I tried a new bread machine recipe yesterday: Sweet Oatmeal Bread. I have to say, while it has a superior molasses flavor, the extremely soft texture makes it rather hard to slice. The sweetness isn’t overdone, luckily, but the oats don’t really come through at all. I blame the texture problems on the fact that there’s no whole-wheat flour in the loaf; it has a very convincing deep brown color, but it comes entirely from the 3T of molasses. I’d consider making it again, but not with the intention of using it as a sandwich bread.
I was telling von last night that I have a strong preference for whole grain breads in terms of texture. Not only are they easier to slice, but I really enjoy the dense, hearty crumb. I didn’t realize this as a child because while I loved my mom’s homemade whole wheat, the whole wheat bread we got from the store (I think it was Friehoffer’s) had an overbaked, bitter-tasting crust. It’s interesting to think about–what foods that you disliked on first exposure might just have been bad examples of their kind?
