Oatmeal Maple bread

[skeptic7]

I spent the last week of June in Canada which is why I haven't posted for awhile. After seeing all the maple syrup there and in Vermont, I wanted to invent my own oatmeal-maple quickbread.
This is what I tried, and I would like advice on improvements.
1 cup oatmeal
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup oil
1 egg
1/4 cup maple syrup ( I used the light colored syrup )
~ 1 cup walnuts ( all that was left in the bag )

Mix the oatmeal and buttermilk and let soak for a couple of hours. Mix the flour, baking soda and baking powder together. Mix the oil, egg and maple syrup together. Combine the oatmeal mixture and the egg and oil mixture. Mix in the flour mixture. Mix in the walnuts
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, bake in an oiled 8inch cast iron skillet for 35 minutes or until done.

This is very mild tasting and has almost no maple syrup flavor. Breads made with honey are sweeter. I am planning on trying again with dark maple syrup to see if that adds more flavor and reducing the walnuts to 1/2 cup.

Any advice? It would be messier but I am thinking of a maple frosting which would concentrate all the maple flavor in one spot.

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[RiversideLen]

A quarter cup of maple syrup is only 2 ounces. I have subbed a half cup of maple syrup for all the sugar in Quaker Oats Low Fat Chewy Fruit & Oat Bars and it still doesn't have a pronounced maple flavor. To up the maple flavor, try adding a 1/4 or 1/2 teaspoon maple flavor (available from King Arthur as well as other outlets).

[BakerAunt]

I've also found that maple syrup does not seem to have a strong flavor in baked goods and often requires frosting. My maple shortbread recipe (posted on this site) and the KAF maple biscotti are about as much maple flavor as I seem to be able to get in baked goods. Len's suggestion to use some maple flavor is a good one.

[chocomouse]

I live in Vermont and we have been making maple syrup for 32 years, and my husband's family has been making it "forever." There is a relatively new grading system for syrup. I would use "Grade A: Dark (color) and Robust (flavor), which used to be called Grade B. It is recommended for baking and recipes that call for a heavy maple flavor. Maple syrup also is not as sweet as honey or sugar, so you might need more syrup than honey, depending on your sweetness preference. I do not like very sweet scones, and when I make maple walnut scones, I use 1/3 cup of maple syrup. But I also brush more maple syrup on top of the warm scones immediately when they come out of the oven. You could also try using maple sugar, which I think is a bit sweeter, or add some maple flavoring as Len suggested. We use only the Dark, Robust syrup in our house, as most Vermonters do, even for pancakes or over ice cream.

[skeptic7]

When I went through Vermont, I went up the West side on Route 7 and saw the Maple Syrup Museum. That was great, showing the history of Maple sugar from the Iroquois Indians to the Modern methods with plastic pipe. There was an exhibit/tasting of various grades of maple syrup from different producers. It was fabulous. They sold some very dark maple syrup that they said was a great favorite for barbecue sauce.
I bought my syrup in Canada, and they only had Amber and Dark syrup. It came in cans and due to the difference in the exchange rate was cheaper than the US version. Maple syrup is still expensive enough that I don't want to waste it. Maybe if using dark syrup doesn't add enough flavor, I will use maple frosting.
Is maple flavor a natural product?
Oh Vermont was beautiful and I was impressed by all the solar panels. I wish I could have paid another visit to Cabot Creamery, I love their cheese.

[RiversideLen]

Is maple flavor a natural product?
"Ingredients: Natural Maple Flavor"
It appears so.

[chocomouse]

Len, I just checked on-line, and found this: "FDA approved flavor ingredients, water, propylene glycol, and caramel color." I don't know anything about FDA regulations and labels, but that does not sound "natural" or "pure" to me.

Skeptic, Route 7 is a beautiful drive- I hope you were here in early October! I live on the eastern side of the state, along the Connecticut River which separates Vt and NH. Are you able to buy Cabot cheese in your area? Once when I was traveling and in Chicago, we came out of our hotel one morning and saw one of the plaid Cabot Cheese cars in the parking lot! That was exciting!

[Mike Nolan]

Don't get me started on additives, etc!

KAF's maple oatmeal bread recipe is pretty good.

[skeptic7]

Chocomouse;
I've only been to Vermont in the early summer, but I've enjoyed it immensely. Previously I went up the interstate on the Eastern side of the state, I-91 and stopped by KA and other places. I like Cabot Creamery since I can taste all the cheese from the very young to the special aged, including some not available locally like Vermont Sharp. I can get some Cabot Cheeses locally, my staple is "Extra Sharp Cheddar" in white.
This time I wanted to go through Middlebury and see the UVM Morgan horse farm. They have a whole horse skeleton in a case! and some wonderfully friendly foals.

The "Natural Maple Flavor" at KA doesn't give a list of ingredients.

Mike;
The KA Maple Oatmeal does look very good. I noticed it only use 1/4 cup maple syrup.

[BakerAunt]

I checked my bottle of Natural Maple Flavor that I purchased from KAF. Under ingredients it says: "Natural Maple Flavor." The manufacturer is Boyajian.

[RiversideLen]

I was just going based on the label. I don't know what the process is to make "natural maple flavor" though.

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[skeptic7]

I repeated the recipe with the "darker" maple syrup and 1/2 cups of walnuts and had the same results. I don't know how much darker the second batch of maple syrup was than the first. The first maple syrup was a gift from friends in Canada and it claimed to be "medium" the second batch claimed to be "dark"
This was however very tasty and I ate it during a long car trip. Maple frosting might have added more flavor but would have been messier.

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