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Grammie’s Oatmeal Molasses Brown Bread

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Brown Bread

I mentioned in an earlier post how most of Canada is now in the midst of the “dog days” of winter.  I live on the east coast and we have already been totally pummeled this year and winter has officially, barely begun.

On December 23rd we were entombed in ice more than an inch thick, lost power for days (many for up to 11 days!) had four successive snow storms and are now in the midst of bone chilling, record-breaking cold temperatures.

What is a girl to do with all of this wild weather but to head to the kitchen and start baking! We had a big ham dinner on New Years Day and a couple of days later, to my surprise, had some ham still remaining!  So for dinner that night, to serve with the ham, I decided to make a big batch of homemade baked beans and a couple of loaves of my grandmother’s Oatmeal Molasses Brown Bread.  I have modified her original bread recipe just a bit, but the results are still as fabulous!

When working with yeast the temperature of the liquid used to activate the yeast is VERY important. Too cool and the yeast won’t activate, too hot and you will kill the yeast.  Many people just go by “feel”; the water should feel warm on your wrist, but not hot.  However, I am not confident in the guessing method so I have always used a thermometer to get the exact temperature of the liquid before adding my yeast.

Oatmeal Molasses Brown Bread

When you have added enough flour to the mixture, the dough should clean the sides of the bowl.  In the picture above, the dough still needed about 1/8 of a cup and it then almost completely cleaned the sides of the bowl.  Once the bowl is “clean”, start your 10 minutes of kneading time.

Oatmeal Molasses Brown Bread

The glossy mound of soft dough, all oiled and ready to be put in a warm place to rise. (Note the “cleaned” bowl, it is the same one I used for mixing, it has not been washed, and there is barely a trace of dough on the sides.}

Oatmeal Molasses Brown Bread

The warm, soft, mass of dough has paused just long enough for a quick picture before being divided in two and placed into waiting pans.

If only I could do justice to the sweet, yeasty, hearty perfume wafting from the oven when these beauties were baking.  I could barely restrain myself  from loping off a big slice and slathering it with butter…DELICIOUS!

Oatmeal Molasses Brown Bread

I could wait no longer!

4.9 from 9 reviews
Oatmeal Molasses Brown Bread
 
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Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • 3 tsp active dry yeast
  • 11/2 cup warm water (110°F to 115°F)
  • 1 Tbsp. honey
  • 2 Tbsp butter (melted and cooled)
  • 2 Tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • ½ cup molasses
  • 2 tsp of salt
  • 1 cup rolled oats
  • 4 to 5 cups of flour
Instructions
  1. In a large mixing bowl add yeast and honey to the warm water, let sit until creamy and bubbly.
  2. Affix paddle attachment to mixer and add the butter, sugar, egg and molasses, mix well.
  3. Affix dough hook and add 3 cups of the flour, salt and rolled oats, mix well.
  4. Gradually add only enough of the remaining flour to make a soft dough that cleans the sides of the bowl when mixing.
  5. How much flour added will depend on a multitude of variables.(humidity, weather, measuring technique, etc) Today, I used about 41/2 cups total.
  6. Using the dough hook attachment knead for 10 minutes.
  7. The dough should feel soft and but not sticky. If dough is sticky add a bit more flour and knead another couple minutes.
  8. Place the dough in a greased bowl.(I use the same bowl, remove the dough, add some olive oil and put the dough back in the bowl and move it around to cover it in the oil.)
  9. Cover with a clean tea towel and place in a warm spot. (If you have a "proof" setting on your oven you can use this or place in a nice warm spot away from any draft.)
  10. Let rise until the dough doubles in size, about 2 hours.
  11. Meanwhile, butter two 6" x 10" loaf pans.
  12. Remove dough from bowl to a clean cutting board and divide dough into two pieces.
  13. Shape each piece into a log shape and place in greased pan. Sprinkle each loaf with a bit of oatmeal.
  14. Cover the pans and return them to a warm place until once again doubled in size; approximately 1 hour.
  15. Preheat oven to 350°F and half fill a small ovenproof dish with water.
  16. When dough has doubled in size, place both breads and pan of water in oven. (The moisture from the water will help the bread rise even more and make a crunchy top).
  17. Bake for 45 - 55 minutes until golden and hollow sounding when tapped.
  18. Remove from the oven and let sit in the pan 15 - 20 minutes. Then remove the loaves to a rack to finish cooling.

