Sunday, 17 November 2013

A Bowl of Bread

Pane di Composta di Mele, Fiocchi d'Avena & Marmellata di Mirtillo Rosso
Applesauce Oatmeal Bread with Cranberry Jam


What a dilemma- should I make a nice, hot bowl of oatmeal for breakfast- or do I want some sweet, hot, toast with yummy, fruity jam? I know I want the sweet solution but I feel I should be doing what's right and having the "healthy"" option... oh woe is me!

But, just hang on a minute... maybe I don't HAVE to choose! 

As you all know, my Sundays are my "once a week day", when I will actually indulge in a "proper" breakfast. Breakfast during my working week is... well... it's a banana and a mug of coffee. Which sadly, with my metabolism is about all I need- sigh. But on Sundays- well what the heck! I like to have a little treat and to "indulge" a little as much as the next guy! 


As you can see in the previous picture, I decided to add the jam INTO the bread, half-way through baking, suddenly and impulsively, as an afterthought... Who knew it would end up being such a cool idea?

But let's start at the beginning- this was a nice easy one to make and to your total delight, I actually used a measuring cup to make this- haha. SO, I started off with 2 cups of applesauce, which I bought yesterday on the spur of the moment at the market hall... I had no idea what I was going to do with it at the time- now I know what I am going to do with it again in the future!


So, 2 cups of applesauce, then 3 cups of course-ground oatmeal, 2 cups of flour, a half-teaspoon each of baking powder and baking soda, a teaspoon of cinnamon, a pinch of salt... and that's it! Oh come on... you knew it was going to be easy, otherwise I would never have managed it... but you're right... it is pretty-darned easy!

You can of course add sugar or butter if you so wish and to make this moister and sweeter and treat it like a cake, but I clearly wanted a not-to-sweet treat that was definitely supposed to stay in the bread department- and this was just slightly sweet at the end of the day- perfect to enjoy as it was but also, obviously, you could add honey, butter, more jam... even Nutella once it's done... ooooh! There's an idea...


I simply stirred the ingredients well together with a wooden spoon, lightly greased my baking dish, sprinkled the insides with oatmeal flakes to help keep the loaf from sticking and also to give a little crunch, and popped it into a hot oven, at 350° for around 5 minutes, so that it could begin to get firm.

I then took it out, and prodded little holes into it here and there using the back of a teaspoon, then dropped a little blob of jam into each.  Back into the oven it went for between 20-30 minutes, until it was nice and crispy and brown...  that really was all there was to it!

This is a quick and easy one as you can see- give it a go and see how it works for you- what have you got to love except a bowl of oatmeal? ;-) Oh, go on- I know you're gonna love it!

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