Maple Oat Bread

This past Shabbat we had our annual Shabbaton in the Old City of Jerusalem. We stayed in the adorably quaint place and although it was blustery and rainy, we still had a nice time. I tend to like having these "together" weekends because there's little to do to get ready, leaving lots of time to bake if I so desire. So was the case this weekend when I decided to bake a loaf of bread. The bread of choice was a Maple Oat Bread from KAF's Whole Grain Baking. I made the dough the night before and shaped it the next morning. I let it rise in an oven with the light bulb on while my roommate and I went to the shuk to go pick up candy for the weekend. Waiting for me upon my return was a nicely risen loaf and a weepy student who needed me to clean her head from lice. I know, not a pretty thought when we're discussing food. (Just so you know, her head was totally clean. Although I found nothing, she double checked yesterday and thankfully, the checker found nothing. All I can say is, the life of a madricha is never dull.) Anyway, I had shaped the loaf into three touching rolls in a loaf pan because I figured it would be an easy way to separate them, considering I would not have access to a knife to slice it with. So how did it come out? I can tell you straight away that because of my time constraints I didnt bake it quite as long as I should have. The loaf didnt suffer, it was just nice and soft and chewy. The dough itself was quite fragrant, heady with maple. The baked loaf also tasted nicely of maple although next time I would reduce the amount of maple extract because using too much leaves an unpleasant aftertaste. I used half margarine and half oil and omitted the nuts from the loaf because I was out of them but all in all this was a really delicious loaf of bread, quite a special Shabbat treat. Sending this to Yeastspotting!

Maple Oat Bread
adapted from KAF Whole Grain Baking

1 cup plus 2 tbsp water
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp softened margarine
2 tbsp oil
3 tbsp brown sugar
1 1/2 cups oat flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp maple flavor
1 1/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp yeast

Place all of the ingredients in a large bowl.

Using your hands, mix to form a shaggy dough. Turn the dough out and knead until a smooth dough is formed.

Set the smooth dough into a greased bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Here is my risen loaf.

Shape as desired and place into a greased 9x5 inch loaf pan.

Allow to proof for 1 1/2-2 hours until risen to the top of the loaf. Towards the end of proofing, preheat the oven to 350.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center registers 190. Remove from the pan and cool on a wire rack. Enjoy with cream cheese, jam, or all by its lonesome!