Recipe(tried): Honey Oatmeal Gift Bread - June, a tip and a recipe...

June, I use a chopstick to wrestle the paddle out of the bottom of my bread loaf. It works well for me. I use a Krups electric slicer, a friend had one and it worked so well on the odd shaped loaf (my machine makes a tall, dome-like loaf) that I splurged and ran out and bought one. It works well on homemade or store-bought bread is one of my favorite small appliances. Here's a great recipe for a very yummy bread. You can let the loaf bake in the machine, or using the dough cycle, finish it in the oven.

HONEY OATMEAL GIFT BREAD
Makes a 1 1/2 lb. loaf

I call this Gift Bread because I make it so often to give away, it's very easy and looks so cozy and homemade with it's sprinkling of oats on top. It's always welcomed with oohhs and ahhhs.

2 1/2 teaspoons dry granulated yeast
2 cups bread flour
1 cup oatmeal (I use old-fashioned)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup honey
1 Tablespoon vegetable or canola oil
1 cup water

Place ingredients into bread machine according to your bread machine's instructions. Process either on regular or dough cycle. If processing on regular cycle, sprinkle top of bread with a small amount of oats during the second rising.

If using dough cycle, when cycle is done, remove dough from machine, place in a greased loaf pan, let rise approximately 30-44 minutes in a warm place until doubled. Sprinkle top of loaf with a small amount of oats, then bake in an oven preheated to 374 for 35 to 45 minutes until golden brown.