Maple Walnut Bread

Flipping through my new King Arthur Whole Grain baking book yesterday I was searching for recipes that I had all the ingredients for and that I could make spur of the moment. Considering ingredients lists that frequently include things like barley flour, oat flour and spelt flour and that a lot of the recipes included an overnight rest (so that the whole grains could absorb as much liquid as possible) there were only a few that were good candidates. (okay, I actually do have spelt flour -- but I don't have the other two...)

This recipe also looked quite good -- maple and walnuts -- two great Fall flavors that made the house smell wonderful while it baked. When we tasted the bread though, I said something along the lines of "wow! this tastes great.... for something full of whole grains." actually, in retrospect it wasn't really the flavor that was off -- the whole-wheat flour gave it a nutty flavor and a nice, slightly-gritty texture, and the maple flavor came through loud and clear. What I think I really objected to was that the bottom and the sides of the loaf got quite tough and chewy.

I bought the Whole Grains baking book as a way to bring a little wholesomeness to my otherwise decadent baking habit, but a large part of me is tempted to repeat this recipe using all white flour instead of the whole wheat flour -- just to see if I can get the great flavor, without the unfortunate crust.

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour, traditional or white whole wheat
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 tsp maple flavor
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.

Whisk together the flours, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together the buttermilk, melted butter, eggs, maple syrup and flavoring. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, stirring just until the mixture is evenly combined. Stir in the walnuts.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until the top of the loaf is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 1 hour.

Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a rack in the pan for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, run a knife around the edges of the loaf to make sure it's not sticking, then turn it out of the pan and return it to the rack to cool completely before slicing.

Nutrition: 16 servings in a loaf. 1 slice: 15 g whole grains, 250 calories, 12g fat, 6 g protein, 3 g dietary fiber, 12 g sugar