Oatmeal Molasses Bread I

Submitted by P48422

"This recipe came from a really fun cookbook, the Dairy Hollow Hill House Soup & Bread Book. It is my husband's favorite bread of all the bread I make. Perfect toasting bread, and makes great PB&J sandwiches, according to my son."

 

• Ready In: 4hrs 15mins
• Ingredients: 8
• Yields: 2 loaves

ingredients

• 2 cups boiling water
• 1 cup old-fashioned oatmeal
• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon dry yeast (not instant!)
• 1⁄2 cup water
• 1⁄2 cup blackstrap molasses
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 6 cups all-purpose flour

directions

1. Mix the boiling water, butter and oatmeal.
2. Let stand 30 minutes or until cool.
3. Mix the yeast and warm water in the bowl of your mixer and let stand until proofed.
4. Add the oatmeal mixture and the molasses.
5. Mix the salt with one cup of the flour and add to the mix.
6. Mix until combined.
7. With the dough hook attachment on the mixer, keep adding flour until the dough comes together and is no longer sticky.
8. Then let it knead on low speed about 10 minutes.
9. Take the dough out of the bowl and finish kneading by hand until somewhat smooth- this dough is a little rough textured.
10. Turn into a buttered bowl, cover with plastic wrap, then a towel and let stand to rise until doubled (about 2 hours).
11. Punch down, divide and shape into 2 loaves, place in greased loaf pans, set aside to rise again.
12. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
13. Bake the loaves until done, about 35- 45 minutes.

Reviews

[Roosie]

This bread is very moist, dense and has a strong, though not unpleasant molasses flavor. It's excellent for toasting (we like it spread with cream cheese) and if I like PB&Js I'm sure it would be excellent for that too. I just made this tonight (already gone through half of one loaf, though). I was expecting the oatmeal to give it a bit of texture (I think that I am used to making oatmeal cookies) but really all it did was add moisture. I let this do a long rise overnight in the fridge, took it out, let it finish rising and baked. Very hearty and homey loaf. It is not a particularly impressive flavor- just very much dense, moist, hearty comfort food. All-in-all good. Excellent, easy-to-follow directions.