Whole-Grain Maple Oat Bread

By Addie

Whole wheat and oats are the featured whole grains in this soft, high-rising sandwich loaf.

Ingredients

• 1 cup + 2 tablespoons lukewarm water
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, diced
• 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats, ground for 30 seconds in a blender or food processor
• 3/4 cup King Arthur Premium Whole Wheat Flour
• 2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 3 tablespoons maple sugar or brown sugar
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon maple flavor, to taste (optional)
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Preparation

Step 1

1) Combine all the dough ingredients, and mix and knead them — by hand, mixer, or bread machine — until you have a soft, smooth dough.

2) Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl or 8-cup measure (the measure lets you track the dough's progress as it rises), and let it rise until nearly doubled in bulk, 1 to 2 hours.

3) Lightly grease a 9" x 5" loaf pan.

4) Gently deflate the dough, and shape it into a 9" log. Place it in the prepared pan. Cover the pan and let the bread rise until it crowns about 1 ½" over the rim of the pan, 1 ½ to 2 ½ hours.

5) Preheat the oven to 350°F.

6) Uncover the bread, and bake it for 40 to 45 minutes, tenting it with foil after 15 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center will register 190°F when the loaf is done. Remove the bread from the oven, and after about a minute turn out onto a rack to cool. Yield: one 9" x 5" loaf.
............................

TIPS FROM OUR BAKERS:

For a glossy, sweet crust, mix 2 teaspoons melted butter and 1 tablespoon maple syrup, and brush onto the hot baked bread.

........................

REVIEWS:

This bread was so good and easy! I made it all in my bread machine, with minor changes (didn't have brown sugar so I substituted regular sugar and halved the butter and replaced with apple sauce). Still came out moist! I didn't have the maple flavoring but still got the hint of flavor without it. Also, used half walnuts and half pecans and did not grind the oats (too much trouble!).

This bread is awesome...made it yesterday and the family loved it. So I'm making it again today! The directions were easy to follow and the smell permeates the house! I added about a 1/4 cup of roasted sunflower seeds! We like crunchy bread.

I bake 3 - 4 loaves of bread per week. I am always looking for new healthy whole grain recipes - this one is a keeper. The liquid/flour ratio in this recipe kneaded perfectly in my bread machine - no need to add additional liquid or flour if you are using KA flours and weighing the ingredients. My family is not crazy about walnuts so I reduced the nuts to 2 ounces(versus 4 oz called for), it still had plenty of walnut flavor. This makes excellent toast with jam or cinnamon, a perfect starter for any day. Saw the recipe initially in a recent KA catalog but as a result I have decided to purchase the KA Baking with Whole Grains cookbook.

This bread has great maple flavor and texture. I made this bread twice without using the Maple Flavor called for in the recipe, and I was struggling to taste any maple at all. This time I used 1/2 tsp KAF Maple Flavor and it made a huge difference. Also, I left my oats whole and it turned out perfectly. This bread is very easy to make and has earned a permanent home in my recipe book.

I ALMOST made this as is -- only didn't grind the outs, instead subbed quick oats, and left out the nuts, as my DH doesn't like them. I tried this recipe so I could find a way to use up the quick oats my DH bought at the store by mistake. I usually buy the old-fashioned kind. I only had Grade A maple syrup so I used what I had, I think Grade B would have been more pronounced. Didn't have maple sugar either (plan to order from the website), so I subbed Brown Sugar + 1/4 tsp. maple flavor. The Bread had a great texture and was extremely moist. I think if I make again, with the better maple ingredients, it would rank 5 stars, not the 4 I gave it with my subs. I can see this would be a great base for Maple French Toast.

I too experienced a dry loaf. Not at all what was expected. Had a floury taste, crumbled, and not really tasty. Believe the recipe needs a make-over! (REPLY: The recipe is correct as written. You may have too much flour in your dough, or your gluten may have been under-developed.)

I was delighted with the texture of the bread and subtlety of the maple flavor. It was just perfect. Reminiscent of my vacation in Stowe, where I learned that maple is more than just syrup. Thanks!

