SEE ALL OUR QUICKBREADS, MUFFINS, AND SCONES!
If you scroll just a little bit back in our archives, you’ll see that between the two of us, we’ve been taking an awful lot of inspiration from Heidi of 101 Cookbooks.
I’m not going to make any generalizations about why, beyond to say that Heidi’s cooking is original and, well, inspiring. Any explanation of the phenomenon would distract me from showing you why this bread, which I call Oatmeal Quickbread with Walnuts and Heidi names “Easy Little Bread,” is so great.
First, it is really a quick bread. Though it is yeasted, it doesn’t have one of those all-night rises or anything. You simply mix the dough together, let it rise for about half an hour while you slowly sip your coffee, then bake it. I’m not saying this is sourdough, but it does have more personality than many quickbreads.
Second, it’s not sweet, at least not until you smother it with jam. Most breakfast breads, even the not-crazy-sweet Wake-Up Cocoa Quickbread, contain at least a half cup of sugar. I like my sweets at night for the most part (the exception is Olive Oil-Maple Granola), not in the morning. So see you at 8pm, Banana-Chocolate Chip Bread. Crusty, whole-grain quickbreads are for the AM.
Last, the bread seems to relish the addition or grains and nuts. I used oatmeal, as directed, and I subbed in kamut flour for the whole wheat flour (you can sub whole wheat right back in). Kamut is an older form of wheat. Its flour is fine, rich, and nutty. I added actual nuts-walnuts-to enrichen the flavor further: in my opinion, a handful of walnuts makes anything better. This was no exception.
I spread the bread thick with butter and a little raspberry jam. I turned leftovers into rich little croutons, which I threw on top of a salad that I’ll be writing about here in the next few weeks.
From my kitchen, albeit small, to yours,
Cara, THE QUARTER-LIFE COOK
**Recipe**
Yeasted Oatmeal Quickbread with Walnuts
Makes 1 loaf
Adapted from 101Cookbooks
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups warm water (about 105-115°F-it should feel warm to your wrist but not hot)
2 teaspoons active dry yeast (one packet)
1 tablespoon honey
1 1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup kamut flour
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons neutral oil (or walnut oil if you have any)
In a medium bowl, sprinkle the yeast onto the warm water and stir until the yeast dissolves. Stir in the honey and set aside for a few minutes, until the yeast bubbles and gets foamy, about 7-10 minutes.
In the meantime, mix the flours, oats, walnuts, and salt in a large bowl.
Add the wet mixture to the dry and stir very well.
Oil a loaf pan generously. Scrape the dough into the pan and spread it more or less to the edges. Cover with a clean, slightly damp cloth, and set in a warm place for 30 minutes, to rise. I like to inspect my kitchen, looking for the warmest place-don’t try to get your bread to rise if you’ve got a draft! Find a cozy corner, perhaps near the radiator, instead.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. When ready, bake the bread for 35-40 minutes, until the top is golden and the edges pull away from the pan. Remove from oven, and lift the bread out of the pan onto a cooling rack immediately. Let it cool slightly. Serve warm, with butter, jam, and slices of Swiss or cheddar.
