Wholewheat and Oats Molasses Bread

This recipe of Wholewheat and Oats Molasses Bread is a combination of a couple different recipes that I made into my own.

Basically….this recipe is definitely a mash up.

It all started when I was in a supermarket and spotted a cheap bottle of Bajan Blackstrap Molasses.

For those of you who don’t know – Barbados is a VERY expensive place to live. I spend my time here and in the UK and I always find the prices of things when I come back to be shocking, so when I stumbled over a decently priced bottle of good quality molasses, (blackstrap at that) I knew I had to find a way to incorporate it into a recipe.

Blackstrap molasses has many health benefits that I am interested in hence, when I saw it, I immediately went on a hunt for recipes. Unfortunately, blackstrap molasses wasn’t all that common of an ingredient people actively use in recipes, therefore, I had to search for some that I could make work. That lead me to bread.

The following recipe is one that took me a few tries to get right (molasses can be quite bitter so I needed to find the perfect balance) but also one that I’m fairly confident with. I wanted to make a “healthier” bread that I could actually enjoy without feeling guilty about eating.

Like most of my recipes, you should consider this as a good starting point – I normally like to leave room for you to make it your own.

After trying this recipe, you’ll find yourself with a deliciously soft, slightly bitter tasting bread with a hint of sweetness.

Boy that was a mouthful!

Let’s get started.

The dough

To make the dough for your wholewheat and oats molasses bread, you first want to prep your wet mixture.

In a large bowl, add oats, water, molasses, sugar and oil. Leave to cool -stirring occasionally – then add your yeast. The mixture should not be hot as that will kill your yeast. A good way to test is by sticking your finger into the mixture and if it feels neither hot/cold (around body temp) then it’s a good time to add your yeast.

Next, in a separate bowl mix together the flours and salt.

Add dry mixture to wet mixture and incorporate well. Be sure not to use metal as this will react with your yeast.

Kneading the dough

Once dough is formed, pour onto floured surface and continue to knead for 10 minutes, adding flour if sticky. I recently got an Alexa device and it’s come in SO handy! I used to fiddle with my phone (hands covered in dough/flour) to set a timer, now I just tell Alexa! So cool!

This is a before and after of the dough. You want it to be soft and smooth and not too sticky. Keep in mind that if using wholewheat flour, it will not be completely smooth.

When your ten minutes is up, place dough into an oiled bowl and let rise for an hour and a half or until it’s doubled in size.

Punch down dough, then divide equally and place into two greased tins. Cover and let rise for another hour.

I like to use one small loaf tin and one big loaf tin as one is for me (the big one lol) and one is for my grandmother.

Let’s get baking our molasses bread!

Preheat oven @ 350f/180c for fifteen minutes.

Place tins in middle of oven and bake for 45-50 minutes or until golden brown.

There you have it fresh bread! They smell amazing once baked.

I like to eat my molasses bread with my cinnamon brown sugar butter or my garlic and herb butter (they’re really simple – may post in future). I prefer them warm so I toast them, but you can eat them however you like.

This bread normally lasts me around 5 days, after 3 or 4 days I usually put them in the fridge to help keep fresh.

Let me know how this recipe turns out for you and how you made yours! Comment on this post or pop me a message on my Instagram and I’ll answer any questions or suggestions.

Enjoy this mashup!

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