Good Eating Monday: Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bread

I couldn't post this until today (Tuesday), because on Monday we were in the process of replacing our 18 year old router that finally gave up the ghost and quit.

We ultimately had to have our friend, Hedrick come over and help us with it, since the first thing a guy at Walmart thought would do the job, didn't do the job and Hedrick, after he got off work, helped us get the right router for the job and get us back on the internet! though, by that time, it was 10 pm, so too late for posting anything.

So, today's Good Eating recipe is Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bread.

I actually made the recipe twice: once to find out the original recipe was too dry, then again to test my fix.

Oatmeal is very absorbent, so a recipe has to have enough fluid in it to compensate so it comes out moist. The first try didn't and was so crumbly, it fairly fell apart when I tried to slice it.

I added a little applesauce to the next try. That fixed the problem and made the bread moist and slice nicely.

So, I'm giving you the fixed recipe. Makes one 9 x 5 loaf.

(photos are my own)

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bread
Ingredients

1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

2/3 cup quick oats

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar, packed

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 

1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 to 1 teaspoon cinnamon (your preference)

1 large egg, beaten

3/4 cup buttermilk (or regular milk soured with a teaspoon of white vinegar)

1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons natural unsweetened applesauce

1/3 cup mini-chocolate chips (or 1/2 cup regular chocolate chips)

Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees and oil spray a 9 x 5 loaf pan. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl: combine all the dry ingredients: flour, sugars, oats, salt, baking powder, baking soda & cinnamon. Stir to break up any clumps.

In a small bowl: combine egg, applesauce & milk and whisk together.

Add wet ingredients to dry and stir together just enough so everything is well combined and there's no dry spots. 

Pour batter into loaf pan and spread so top is even, then sprinkle top with a little extra bit of quick oats and a few extra mini-chips to make pretty. (If you're using regular chips, coarsely chop them with a knife, then sprinkle on top of loaf.)

Bake for 40 - 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Move to cooling rack. Let cook 15 minutes, then turn out onto rack to finish cooling.

Store unused portions in refrigerator in either covered in a sealed container or wrapped in foil.

Most quick breads freeze very well. I cut mine in half and freeze each half separately. Makes it easy to served a smaller portion. 
You can adjust the cinnamon and chocolate chip quantities to your taste.

To freeze: 

Carefully wrap the loaf in foil, then put foil-wrapped loaf inside a suitable size freezer zip-lock bag. Be sure and write what kind of bread it is on the zip-lock.