This week's Tuesdays with Dorie was chosen by Natalie of Oven Love: oatmeal breakfast bread. I checked the P&Q's on the TWD site before I baked this one to see if there were any good tips, and I was excited to see lots of early raves for the bread. The recipe was full of promising ingredients - applesauce, dried fruit (I used apples), lots of great spices - including cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves, and oats. Plus, it called for a sweet, crunchy topping - comprised of brown sugar, pecans (which I omitted) and cinnamon - and everyone knows a topping like that almost guarantees a delicious result! I was on a baking roll this past weekend and after having already made granola and cupcakes, I decided to get this bread out of the way too. It's so easy it can be started at 11 pm and it'll be in the oven by 11:15 - which may or may not be exactly what I did. Of course, I didn't factor in the 60+ minutes of baking time as well as the cooling time so you probably don't want to start this bread at 11 pm unless you're a real night owl :)
Dorie mentions that this bread is a good keeper, which was perfect in my case, as I didn't get around to cutting into it and trying a slice until this morning. The crunchy topping on my bread was a bit of a mess, scattering all over the counter and the floor the minute I put my knife near the loaf. Messy or not, it was definitely the most delicious part of the bread. Otherwise, this one was just ok for me. I can't put my finger on exactly what I didn't love though I think it may have been the texture. My bread was really dense and almost too moist despite definitely having been fully cooked. In general I'm not a huge fan of quick breads so I wonder if subconsciously that played a role too. With so many of the other TWD bakers raving about this recipe, I may try it again in muffin form and see if I have better results.
Thanks to Natalie for hosting this week! You can find the recipe on her blog or on page 44 of Baking: From My Home to Yours.
