There was a brief period of time before I moved out that I really wanted to make bread-- so I pulled out my yeast (that sounds odd) and my loaf pan and decided to give it a go with Closet Cooking's Maple Oat Bread recipe. The only unfortunate part about this is-- well, I don't use bread fast enough. It takes me forever to go through a loaf of store bought bread, and this bread was quite a bit heavier for me. Needless to say, it went stale before I could finish it-- my bad, nobody elses.
I mainly used this bread for PBJs, to spread with butter and consume, or to spread with peanut butter and honey, such as above. Each slice was thick-- slightly dry, which may be my own fault. There was a sweetness to it, but not too sweet. I tried to make the loaf as healthy as possible-- that's always been a goal of mine. But it wasn't a difficult bread to make. I may not have let it rise long enough-- I tend to get impatient, it's what makes me a bad bread maker. I try to patiently wait for each loaf to rise, but in the end I just want to eat it (I also think we may have been squeezed on time, this was back in the Jeff days too).
But it was totally worth it. I had thought of a lot of delicious things to make with it, and thinking back I should've used the stale bread to make bread pudding. I love bread pudding, but Jeff didn't like it. Maybe I can convince someone else to like it with me.... :)Sorry my life has been so hectic and the posts have been slow. If I get a job again, and if I get my own apartment again, Foodival is going to have so many posts it won't even be funny. Meanwhile I'm totally content to cook for Brian and the girls I've moved in with.
Oh, I haven't introduced Brian yet.
Well, that's for next post.... teehee.
Maple Oat BreadRecipe from Closet Cooking
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons hot water
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup butter (melted)
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
Mix the hot water, oats, maple syrup, butter, salt and cinnamon in a bowl. Add the flours and yeast and stir to form a dough. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes until elasticy. Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover and let it rise to double its size, about 60-90 minutes.
Deflate the dough and form it into an 8 inch long log. Place the dough into a greased loaf pan, cover and let it rise over the edge, about 60-90 minutes.
Bake in a preheated 350F for 35-40 minutes. Cover in foil after the first 15 minutes to prevent burning. Let cool for 5 minutes and remove from pan.
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