Oatmeal Molasses Bread

Today I made bread.  TWO loaves of delicious beautiful bread in fact.  The bread feed my family which in turn feed my heart.  Sappy I know but the honest truth.  For the past two weeks I have been blessed with the presence of three family members that live in France. I am lucky if I see my French every couple of years.  Every minute of our time together has been filled with adventures, laughs, amazing food, lots of wonderful chats and beautiful memories to cherish of one another.  In an effort to comfort myself with their impending departure and to provide a delicious addition to our time together I decided to make bread.  Oatmeal Molasses Bread at that! A soft in the inside, crunchy crust on the outside,  full flavored bread.  A magical bread in fact and I have Renee from Kudos Kitchen by Renee

to thank for the recipe.

Kudos Kitchen By Renee has been my August assignment for the Secret Recipe Club.  I just love Renee!  I have been following her blog for quite some time now.  Not only does she create delicious recipes full of beautiful food but she is in amazing artist.  I have had my eye on her custom made mugs.  I may need to drop a hint to Santa for a special Christmas gift (wink, wink). 

I will leave you today with the gift of this recipe.  It is a generous recipe that makes 2 BIG beautiful and fragrant loaves.  Molasses, oats, whole wheat and unbleached all purpose flour and yeast are the simple ingredients that make up this treasure of a bread. It provides happiness to the tummy and comfort to the heart.  Merci Beaucoup Renee for sharing this recipe with me. You are a gem! In turn I pass on this recipe to all of you! Enjoy!

Oatmeal Molasses Bread  

(recipe from slightly adapted from Kudos Kitchen by Renee)

Ingredients:

2 packages of active dry yeast (4 1/2 tsp)

3/4 cup warm milk (I used almond milk as that was all I had on hand)

1 1/2 tsp granulated sugar

2 cups oats (regular or quick is fine)

2 1/4 cup boiling water

3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup butter, melted

3/4 cup molasses

1 TBSP salt

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, gently mix the yeast, room temperature milk and sugar all together.  Let this mixture set for a good 10 minutes to allow the yeast to proof (it will get nice and foamy).

2. In a large bowl pour boiling water over the oats and mix well.  Let sit for a bit as the water absorbs into the oats.  Then add in molasses, melted butter and salt.  Mix well all together.

3. In another large bowl (Renee suggests using the bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook or a regular bowl with a wooden spoon) combine flours.

4. Add in oats/molasses mixture to the flour.  Stir by hand or with dough hook to combine slightly.  Add in yeast mixture.  This will call for a little extra time as you knead all of the ingredients together.  The dough will be heavy and dense but well worth all the work.  Make sure it is well combined. 

5. Transfer dough into a oiled bowl. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and place in a warm location without any drafts.  Allow dough to double - this will take about 1 hour. Once dough has doubled, punch down and then divide in half.  Shape gently in loaves and place into greased loaf pans.  Again, allow breads to rise in a warm location without any drafts - about 45 minutes to 1 hour. 

6. Bake breads in an oven of 350 for 45-55 minutes.  Breads will be done when they sound hallow when tapped. Cool breads for 15 minutes before taking out of pans.  Cool completely before slicing to enjoy. 

Happy Oatmeal Molasses Bread Baking!