Whole-Wheat Maple-Walnut Oatmeal Bread, aka Delicious Bread

It's cold today! It's been in the single digits all day. I didn't ride with Pedal to Possibilities today because of the cold--I need better gloves and socks. But I do need to go grocery shopping. So I've been shoveling my walk and driveway and cleaning the snow off of my car bit-by-bit. I can only take about 10 minutes and then my fingers start freezing.

I just walked back in the house, greeted by the scent of baking bread! Maple-Walnut Oatmeal Bread, made with white whole-wheat flour. It smells very promising!

As soon as the bread came out of the oven, I had to run some errands. When I returned, it was completely cool--and ready to try!

There is a reason maple and walnut are paired together so often That pairing works quite deliciously here!

The recipe is the same as Maple Oatmeal Bread, except, like Whole Wheat Maple Oatmeal Bread, the flour is freshly-ground white wheat. And, of course, it contains walnuts.

Maple Oatmeal Bread--Updated

Update 1/12/ 2013: While this bread was delicious, I didn't find it amazing. But after getting some requests for me to bake it, I baked and tasted it again--after it was completely cooled. Then I could really taste the sweetness and the flavor of the maple syrup--and it was amazing!

I was attracted to this oatmeal bread recipe because of the maple syrup in it. Besides it being delicious, I live in maple syrup country. So it's always nice to be able to use it in my baking, as well as on my pancakes and waffles.

Maple Oatmeal Bread

2 1/2 cups boiling water
1 cup rolled oats
1 package (2¼ tsp.) dry yeast
3/4 cup maple syrup
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon oil
5 cups flour

Put the oats into a bowl. Pour the boiling water over the oats and set aside for an hour.
Mix the yeast, syrup, salt, and oil into the oats. Mix in 3 cups of the flour. Cover the bowl and let rise for an hour.
Add more flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough is the correct consistency. Knead for 10 minutes. Cut the dough into two pieces, then shape it into loaves and place in greased loaf pans. Cover and let rise another 45 minutes.
Bake at 350 for 40 - 50 minutes.

I changed the recipe a little. Since it didn't specify the type of flour, I presumed all-purpose flour. After kneading the dough, I put it in an oiled bowl, covered it, and let it raise until almost double. Then I formed the loaves. It just didn't "feel" right to not let it raise after kneading and before forming the loaves. Sometime I'll try it that way and see what the difference is.

I didn't have time to make a whole wheat version of this today, so I want to try that really soon.

Right now it is baking. I can smell the maple syrup!

And here is the baked bread! Now I have to wait for it to cool enough that I can slice it and taste it.

The crust is surprisingly, well, crusty. Like this might work well baked on a baking sheet and steaming it for the first few minutes in the oven to create an even crunchier crust. The bread is moist, dense, and coarse. You can really taste the sweetness of the maple syrup. All in all, it's delicious!

January is National Oatmeal Month!

I have no idea how or when this came about, but, if you're going to have National Oatmeal Month, I think January is a good time for it. Oatmeal is hearty and healthy--good qualities for winter and January resolutions.

I've never baked oatmeal bread before, so I think this is a good way to observe NOM.

Right now I can smell the fruits of my first effort. The bread in the oven smells like oatmeal cookie goodness.

Now out of the oven, here's what the bread looks like:

I am trying to wait for it to cool a bit before tasting it.

This recipe is from a bread book that my friends Velma and Len Dippold gave me. The recipes in Uncle John's Original Bread Book were collected by John Braue's family for generations. His father was a master bread baker in Hamburg before coming to this country in the late nineteenth century. It's been a long time since I've had a recipe book this fun to read!

The recipe is called Grossmutter's Golden-Sunrise Wheat or Oatmeal Brot. Obviously, I'm going with the oatmeal option.

I love my new book holder!

I sliced the bread:

It's slightly coarse, chewy, and, with just a hint of oatmeal, more flavorful than white bread. Delicious!

I also baked a whole wheat version. It smelled just as oatmeal-heavenly while baking.

I sliced it:

It's also slightly coarse, chewy, and, with just a hint of oatmeal, has a more complex flavor than regular whole wheat bread. Delicious!

Here's the recipe with my tweaks, because I don't use shortening in bread, I use instant dry yeast, I have dry milk (and water!) but not fresh milk, I'm using loaf pans instead of making round loaves, I know my oven, and I'm just interested in the oatmeal option:

Grossmutter's Golden-Sunrise Oatmeal Brot

Mix together:
2 1/4 C warm water
1/4 C honey
2 T canola oil

Mix together and beat into above mixture until smooth:
2 C (8.5 oz.) all-purpose flour*
1 1/2 T instant dry yeast
1 T salt
2/3 C instant nonfat dry milk

Add:
2 C (6.25 oz.) quick-cooking rolled oats

Add and stir well:
2 C (8.5) C all-purpose flour* [According to the recipe, you shouldn't need the full amount, but that was not my experience.]

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead, adding flour as needed, until elastically smooth. Then return to oiled bowl, turning the dough to oil all surfaces; cover.

Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size. Punch down and form into loaves. Let rise about 45 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees for about 35-40 minutes.

*Or use whole wheat flour (from hard red wheat)

I Love the Smell of Baking Bread

I think I'm addicted to the smell of baking bread. This is what's in my oven right now:

I'm not even sure what I'm going to do with this bread. I'm baking it to practice making sourdough whole-wheat bread. Much as I'd love to, I can't eat all of this bread. So most of it will go in the freezer. Let me know if you would like to try some! My first batch came out great. This batch looks and smells even better.

I love having my house smell like bread--or rolls--and I like tasting it and having a limited amount for daily use. What I need is to have someone come by when I bake and whisk away all the rest of the bread. And I can still savor the lingering smell of baking bread.