Made this bread twice. The first time it was so dry that it barely held together. I kneaded it by hand and added more liquid in order to make it into a loaf, THEN it never rose. So the second time I mixed it in my bread machine and let it rise the first time in the machine before transferring it to the pan where it never rose again! I'm so disappointed because I've never had problems with your recipes before!!

I mixed in my bread machine, but baked in oven. This was so delicious. My 7 year old thanked me numerous times this evening for having made it! The only change I made was that I used 3/4 c. walnuts instead of a cup because we ran out. Awesome recipe! Thanks!

I made this bread in my machine for a 2 lb loaf. bread fell, i think i ground my oatmeal too much (it was fine) and the dough was dry and not blending, i had to add 1/2 c water to it before it started to blend. no maple flavoring to it, although i paid $10 for a bottle of maple sugar. couldn't find any maple flavoring in my store, will have to order it. bread tastes good, excellent toast! will try again...why did my bread fall?

OK! The third time was the charm. The very helpful person on the KAF hotline thought I might have been grinding the oatmeal too fine, so that it soaked up too much of the liquid and produced a too-dry, crumbly loaf. I ground the oatmeal for a shorter time--so that it wasn't like flour but still had some nubbliness--and the dough turned out much moister and smoother. The loaf is nicely rounded on top-looks just like the picture. I'm just waiting for it to cool so I can have a slice.

Fantastic flavor and texture! I used Grade 'B' syrup, maple sugar and 1/4 tsp maple flavor and the aroma almost made me swoon. I substituted white whole wheat flour and canola oil for the butter to make it dairy-free. In my cool kitchen, first rise was long, over 2 hours but the second rise was shorter. Next time I'll chop the walnuts more finely but this one is definitely a keeper!

I've made this recipe twice now and I love the flavor and aroma, and it makes great toast. But it didn't seem to want nearly the amount of flour the recipe calls for--the first time, the dough was quite stiff and dry and I added water--and I wouldn't call it particularly soft or high-rising. Also, I had trouble slicing it without crumbling the top. Am I doing something wrong?

Fabulous bread!....used oat flour instead of grinding oats (just lazy), but otherwise, followed the recipe...reduced the nuts to half the amount called for....when i was shaping the dough i had a brainstorm and decide to shape 2 sharing loaves, and made cinnamon bread with one of them - gilding the lily, i know, but we love, love, love cinnamon anything....did a quick egg wash and sprinkled on the cinnamon mix....the original recipe bread is delicious....the cinnamon half?....amazing, scrumptious,lucious - pick your description!...another winner, KAF!....thanks!

Delicious. I didn't notice the part about grinding the oats in the food processor so I just added them whole. It still turned out great. It does take as much time to rise as the recipe suggests. The butter and syrup brushed onto the top really adds to the flavor. This is a keeper.

I've just tasted this and it's delicious. Soft, with great flavor. I used 1 tsp maple flavor, and had to sub light brown sugar for the maple sugar. I also used white whole wheat flour instead of regular whole wheat. Every kind of bread smells good while in the oven, but the scent of this one baking will draw the whole neighborhood to your house.

I made this recipe in my breadmaker on the 1 1/2 lb setting. It worked perfectly. I used brown sugar because I didn't have maple. I did not brush the top with the butter and maple syrup but next time I will try that. The bread needed just a hint more sweetness or maple flavor. I used 1/2 tsp. of the maple flavoring. It made great toast the next day.

Excellent flavor and texture!!! Had to wait a little longer for the optimal rise over the pan's top but worth the wait! Great with honey butter.

This bread was delicious! I used a store brand all purpose flour (bleached... ugh) because I was out of the King Arthur unbleached all purpose. My only other modification was to add a little gluten, just in case. It was truly high-rising as the recipe claims. the bread was not as sweet as I expected, which was nice. I enjoyed it with some homemade jam for breakfast the next day and it wasn't a bit stale. I think next time I will add a little more maple flavoring, because the maple wasn't as pronounced as I would like. still, a five-star recipe for sure!