Vermont Oatmeal Maple Honey Bread

I am forever looking for a bread recipe that I can successfully use for sandwiches, but tastes homemade as well. This one fits the bill. This is everything that I like in bread. It is soft, wheaty and semi-sweet, it's so delicious!

Source: amanda.fakeginger.com
Adapted from King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion

Ingredients:

2 1/4 to 2 1/2 cups (18 to 20 ounces) boiling water
1 cup (3 1/2 ounces) rolled oats, plus more for top of bread
1/2 cup (2 3/4 ounces) maple sugar or brown sugar (4 ounces)
1/2 teaspoons maple flavor ( I used maple syrup)
1 tablespoon honey
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick, 2 ounces) butter
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon instant yeast
1 1/2 cups (7 3/4 ounces) whole wheat flour
4 cups (17 ounces) all-purpose flour

In a large mixing bowl, combine the water, oats, maple sugar, maple flavor, honey, butter, salt, and cinnamon. Let cool to lukewarm.

Add the yeast and flours, stirring to form a rough dough. Knead (about 10 minutes by hand, 5 to 7 minutes by machine) until the dough is smooth and satiny. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover the bowl with a lightly greased plastic wrap and let the dough rise for 1 hour; it should double in bulk.

Divide the dough in half and shape each half into a loaf. Place the loaves in 2 greased 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch bread pans. Sprinkle with oats if desired. Cover the pans with lightly greased plastic wrap (or a proof cover) and allow the loaves to rise until they’ve crowned about 1 inch over the rim of the pan, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350F. Bake the loaves for 35 to 40 minutes. Remove them from the oven when they’re golden brown and the interior registers 190F on an instant-read thermometer.