Apparently This Is The Best Sandwich Bread Ever

Yesterday started out uneventfully enough.  I was out of bread.  I searched for a new bread recipe.  I baked bread.

Woohoo, right?

Nothing special.

Anyway, after the bread had cooled to that magic slightly-warm and sliceable state the sound of my electric knife drew my son to the kitchen.  He watched intently as each yeasty slice of bread fell to the side as I cut into the loaf.

When I was done, I handed him a piece.  Well, we know my son can be finicky about food, so I wasn't sure how this warm, soft slice of bread would go over.

I turned my head for a second...when I looked back at him his mouth was stuffed and in each hand was a tiny bit of bread- the only remaining evidence of the slice I had handed him.  He DEVOURED it!  I was impressed.

Next came my daughter.  She asked for a peanut butter sandwich for dinner for some reason, whatever.  She RAVED, going on and on about how it was the best bread EVER.  I've never seen anyone so excited over a peanut butter sandwich.

A little later in the evening my husband grabbed a piece to nibble on....and then another.  According to him, this is the best sandwich bread I've ever made- and we know I've made a lot of good ones.  :-)

I do believe maybe this needs to be added to the list of bread recipes you should never lose!

This is a nice, light bread that still has the strength to stand up to a sandwich.  It's not overly sweet and uses just a small amount of brown sugar to sweeten the loaf.  I left the ingredients in this one alone, though I did adapt it as a standard bread recipe since the original was written for a bread machine- click the link below to see the original, and enjoy!

Light Oat Bread

Adapted from Allrecipes.com

1 1/4 cups lukewarm water

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

2 tablespoons melted butter

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup rolled oats

1 teaspoon salt

Butter for finishing (optional)

1. Combine water, brown sugar, and yeast in mixing bowl.  Allow yeast to bloom, approximately 5 minutes.  Mix in butter.

2.  Whisk together flour, oats, and salt.  Add to yeast mixture, a little at a time, until fully combined.  Knead, or use dough hook in mixer, until smooth and elastic.  Dough will still be slightly sticky.

3. Place dough in lightly greased bowl and flip dough ball so greased side is on top.  Cover bowl with damp cloth and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Push down dough to deflate.  Shape dough into loaf and place in lightly greased loaf pan.  Cover with damp towel and allow to rise another 20 minutes.

5. Remove towel and bake until top is lightly browned and loaf sounds hollow when tapped.  Top with melted butter (I like to run the end of a cold stick of butter over the top of the loaf as soon as it comes out of the oven.) Remove loaf from pan and allow to cool on baking rack before slicing.