Amazing Apple Bread

Still working through my left over apples from OOTO BioDiversiTree today I experimented with a healthy, sweet bread.  I didn’t have much flour in the cupboard so had to mix whole wheat and gram. With the added quinoa and oats, nuts and seeds, you have a high protein, sweet bread. Good comfort food. This is how I made it.

• Thinly slice half a dozen or so apples of assorted sizes.
• Cook in a little water till mushy.
• Meanwhile, simmer – uncovered, over low heat – 1/2 a cup of quinoa and an inch of diced, fresh ginger in a cup of water
• Soak 1/2 a cup of oats in a cup of boiled water.
• When the apples and quinoa are cooked, mix together in one pot and add the softened oatmeal.
• Mix all together, cover and set to simmer over very low heat, stirring periodically to prevent sticking/burning.
• Meanwhile, sift together 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup Gram (chick pea)  flour with 1 1/2 tsp quick yeast and 2 T Demerara sugar.
• When the oat/quinoa/apple mixture is cooked to mush add about a cup of it to the flour/yeast/sugar and mix all together.  It will be very moist and sticky.
• Mix in 1 T olive oil.
• Cover and set it in a warm place for about 20 minutes (I put it in the oven, preheated to the lowest temp – about 80C).
• Meanwhile thoroughly grease with margarine a smallish, shallow pan (I used 7 inch Pyrex pie plate).
• Place six, whole star anise in a nice pattern in the bottom of the pan.
• Thinly slice an apple and lay the slices in the pan.
• Sprinkle with Demerara sugar mixed with a little garam masala spice (how much is up to you! I used about 2T sugar and a pinch of garam masala).
• Sprinkle that with pumpkin seeds, golden linseed and your favorite chopped nuts then drizzle a T of honey over it.
• By now your dough should be rested.  Take it out of the oven and grease your hands with a generous amount of margarine. Knead the mixture a little with your greasy hands – it will still be very sticky which is why you need very greasy hands.
• Place the dough on top of the apple/sugar/seed/nut mixture and spread it out so it fills the pan.
• Grease the top of it with a generous amount of margarine – 1-2 Tablespoons.
• Sprinkle with a little Demerara sugar, cover and set to rise for about an hour.
• Bake in a preheated oven 170C for 45 minutes.
• When its cooked, slide a knife round the edge and invert on a plate.
• Serve warm with butter.
• Yum yum yum!

This makes a heavy, moist bread.  I put the left over oats/quinoa/apple sauce in the fridge and will heat it up for my breakfast tomorrow.

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• Apple Crumble to Die For (alisonamazed.wordpress.com)
• Apple Bread (ravienomnoms.wordpress.com)