Honey Oat Bread

There’s something to be said about subtlety and understatement in this loud, crazy world of ours. Sometimes it just feels like technology has overtaken my life, and with it comes a degree of stress and craziness that can be mind-numbingly aggravating. I will admit that as a self-proclaimed techno-gadget lover, I bring a certain amount of this on myself. But sometimes it all just gets to be overmuch and I fantasize about the olden days before 2-hour tech support calls and re-booting modem/routers, streaming and synchronizing more devices than anyone really actually needs.

So a little quiet subtlety can be ever so welcome once in a while, and this oat bread is just that. Understated deliciousness. No big, bold flavors, nothing wacky, edgy or over-the-top. Nothing cutting-edge or even all that remarkable. Just a nice, simple, delicious, nutritious bread made with yogurt, honey, whole grain flour and, of course, oats.

Now isn’t that nice? No surprises, except maybe how incredibly moist it turns out to be. Moist, dense, savory and ever so satisfying. I guess I was maybe a little surprised by the lack of sweetness. With honey in the title, I did expect a hint of sweet, but with only ¼ cup, I think the honey was there to add moistness and offset the yogurt flavors. Which it does quite admirably, I must say. If you’re looking for a little sweetness here, you really must toast a slice of this bread, brush it with a little butter and a healthy drizzle of honey, which is exactly what I’m going to do while I’m waiting for my new itunes app to sync with my phone and laptop. Here’s the recipe…

Click here for a printable recipe

Recipe courtesy cooking.com

You can use any combination of whole grain flours you would like with this bread. I used half all purpose and half white whole wheat, and it came really nice. I also used half quick (not instant) and half old fashioned rolled oats.

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats or quick-cooking (not instant) oats

1 1/3 cups whole-wheat flour or white whole-wheat flour

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

1 8-ounce container (scant 1 cup) nonfat or low-fat plain yogurt

1 large egg

1/4 cup canola oil

1/4 cup clover honey or other mild honey

3/4 cup nonfat or low-fat milk

2 tablespoons oats for the pan

DIRECTIONS

Position rack in middle of oven; preheat to 375 degrees F.

Generously coat a 9-by-5-inch (or similar size) loaf pan with cooking spray. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon oats in the pan. Tip the pan back and forth to coat the sides and bottom with oats; set aside another 1 tablespoon oats for garnishing the loaf.

Thoroughly stir together whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Using a fork, beat together the remaining 1 cup oats, yogurt, egg, oil and honey in a medium bowl until well blended. Stir in milk. Gently stir the yogurt mixture into the flour mixture just until thoroughly incorporated but not overmixed (excess mixing can cause toughening).

Immediately scrape the batter into the pan, spreading evenly to the edges. Sprinkle the reserved 1 tablespoon oats over the top.

Bake the loaf until well browned on top and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes. (It's normal for the top to crack). Let stand in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Run a table knife around and under the loaf to loosen it and turn it out onto the rack. Let cool until barely warm, about 45 minutes.

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