Apple-Oat Bread

star rating (6) rate this recipe »
Recipe photo

Apple-Oat Bread

star rating (6) rate this recipe »
Published prior to 2008

This lusty loaf is chewy and richly flavored, the apples adding a delightful sweet note.

1/2 cup (2 7/8 ounces) steel-cut oats (Irish oatmeal)
1 3/4 cups (14 ounces) boiling water
1/4 cup (2 ounces) boiled cider or frozen apple juice concentrate, divided
1 cup (3 ounces) apple nuggets (dried apples)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 3/4 cups (7 ounces) King Arthur whole wheat flour, Traditional or White Whole Wheat
1 3/4 cups (7 3/8 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/4 cup Baker's Special Dry Milk or nonfat dry milk
2 tablespoons King Arthur Whole-Grain Bread Improver or vital wheat gluten
1 cup (3 3/4 ounces) chopped, toasted walnuts or pecans

Combine the boiling water and steel-cut oats, and set aside to cool to lukewarm. Add 2 tablespoons boiled cider to the oat mixture. Combine the remaining 2 tablespoons boiled cider with the apple pieces, cover, and microwave for 1 to 2 minutes; this will help the apples absorb the cider. Set the apples aside.

Add the remaining ingredients to the oat mixture, and stir and knead to make a soft, slightly sticky dough. Knead in the toasted nuts. Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise for about 2 hours.

Flatten the dough into an oval on a lightly greased or floured work surface. Spread with the apples, and roll and shape into a log, a round, or an oval, depending on your pan: our stoneware bakers are both a good choice. Place into the baker, or onto a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover the loaf and let it rise for 1 hour, or until it looks puffy.

Bake according to stoneware baker directions; if you're using a baking sheet, bake at 375°F for 45 to 50 minutes, until the bread is deep brown and its interior measures about 195°F on an instant-read thermometer. Remove from the oven, and cool completely before cutting. Yield: 1 large loaf.

Reviews

1
  • star rating 01/10/2012
  • HMB from KAF Community
  • OMG is this bread good! It reminds me of the hearty breads you get in Germany and Switzerland. It is just perfect for snack time or breakfast kissed with butter, or gild the lily and add a smear of quince jelly. I did not use a stoneware baker, just formed a log and baked on a parchment-lined pan. I used the dried fuji apples from the Prepared Pantry because they are diced very small and are quite moist -- they formed a beautiful spiral in my loaf. I used toasted pecans and they were excellent in this bread. I look forward to trying this recipe again with walnuts or hazelnuts. I did not use boiled cider, but frozen apple-juice concentrate. Bread is still delicious and moist the next day. YUM YUM YUM!!!
  • star rating 12/12/2010
  • Marc Kenton from KAF Community
  • I just wanted to note that I did try baking the bread using regular apple cider in place of the water, and then omitting the boiled cider syrup...this seemed to work fine! The taste and texture were as good as the original. The only problem I'm having is that the crust is burning (rather severely, on the bottom). I'm baking the loaf in a preheated stoneware baker at 450 degrees (that's what the instructions say to do). After putting the loaf in the baker (covered), I lower the temperature to 425. Within 30 minutes, the crust burns. Should I bake it at a lower temperature? Should the stoneware baker be preheated?
    I'm sorry to hear of your difficulty. No. This recipe: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/apple-oat-bread-recipe Does not call for the dough to go into a pre-heated vessel. I suggest using the cold start method described in the recipe. Please give our bakers on the hot line a call if you need further assistance: 800-827-6836. Frank @ KAF.
  • star rating 10/28/2010
  • Marc Kenton from KAF Community
  • I was surprised how moist this bread was, despite the addition of oil or butter. The taste was great as well...it tasted of a hearty oat loaf with a subtle apple flavor. I used the boiled cider, but considering how difficult it can be to obtain (and the fact that it really is just cider boiled down to a syrup), could you swap regular cider for the boiling water, and then eliminate the "boiled cider" from the recipe?
    We have not tried doing that, so you would have to experiment! Let us know how it turns out! kelsey@KAF
  • star rating 06/06/2010
  • Kelly Hill from Seattle, WA
  • This one was a surprise win for me. I made it to use up some steel oats I had on hand and ended up loving it. It turned out nice and chewy like a sourdough bread for me and made fabulous toast slathered with butter. Mine was much darker maybe because of the boiled cider, I'm thinking the bread in the picture had to have used apple juice concentrate. I did add a sprinkle of rapadura on the top of the loaf before I baked it and it added a perfect little sweet note and crunch to offset the lovely tang of the cider. I also let my machine knead in the nuts and apples for me and had great dispersion that way.
  • star rating 05/18/2009
  • Norma from Seminole,Florida
  • This bread is very tasty but had same problem as the other reviewer that the apple bits all ended up in the middle which caused a "mini hole" where all fruit ended up. I emailed Mary and she told me to try mixing the apples in with the last knead which I will try the next time.
  • star rating 04/14/2009
  • tastan from Illinois
  • Very good and very easy to make! My only small problem was that I felt my dried apples did not get very well-distributed after I spread them out on the dough and then rolled and shaped the dough. I think I may try to add them in with the nuts next time. I may also try dried cranberries in the future, as I think that would also work well.
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