Oatmeal Raisin Bread

I've been very into baking bread over the last year. Perhaps it's because I'm obsessed with the Great British Bake Off (which Netflix likes to call The Great British Baking Show). Bryn and I have watched it for years, and I'm so happy I can re-watch it on Netflix whenever I want.

When I make bread, I can hear Paul Hollywood critiquing it...I'm sure he would stick his finger into my finished loaf and pronounce it "raw", but I think my bread comes out pretty good.

This is a bread that my dad makes a lot, and I think it's pretty hard to screw up if you are new to baking bread. It requires ingredients that are pretty much always in our pantry and is the perfect thing to do on a freezing Sunday...or in my case Monday off of work.

For 2 loaves you will need:

2 cups boiling water

1 cup oatmeal

1 packet yeast (2 1/4 tsp.)

1/2 cup warm water

1/2 cup sugar

5 1/2 cups flour

1 Tbs. salt

2 Tbs. shortening (I'm sure butter would work)

1/2 cup raisins (If you hate raisins just leave them out - the bread will still be delicious.)

Process:

Mix the outmeal and shortening with boiling water.

Mix yeast, sugar and 1/2 cup flour with the warm water. Let it get bubbly, then mix this with the oatmeal mixture. Add the salt and work in flour, then knead it for a bit.

Let your dough rise until doubled in size. Work down, add in the raisins, and then shape into loaves. Let them rise again in the pans. In the meantime preheat your oven to 350f.

Bake for 30 minutes. Brush the loaves with butter while they are hot.