Oatmeal Molasses Bread

So I saw this funny thing somewhere on Twitter a few days ago. It was a website for a cookie diet. (Let me see if I can find it…ah, here it is. Click here.) I’ve been on that diet for a long time. It doesn’t work. Cookies for every meal does not help you lose weight. I hate to burst your bubbles full of hope. However, cookies for every meal is very delicious. (Especially breakfast.) There are often trade-offs in life.

What else is good for breakfast? Homemade bread.

When I’m not feeding my family cookies for breakfast, then they’re getting homemade bread. I know, I know. So June Cleaver, right? Well, more like Little House on the Prairie, but I don’t wear long dresses and I have central air and a running water. And my husband doesn’t kill animals for our dinner. Anyway…

Back to homemade bread. We love it. I don’t know about you, but a 5 lb. bag of flour around Utah costs roughly the same as one loaf of bread. And one bag of flour makes about 8 loaves of bread. I’m just doing my part to save money on groceries so I can afford to buy more heavy cream.

The other day I was thinking about how I didn’t have any honey in the house. My options were either to use white sugar or find another substitute. I chose molasses and dark brown sugar. Then I remembered back to Thanksgiving when I made some awesome Oatmeal Molasses Rolls. (I don’t think I ever posted that recipe…) It was a winning recipe to be sure. And the translation to bread loaves was just fine.

Oatmeal Molasses Bread
(Make a half batch if using a KitchenAid type stand mixer. A full recipe works great in a Bosch.)

Ingredients:
2 cups milk
2 cups water
1 cup old-fashioned oats
2 Tbsp. dough enhancer
2 Tbsp. vital wheat gluten
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup molasses
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1-2 eggs
1 Tbsp. salt
2 Tbsp. SAF yeast
7-8+ cups whole wheat flour (can use half white)

Instructions:
Spray 4 or 5, 8″ loaf pans with nonstick cooking spray and preheat oven to 140 degrees for ten minutes and turn off.

Place the dough enhancer, vital wheat gluten, oil, molasses, and eggs in the bowl of mixer. Mix on medium speed until incorporated.

Place the milk, water, and dark brown sugar in a large measuring cup. Heat in the microwave until very hot–even boiling. Stir in the oats. Let stand until the temperature reaches 140 degrees F. Add to the mixer and beat until well combined.

With the mixer running, add 3 cups of the flour. Mix well. Add the yeast. Add the remaining flour a cup at a time until it starts to look more like dough than batter. (Switch to a dough hook if you aren’t using a Bosch.) Keep adding flour a few tablespoons at a time until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl. Add the salt. Let the machine knead the dough for 12 minutes. If the dough clings to the sides while kneading, add a few more tablespoons of flour.

Oil a counter top or smooth surface. Pour kneaded bread dough out onto the oiled surface. Cut into four or five sections. (I weigh mine. Each loaf weighs about 600 grams.)

Roll up each piece and pinch the seam. Place in prepared loaf pan. Let dough rise in the slightly warm oven.

When dough has risen 1″ above the pan, about 30 minutes, turn oven on to 350 degrees. Bake loaves until golden brown and internal temperature is about 180 degrees. This time can vary greatly. It usually takes mine about 30 minutes.

Remove bread from pans. Let cool on a rack.