This sun-kissed Maple Oatmeal Bread is so light and fluffy, you might have to fight an urge to cuddle it when it comes out of the oven. Or to gobble it all down in one sitting.
I made this bread this past weekend and of all the breads I've shared with you on Holy Cow! this has to be one of my favorites. It's part-whole-wheat, which makes it healthy, and it's a fairly dense sandwich-type bread which makes it easy to slice and then slather that peanut butter on (and you can hold the jelly). If you have kids, they will love this one.
Before I dive into the recipe, I want to talk a little bit about the messages you send me. I love getting them and they almost always put a smile on my face. When you have a question I am more than happy to answer it. But please bear in mind that if you send me an email with an urgent question when you are smack-dab in the midst of making a recipe, there is a good chance that I may not see your email and answer it before it's too late for you and for the recipe.
I wanted to bring this up because over the years I've often opened my inbox in the mornings or late at night and found these urgent messages waiting for me. But here's the thing: I am not glued to my email and the blog all day. I have a career and a family and this blog is strictly a hobby that I try and make time for in my busy day. As much as I'd love to help you out I may not be able to in time.
That said, here are a few simple things to keep in mind when trying out any new recipe:
1. Always adjust the spice to your taste. What may be near-bland to an Indian palate could be super-hot for someone not used to eating chillies in every meal. So if, for instance, a recipe calls for four red chillies, and you are someone who isn't used to spice, cut it down to one or two.
2. If you are a new baker, don't tweak a recipe before you've mastered it. Yes, I understand you are an independent soul who would like to put your mark on everything you cook up, but if you want that bread or cake to end up at the dinner table and not in the trash do try and follow a recipe thoroughly. Once you are a seasoned baker, you can definitely do all the tweaking you want-- and that day will come, believe me.
3. If you adjust proportions, make sure you adjust all of them. Don't for instance, halve the amount of bread flour and forget to halve the amount of water or soymilk or yeast. Get the idea?
4. Measure ingredients while cooking, especially if you are a new cook. Yes, Rachel Ray looks enviably confident eyeballing a tablespoon of EVOO straight from the bottle into the pan but some of us who are still learning all this cooking stuff need those measuring spoons and cups. This is especially true when you're dealing with spices because trust me, one teaspoon of turmeric in your curry instead of half would not be a good thing.
5. Taste the recipe as you go. This is a great rule of thumb for any cook. Tasting your food at different stages gives you an understanding of what the various ingredients contribute, and how textures and flavors change as they cook. Over time, you will master the alchemy of throwing ingredients together to create a whole new dish.
Then there are times when you might just want to use good old commonsense. Like if you baked up a bread and realized you had forgotten to remove the plastic wrap covering the loaf before you put it in the oven, there really is no way you can save it. Even if you spent a whole day making it, and it breaks your heart.
If you were wondering, yes, I really did get that question.
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Ingredients
- 2 ½ tsp active dry yeast mixed with ½ cup warm water and set aside for five minutes.
- 2 cups whole-wheat durum flour (can substitute regular whole-wheat flour)
- 2 cups bread flour
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
- ½ cup turbinado or brown sugar
- ¼ cup canola oil or other vegetable oil
- 1 ½ cups hot water
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp salt
Instructions
- Mix the oats, maple syrup, sugar, oil, cinnamon, salt and water in a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer and let it sit for about 10 minutes or until it's lukewarm
- Add the yeast and water mixture and the flour and knead into a smooth dough by hand for about 10 minutes, or 7 minutes in the stand mixer. If the dough is too loose, add a little more flour.
- Place the dough in a large, oiled bowl, turning over once to coat the top with oil. Cover the top of the bowl with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm spot for about an hour to 90 minutes or until the dough has doubled.
- Divide the dough into two and shape each half into an oval, tucking the seams underneath. Place each half in greased, standard-sized loaf pans (around 9 X 5 inches, although a slight variation in sizes doesn't really matter).
- Cover loosely with a kitchen napkin or oiled plastic wrap and let the loaves rise for 90 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 360 degrees about half an hour before baking. Place the loaves in the oven and bake for 33 minutes until the tops are golden-brown.
- Remove to a rack, cool for 15 minutes, then unmold the breads. If they stick a bit, run a knife along the sides of the loaf to dislodge it from the pan.
- Cool thoroughly before slicing.
(C) All recipes and photographs copyright of Holy Cow! Vegan Recipes.
When you state hot water, what is the temperature you have in mind? Thank you.
I made this bread and it tastes so amazing! I am still inexperienced with making bread though, and this one didn't rise as high as your images. I punched it down before the second rise -- should I not have done that? I am just trying to figure out how to make my bread taller so it's more suitable for sandwiches. Should I have let it rise more? I did 90 minutes for both rises. Either way, I love this recipe and it is sooo delicious!
Any suggestions for upper altitudes? I'm at 6000 ft and while super-tasty, it never rises as much as I'd like.
Could you use just oat flower instead of whole wheat or would it be too big of a change to the recipe???
Hi Nadia, it would, because you need some gluten to bind the bread and oat flour has none. If you are trying to make this gluten-free, use an all-purpose gluten-free flour instead.
Anon, yes, two rises.
Are you supposed to let them rise twice? Once in a bowl and then again in the loaf pans?
Brilliant!! Absolutely delicious. This is my first time making bread. I followed your recipe to the letter and the two loaves came out fabulous. My husband loved them, too. He is not vegan [neither am I], and he used to be a professional bread baker. The recipe and instructions were very thorough and easy for a novice to follow. Thank you so much! I'll definitely be trying more of you recipes.
The color of the loaf is just so lovely as much as how it was made! This recipe would surely make it to my healthy food list! 🙂
What a gorgeous loaf! U are one amazing and daring baker! I have not gone beyond the usual everyday loaf:)
Bread looks prefect and excellent, simply loving the ingredients you went for.;
Just wanted to double-check that the correct temperature is 360--not 350? It's kind of a strange temp! 😉
Looks great--will have to try.
Stacey, yes, it is 360 degrees. You can bake at 350 degrees-- add 5-10 more minutes to the baking time.
Wow...looks superb....simply yum....love the ingredients used in making of this cake...love the color too...
perfectly baked
I was going to ask you about the plastic wrap:))
I use towels and i think i forgot one inside once, and my pom alerted me to the burning smell, so everything including the towel was saved. some days the eating sleeping pooping, making a ruckus for nothing, fluffball makes himself useful:)
That is a gorgeous loaf!
Chewie's so adorable. Funny about the towel. 🙂