well-wrapped, in the fridge.

*Recipe adapted from Healthy Food for Living