Yesterday I didn’t bake anything. So tonight I baked two things.
I made my signature banana yogurt muffins, although I was a little distracted and forgot to top them off with cinnamon chips. Crap.
They turned out great anyway, I say with honesty, and without any ego. They’re just delicious, that’s all.
But I’ve had my eye on this Oatmeal Tea Bread recipe for a while now, and I wanted to make something I could feel good about eating (and good about giving to other people to eat, too), so tonight was the night.
I started by mixing several of the dry ingredients together, but not the flour, which I thought was unusual and interesting. Rolled oats, baking soda, salt, cinnamon (2 heaping teaspoons, not one as suggested), nutmeg, and the sugars, both brown & white. The recipe called for 1/8 of a cup of white sugar, but I don’t have anything smaller than 1/4 cup. So I eyeballed it, filled it up halfway, and hoped for the best.
I whisked everything together.
And then I added the flour, and whisked some more.
I set that aside, and took a look at the rest of the ingredients. Into a separate bowl, I poured two tablespoons of olive oil.
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(Ignore the espresso powder, that was still on the counter because I added it to the banana muffins. Same for the vanilla.)
Then I got out the applesauce, and not having learned from previous mistakes, I poured far more than I needed into the measuring cup, and had to level it off over the sink. Oops. That always seems to happen with a new jar, it just comes out in a rush.
It’s especially gross to me because I really dislike applesauce. In fact, I got a little nervous when I saw how much of it the recipe called for — 1 1/4 cups — so I reacted by adding some more cinnamon to the dry ingredients.
And then I returned to the other bowl, and added the egg and the milk.
Once I mixed that together, I poured the new combination into the dry ingredients.
I mixed just until combined. It looked like regular batter, not too applesauce-y.
I tasted it, and it didn’t taste too applesauce-y either. Phew. I poured it into a loaf pan.
Then I got out a small bowl, and mixed together some cinnamon, some brown sugar, and some rolled oats, and sprinkled it on top.
It said to bake for 45 minutes to an hour, but mine was done at about 40 minutes or so. I started checking it at 35. It came out of the pan easily enough.
And once it cooled, I took a piece.
Yum! Not too sweet, not a dessert, but a great breakfast bread or afternoon snack. So glad I finally made this. It’s simple, and wholesome, and trustworthy. Straightforward and honest, as baked goods go. Delicious!
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