Molasses oat bread

This weekend was fully of just about the crappiest weather we’ve seen so far this winter. First it snowed a bit on Friday night, then proceeded to rain, and rain, and rain, and then rain some more on Saturday. Then the temperature dropped off again Saturday night and it snowed, leaving approximately two feet of ice over every possible surface, which was then covered in 15 cm of snow. Imagine how happy I was on Sunday afternoon to spend almost two hours chipping my car out from its ice bubble, and then shovelling and clearing away shards and boulders of ice and snow from just about everything else.

This is the snow pile in front of my house. There's a complete shrub buried in there somewhere!

Needless to say, it was a good weekend to stay indoors and avoid anything that might be falling from the sky. And what could be a more perfect complement to a hibernation weekend than freshly baked bread?

In addition to the weather, a conversation with my Dad on Saturday where he mentioned how much he likes molasses inspired me to make this.

The molasses imparts a bit of sweetness to the loaf, and also turns it a soft brown colour. This is useful for fooling yourself into thinking this is actually a healthy, whole wheat loaf, when in fact it’s the kind of light and fluffy mix you only get with white flour. I let my loaf rise in the pan a bit too long (blame a nap), but it still turned out well. It’s great fresh, and warm from the oven, but also nice toasted with some honey drizzled on top.


Start by soaking your oats in some warm water.

And get the yeast started. Make sure it's fresh and the water's plenty warm.

Then add in the butter and molasses to the softened oats. The recipe calls for the butter to be at room temperature, but I wasn't convinced it would incorporate very well that way. So I ended up fishing it out and nuking it 'til it was melted.

Start kneading. This is a pretty sticky dough, so you'll need lots of flour.

Knead until everything comes together and it looks something like this.

And then it will look like this after an hour or so of rising. I covered the bowl in plastic and let it rise in the microwave (turned off) with a cut of hot water in it.

And then, by the second rise, it should look like this. I let this rise a little too long, but it didn't collapse.

And here it is fresh from the oven, smelling great. I found it didn't take quite as long to bake as the recipe said.

Want a slice?

Molasses-oat bread
Adapted from Bon Appetit, 1994 and found here

1/2 cup packed old-fashioned oats
3/4 cup boiling water
1 cup warm water (105°F to 115°F)
1 envelope dry yeast
6 tablespoons lightly unsulfured molasses
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter, room temperature
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
4 cups (about) unbleached all purpose flour

Place 1/2 cup oats in large bowl of electric mixer fitted with dough hook; pour 3/4 cup boiling water over.

Let stand 30 minutes (water will be absorbed and oatmeal will be very soft).
pour 1 cup warm water into 2-cup glass measuring cup. sprinkle yeast over; stir to blend. let stand until yeast dissolves, about 10 minutes.

Mix molasses, 2 tablespoons butter and salt into oat mixture in bowl. mix in yeast mixture.

Add enough flour, 1/2 cup at a time, to form medium-soft dough, mixing at medium speed until well blended, about 3 minutes.

Turn out dough onto floured surface. knead until smooth and elastic, adding more flour if dough is too sticky, about 5 minutes.

Form dough into ball. butter large bowl; add dough, turning to coat. cover bowl with plastic wrap, then towel.

Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
position rack in center of oven and preheat to 400°F.

Butter 9×5-inch loaf pan.

Punch down dough; turn out into floured surface and knead 3 minutes.

Form into a loaf. transfer to prepared pan.

Cover with plastic, then towel; let rise in warm draft-free area until dough has risen about 1/2 inch above rim of pan, about 45 minutes.

Bake bread 10 minutes; reduce temperature to 350°F.

Bake 25 minutes longer. brush top of bread with glaze; sprinkle 1 tablespoon oats over. bake until bread is golden and sounds hollow when tapped on bottom, about 10 minutes longer. Transfer to rack to cool.