Holy Molé!

This recipe was one of the “sleeper hits” I stumbled across months ago – I made it on a whim, basically just to use up stuff I had lying around the house (as always... I have an arsenal of part-bags of stuff all over the place), but it got such an incredibly enthusiastic response from the folks at my mom’s office that it soon became one of the requests they’d make. In addition to my basic banana bread, which is always a classic, slabs of this slightly spicy, sweet and crunchy loaf would disappear faster than the coffee could be brewed at break time. Come to think of it though, it is rather fitting that a mole-inspired cake would be served with a cup of Joe!

Of course, ideas take a while to percolate with me, and I need a good kick-start to get creating. While the types of baking ingredients on hand dominated the development of the flavour, I was equally inspired by Megan’s post for a cinnamon-layered quickbread. For a little textural dimension in the filling to pair up with the new chilli, cinnamon and cocoa blend I made up, I tossed the walnuts with crunchy, honey-sweetened granola with the spice. What I got was a killer granola mix on it’s own – I highly recommend it – and when I paired it with the buttermilk and coffee cake batter it was simply stellar. I know that it isn’t a “traditional” mole in any sense – seeing as the real thing has something like 20 ingredients – but I figured it had enough of the spirit to warrant it’s name. If nothing else, the taste will win your heart!

Holy Molé Granola Crunch Bread
Heavily adapted from What Megan's Making
Makes 10 slices
½ cup finely chopped walnuts
¼ cup crunchy granola cereal
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp chili powder
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp turbinado sugar
¾ cup sugar
1 cup flour
1 cup 12-grain flour
1 tsp instant espresso powder
½ tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp ground flaxseed
3 tbsp hot water
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp coffee extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup oil

1. Preheat oven to 350F, grease a loaf pan.
2. Mix together walnuts, granola, cinnamon, chili powder and cocoa powder in a small bowl. Set aside.
3. Combine sugar, flours, espresso powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.
4. In a large bowl, beat flaxseed with hot water. Let stand 10 minutes.
5. Beat in the buttermilk, coffee extract, vanilla and oil.
6. Add flour mixture and stir just until mixed. Do not overmix.
7. Pour half of the batter into loaf pan.
8. Sprinkle with the nut mixture (aim for a central "core" of filling) and top with remaining batter.
9. Swirl mixtures together with a chopstick or knife.
10. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, cool in pan for about 20 minutes before turning out and cooling completely on a wire rack.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 268.0
Total Fat: 12.1 g
Cholesterol: 1.0 mg
Sodium: 30.8 mg
Total Carbs: 37.8 g
Dietary Fiber: 3.1 g
Protein: 5.3 g