Recipe: Amy's Bread Maple Walnut and Fig Bread (quick bread, no yeast)

AMY'S BREAD MAPLE WALNUT AND FIG BREAD
A quick bread made without yeast.

"At the bakery we make a dozen different kinds of quick bread, taking advantage of seasonal ingredients and changing the selection throughout the week to offer our customers variety. This one is Amy's personal favorite, and a favorite of many of our regular customers, too. One customer gets quite upset when she sees that we've used our figs to make something other than her beloved maple walnut bread! The recipe was created in the winter when Amy wanted to make a breakfast bread that was homey and comforting, with the goodness of dried fruit, maple syrup, and oatmeal. Eat it plain, lightly toasted, or spread with a thin layer of cream cheese."



2 cups dried figs, diced (298 grams / 10.51 ounces)
1/2 cup warm water (85 to 90 degrees F) (113 grams / 4.00 ounces)
2 2/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour* (340 grams / 12.00 ounces)
1 2/3 cups cake flour (184 grams / 6.50 ounces)
1 3/4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (148 grams / 5.25 ounces)
2 tablespoons baking powder (28 grams / 1.00 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/3 cups maple syrup (312 grams / 11.00 ounces)
1 1/3 cups whole milk (312 grams / 11.00 ounces)
4 large eggs, lightly beaten (200 grams / 7.05 ounces)
2 large egg yolks (40 grams / 1.41 ounces)
3/4 cup canola oil (170 grams / 6.00 ounces)
2 cups walnut pieces, toasted (227 grams / 8.00 ounces)
1/3 cup additional maple syrup, for glazing (80 grams / 2.82 ounces)

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Oil two 9x5-inch loaf pans.

Put the diced figs in a medium bowl and add the 1/2 cup warm water. Let soak until softened.

Whisk the all-purpose flour, cake flour, oats, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.

Put the maple syrup, milk, eggs, egg yolks, and oil in a medium bowl and stir with the whisk to combine. Add the mixture to the dry ingredients, stirring with a spoon just until all of the flour is moistened. This should be a wet batter, because the oats will absorb a lot of the liquid during baking.

Fold the walnuts and figs into the batter (the figs do not need to be drained). Divide the batter evenly between the prepared 9x5-inch loaf pans.

Bake for about 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (If your oven bakes unevenly, rotate the pans about halfway through the baking time.)

Remove the pans from the oven and use a pastry brush to glaze the tops of the loaves generously with maple syrup. Set them on a rack to cool for about 10 minutes. Turn the loaves out of the pans and set them on the rack to cool completely before serving.

Wrap any leftovers tightly in plastic wrap and store at room temperature. They may also be frozen, wrapped first in aluminum foil and then in plastic wrap or a heavy-duty freezer bag.

*We used unbleached all-purpose flour with a protein content of 11.5% for this dough.

Makes two 9x5-inch loaves
Adapted from source: Amy's Bread, Revised and Updated: ...from New York City's favorite bakery by Amy Scherber, Toy Kim Dupree, Aimee Herring