{Yummy} Recipe: Maple Oatmeal Bread

Three posts, three days in a row, all about oatmeal?!  Has this chick gone Quak-o?

Quak-o… Quaker… get it?

At the risk of sounding like I’m flying by the seat of my pants these days (which I’ll just go ahead and admit that I am), writing about oatmeal for three days straight was totally not planned.

I mean, if I had planned to write about the same thing for three days in a row, you’d think I would have picked a more exciting topic than oatmeal, right?

Somewhere in the midst of starting my first year of homeschool, restraining myself from finishing the bag of Stacy’s pita chips [gotta eat from the pantry, right? ] and digging myself out of mounds (MOUNDS) of laundry, I chose the most relevant picture I could for the amazing health benefits of oatmeal post earlier this week.  (Haven’t read it yet?  Check it out here – turns out oats are a super food!  No joke!)

And then two days later it hits me that I hadn’t shared the recipe for the Maple Oatmeal Bread yet.  Duh!

If the beer bread recipe didn’t have you whip up a batch of cinnamon butter, this one surely will.  It’s a moist, dense loaf with just a hint of sweet at the end.  It would make an amazing loaf for breakfast toast or for anytime snacking.  Mr. Crumbs preferred other loaves for sandwiches, but said this would be great as dinner rolls.  No mater when or how it’s eaten, it’s an easy way to sneak in more of that awesome fiber and protein!

Maple Oatmeal Bread

1 1/2 cups water
1 cup oats (steel-cut or rolled)
1 tablespoon butter
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (105°-110°)
1/3 cup maple syrup (room temperature)
1/2 cup water (room temperature)
3 3/4 – 4 cups all-purpose flour

Combine the first four ingredients in a sauce pan and cook, stirring often, until the oatmeal is soft, smooth and thick.  Let cool, stirring occasionally, until the oatmeal is no warmer than 115°.

In a large mixing bowl (or mixer), combine yeast and warm water.  Let sit until the yeast has proofed and creates beer-like foam (5 to 10 minutes).  Add the oatmeal mixture to the yeast, along with the room-temperature water and maple syrup.  Stir or mix until it is well combined.  Gradually add flour and knead on low to medium speed until the dough is smooth and elastic.  Transfer to an oiled bowl, turn over once to coat, cover with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm place to rise until it’s doubled in volume, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Spray two loaf pans (or a cookie sheet or cupcake tins for rolls) with cooking spray and divide the dough in half.  On a very lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a ball and loosely cover with plastic wrap.  Let sit for 30 minutes.  Form into two loaves (or several rounds for rolls) and place seam side down into pans.  Cover again with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until doubled in volume.

Preheat the oven to 375° and score each loaf with a thin blade or sharp knife before baking (basically make 3-4 small, shallow cuts in each loaf).  Bake until the bottom sounds hollow when tapped, about 40-45 minutes.  Let cool for 30 minutes before serving.  Yields two loaves.

Note:  It’s tempting to skip the scoring part – DON’T.  The one time I skipped that step the loaf didn’t rise while baking and I had two hard bricks to account for my efforts.  Take the plunge and score the bread.

A couple other variations could include using honey or molasses instead of maple syrup, or using bread flour instead of all-purpose.  This bread would be a really easy way to get even the super-picky oatmeal haters to eat their grains.  Having a side of butter and jam wouldn’t hurt help either.