Vermont Maple Oatmeal Bread

Sometimes when I have a ingredient in the kitchen that needs to be used (before the expiration date, for example), I will look up a recipe with that specific ingredient. I'm sure I am not the only one who does this. This time I had about a 1/4 bottle of maple syrup in the fridge, so I decided to use that in my next baking project. I was in the mood for bread, and luckily had some time on my hands, so the rising of the dough wasn't a problem. This recipe looked really delicious, you can't go wrong with oatmeal and maple together. I didn't have any maple sugar, so I just left that out. The bread turned out really fabulous. It had just the right amount of maple flavor, and the cinnamon was a great touch. The bread has already been eaten up! 


Vermont Maple Oatmeal Bread Recipe:
kingarthurflour.com

Dough

• 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons hot water
• 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/4 cup real maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon maple flavor
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3/4 cup Whole Wheat Flour
• 2 cups All-Purpose Flour
• 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast

Topping

• water, to brush on crust
• 2 to 3 teaspoons maple sugar, for sprinkling

Dough

• 7 ounces hot water
• 1 3/4 ounces old-fashioned rolled oats
• 2 3/4 ounces real maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon maple flavor
• 2 ounces butter
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3 ounces King Arthur 100% White Whole Wheat Flour
• 8 1/2 ounces King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast

Topping

• water, to brush on crust
• 2 to 3 teaspoons maple sugar, for sprinkling

Directions

1) In a large mixing bowl, combine the water, oats, maple syrup, maple flavor, butter, salt, and cinnamon. Let cool to lukewarm; this will happen naturally as you stir.

2) Add the flours and yeast, stirring to form a rough dough. Knead (about 10 minutes by hand, 7 minutes by machine, or on the dough cycle in the bread machine), enough to make a nicely springy dough.

3) Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl or large (8-cup) measuring cup, cover the bowl or cup with plastic wrap, and allow the dough to rise for 60 to 90 minutes. It should become very puffy, and just about double in bulk.

4) Gently deflate the dough, and shape it into an 8" log. Place it in a lightly greased 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pan. Cover the pan, and set the loaf aside to rise till it's crowned about 1" over the rim of the pan, about 60 to 90 minutes. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350°F.

5) Gently brush the top of the risen loaf with water, and sprinkle with maple sugar.

6) Bake the bread for 35 to 40 minutes, tenting with foil after about 15 minutes to prevent over-browning. The interior of the fully baked loaf should read 190°F on an instant-read thermometer.

7) Remove the bread from the oven, and after 5 minutes turn it out of the pan onto a rack to cool. Allow it to cool fully before slicing.