The touch of Pennsylvania Dutch in me forces me to buy a few jars of blackstrap molasses at the start of ever winter. I use it to make my soft, molasses and ginger cookies and to add to my winter hearty breads. This recipe for oats and molasses bread is very easy to make, very basic, and yet oh so delicious. It is a winter time favorite bread and a good seller during the winter months. The bread can be eaten, buttered, fresh out of the oven. It also makes great toast, peanut butter sandwiches, and you can make it into french bread..
Yield: 2 loaves.
Prep Time: 2 hours, 10 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours, 45 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 cups boiling water
- 1 cup quick cooking oats
- 1/2 cup water, room temperature
- 1 Tbsp or 2 packets (1/2 oz) active dry yeast
- 2 Tbsp butter or margarine
- 1/2 cup blackstrap molasses
- 2 tsp salt
- 5 cups bread flour, about
- 2 Tbsp cornmeal for preparing bread pans
Preparation:
- In a large bowl, mix boiling water and oats. Let sit for 30 minutes. Do not add the yeast until water and oats are lukewarm. The heat of boiling water will kill the yeast and prevent the bread from rising. Add room temperature water and yeast. Stir. Add butter, molasses, and salt. Stir. Add 3 cups of flour and mix well. Slowly add in remaining flour, enough flour to make a dough that follows the spoon around the bowl. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and knead for 4 minutes, adding more flour as needed until the dough is soft and smooth to the touch. Place dough in large greased bowl. Turn dough over in bowl so that the top is also lightly greased. Cover with clean cloth and let rise in warm, draft-free place for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
- Punch down dough. Turn dough out onto lightly floured board and knead for 4 minutes or until the bubbles are out of the bread. Divide dough into two equal halves. Shape each half into a loaf. Place each loaf into a greased and cornmealed 9 x 5-inch bread pan. Cover and let rise in warm, draft-free place for 45 minutes or until doubled in size.
- Bake loaves at 375 degrees F for 35 minutes or until the bread is golden brown. Remove each loaf from pan and let cool on rack.
Bread Baking Tips:
