Molasses Brown Bread
This delicious brown bread is full of the richness of molasses with a hint of cocoa. Make this family favorite recipe into two sandwich loaves, or 2-3 freeform dinner loaves.
Ingredients
- 2½ cups warm water
- 1 tbsp dry active yeast
- ⅓ cup molasses
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 3 tbsp olive oil or melted coconut oil
- ¼ cup honey or sugar
- 2 tsp salt
- 3 cups whole wheat flour
- 3½ cups bread flour
Instructions
- In the bowl of stand mixer, activate yeast in warm water (add a tablespoon of the honey/sugar to help feed the yeast)
- When the yeast is foamy and activated, add remaining honey/sugar, salt, molasses, cocoa, oil, and whole wheat flour
- Add in 2½ cups of the bread flour (reserving ½ cup)
- Mix on speed 2 until the dough looks smooth and pulled together- about 5-7 minutes. If it's still sticky at the bottom of the bowl, add the remaining flour
- Cover and let rise until doubled (1-2 hours)
- Punch down dough, turn out onto floured surface, and divide in half
- To shape each loaf, press dough down into a rectangle (doesn't have to be perfect) and fold into thirds, like a letter
- Turn the dough and roll it up onto itself longways
- Use tension to gently pull the loaf toward you while keeping your hand behind it. Tuck in the ends a bit and repeat until it feels like a nice tidy loaf
- Place in well oiled or buttered loaf pan and cover for about an hour (this is when I preheat the oven)
- When they've risen to about one inch above the pans, bake for 30 minutes
- Cool for a few minutes in the pans, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely
Notes
- This bread works well for tidy sandwich loaves, but also works great as a freeform loaf baked on a baking sheet. It will make two fairly large loaves, or three medium sized loaves. If you try to freeform loaves, be sure to slash the tops right before baking to venting. To make them a little more fancy, coat with butter right out of the oven and maybe add some oats on top. These make great gifts!
- My family likes molasses bread as our every day bread, for toast, grilled cheese, French toast, you name it!
- Stores well in a bread bag for up to 5 days, longer in the fridge. Freezes well!