Fig Walnut Bread Recipes

WALNUT-FIG BREAD

Steps:

• Stir warm water, sugar, and yeast in a small bowl until yeast is dissolved. Let mixture stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Brush a large bowl with oil and set aside.
• Place flours, 1 cup dried figs, fennel seeds, and salt in another bowl. Add yeast mixture; bring mixture together with your hands. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured work surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.
• Transfer dough to oiled bowl, and cover loosely with a piece of lightly oiled plastic wrap. Let dough rise in a warm place until almost doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured work surface, and knead in walnuts and remaining 1 cup dried figs (be aggressive with the dough to work in nuts and figs). Shape dough into a ball; pull seams in toward bottom to stretch and smooth top.
• Brush a baking sheet with oil; place dough in the middle. Loosely cover with a piece of lightly oiled plastic wrap. Let dough rise in a warm place until almost doubled in bulk, about 40 minutes.
• Bake until bread is light golden brown, about 30 minutes. Loosely tent with foil, and continue to bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the bottom of loaf registers 180 degrees and comes out clean, about 30 minutes more. Immediately transfer loaf to a wire rack; let cool completely before slicing.

MAPLE WALNUT AND FIG BREAD

Steps:

• Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Put the diced figs in a medium bowl and add the warm water. Let soak until softened.
• Whisk the unbleached flour, cake flour, oats, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.
• Put the maple syrup, milk, eggs, egg yolks, and canola 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 the flour is moistened. This should be a wet batter, because the oats 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 two oiled 9- by 5-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 from left to right and front to back about halfway through the baking time.)
• Remove the pans from the oven and use a pastry brush to glaze the tops of the loaves 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.

FIG-WALNUT BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325°F. Coat two 9-by-5-inch loaf pans with butter; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and salt; set mixture aside.
• Bring 1 cup water to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Remove from heat, and add 1 1/2 cups dried figs; let stand until softened, about 10 minutes. Transfer figs and liquid to a food processor. Purée until smooth, about 1 minute; set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix to combine, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the flour mixture, and beat until combined, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the sour cream and reserved fig purée; beat until just incorporated, about 1 minute. Using a rubber spatula, stir in the remaining chopped figs and the walnuts.
• Divide the batter between the prepared pans; smooth the tops with an offset spatula. Place pans on a baking sheet. Bake, rotating the sheet halfway through, until deep golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the centers comes out clean, about 1 hour. Transfer the pans to a wire rack to cool 10 minutes. Remove loaves from pans and cool completely. Bread can be kept at room temperature, wrapped well in plastic, for up to 4 days.