Maple Oat Bread — The Lesson MawMaw Shirley Wanted to Give Me

The capstone paper is submitted and the relief is physical — a loosening in the shoulders, a clearing in the vision, the particular unbinding that happens when a long project leaves your desk and enters the world. Forty-two pages. Three months of research. One devastating conclusion: the children of Scotlandville are sick because the grocery store is far and the fast food is close and nobody with power has decided to fix it. Dr. Okafor gave it an A and wrote: "This is not just research. This is a map. Use it." I intend to.

Finals. Biochemistry II: A. Anatomy II: A. Healthcare Disparities seminar: A. The grades are solid. The GPA holds. The transcript is building itself into the document that will tell medical schools who I am in numbers, and the numbers say: she did not quit. She did not waver. She came to every class and every lab and every office hour and she cooked Monday jambalaya and Friday red beans and she visited her grandmother every other Saturday and she held it all together with the same hands that hold a wooden spoon and a textbook and a six-year-old's picture book at the library. The hands held. They always hold.

I packed the apartment for winter break and drove to Scotlandville and Mama had red beans on the stove. Friday. The tradition. I walked into the kitchen and stood there and breathed and the breathing was the homecoming and the red beans were the evidence that some things do not change, even when everything else does.

MawMaw Shirley called that night. She said, "Come to Baker tomorrow. I want to teach you something." She did not say what. MawMaw Shirley does not preview. She reveals. The revealing is the gift. I will go to Baker tomorrow. I will learn whatever she wants to teach me. I will learn it with the attention of a woman who knows that every lesson from MawMaw Shirley is a lesson that will not be given again, and the not-again is the urgency, and the urgency is love.

MawMaw Shirley does not preview — she reveals — and when I drove to Baker the next morning I found flour on the counter and a tin of maple syrup already open, and I understood that the lesson was bread. Not just any bread: the soft, honey-gold maple oat loaf she has been making since before my mama was born, the one that fills a kitchen the same way red beans fill a kitchen, with the particular warmth that says someone here was thinking of you before you arrived. I am writing it down now the way she gave it to me — out loud, by feel, with love as the only precise measurement — translated into something I can carry back to Baton Rouge when finals start again and I need to remember that my hands know how to make something whole.

Maple Oat Bread

Prep Time: 20 min + 1 hr 30 min rise | Cook Time: 35 min | Total Time: 2 hr 25 min | Servings: 12 slices

Ingredients

• 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats, plus extra for topping
• 1 1/2 cups boiling water
• 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (1 packet)
• 1/4 cup warm water (about 110°F)
• 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup, divided
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 3 to 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
• 1 tablespoon milk or cream, for brushing

Instructions

1. Soak the oats. Place the rolled oats in a large mixing bowl and pour the boiling water over them. Stir to combine and let stand for 20 minutes until the oats have absorbed the water and the mixture has cooled to lukewarm.
2. Proof the yeast. In a small bowl, combine the warm water, yeast, and 1 tablespoon of the maple syrup. Stir gently and let sit for 5 to 7 minutes until foamy. If it does not foam, start again with fresh yeast.
3. Build the dough. Add the yeast mixture, remaining 2 tablespoons maple syrup, softened butter, and salt to the oat mixture. Stir well to combine. Add flour 1/2 cup at a time, stirring after each addition, until a shaggy dough forms and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
4. Knead. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 8 to 10 minutes, adding flour as needed, until the dough is smooth, elastic, and slightly tacky but not sticky. It should spring back when you press it gently.
5. First rise. Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a lightly oiled bowl, turning once to coat. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
6. Shape and second rise. Punch the dough down gently. Shape it into a tight log and place it seam-side down in a greased 9x5-inch loaf pan. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes until the dough crowns about 1 inch above the rim of the pan.
7. Preheat and finish. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Brush the top of the loaf with milk or cream and sprinkle with a small handful of rolled oats.
8. Bake. Bake for 33 to 37 minutes until the top is deep golden brown and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. An instant-read thermometer should read 190°F in the center.
9. Cool. Remove from the pan immediately and cool on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes before slicing. The crumb needs time to set — MawMaw Shirley’s one strict rule.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 185 | Protein: 5g | Fat: 3g | Carbs: 35g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 295mg