 

I hope you enjoy this recipe and as always, if you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Happy Baking!

 

 

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Comments

    • Monica Parlee says

      Hi Natalie,

      You can certainly use margarine and the results will be the same, however, it MUST be the hard/block form. The soft spreadable margarine in a tub will not give the same result.
      Hope this answers your question Natalie.

      Monica

      Reply

  9. Sharon says

    Absolutely love baking different breads and after sharing with friends from work I think it’s become a favorite with them also.
    Extra bonus, it makes my home smell like heaven.

    Reply

  10. Margey says

    HI! This is an old post, but I’m commenting anyway. I used to make an oatmeal molasses bread years ago but lost the recipe. There seem to be quite a few recipes on the web for this bread, and I’ve tried 3 of them so far. Yours is next. I can’t get the same height to the loaf and the density is also different. It’s been almost 40 years since I lost the recipe, so I have absolutely no clue what is different. Hope this one is it!

    Reply

  11. Still Happygal says

    Halved the recipe as there are only 2 of us. Still used the one small egg. Made 2 beautiful small loaves. Went perfectly with our homemade molasses beans. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply

  14. Tara says

    Hi silly question but I have made brown bread before and that recipe said to soak the oats for at least an hour. I noticed this one didn’t. My question is does it matter if you soak the oats or not?

    Reply

    • Monica Parlee says

      Hi Tara,

      Not sure about other recipes, but with this one there is no soaking required.
      With the other recipe, all I can think of is, it may possibly have something to do with the amount of liquid in the recipe.

      Monica

      Reply

    • Kim says

      I made this bread to go with roasted pumpkin soup for dinner. It was so easy and the tast and texture were wonderful. It was the star of the meal. Also wonderfu as toast with peanutbutter the next day. Thank You for the recipe.

      Reply

    • Monica Parlee says

      Hi Lauren, I’m sorry but I’m not sure. I am thinking you would do the mixing in the breadmaker and then let it rise according to the instructions here, but I don’t own a breadmaker so I am not certain.

      Reply

  19. Rick says

    I made your Oatmeal Brown Bread today , to go with my homemade beans and can honestly say it is delicious, from one Atlantic Canadian to another Thank You for the recipe.

    Reply

  20. Nicole says

    I am from NB oromocto area Monica and this is as close as I have ever gotten to the taste of the molasses brown bread caron the pumpkin patch farmers market… thank you for sharing

    Reply

  21. Marika says

    I don’t have a dough hook attachment. I just have a regular hand mixer. What should I do? I’ve never made bread before.

    Reply

  22. Phyllis Huk says

    I was introduced to “porridge” bread while visiting friends in Cape Breton this summer. I made your recipe in my bread machine. I cut to 2/3 to fit in my machine. Soooooo delicious.

    Reply

  23. Dawn M says

    Just put my first batch to proof and my daughter is already saying how good it smells :)
    I’m new to bread making. Wondering if after the first rise to shape one loaf and leave to rise and put the remaining dough covered into the fridge overnight? Then shape and do second rise before baking?
    Thank you!

    Reply

  26. Maggie says

    I had to write a rating on this because of how many times I’ve made this bread and how often it gets requested in my house. I rotate making this bread with my other breads so end up making it every couple of weeks, usually along with a batch of baked beans. I make this bread exactly as written – though sometimes I substitute the honey with maple syrup, only because I have it on hand. Either way, this recipe is fantastic every time.
    Thank you for sharing.

    Reply

  27. Keith Shaw says

    Hi Monica
    I remember baked beans and brown bread on Saturday nights in Woodstock N.B.
    so good but don’t recall my mom using whole wheat flour, can I use whole wheat
    for your recipe?

    Thanks
    Keith

    Reply

Trackbacks

  5. […] #8 Grammie’s Oatmeal Molasses Brown Bread ~ What is a girl to do with all of this wild weather but to head to the kitchen and start baking! We had a big ham dinner on New Years Day and a couple of days later, to my surprise, had some ham still remaining!  So for dinner that night,  to serve with the ham, I decided to make a big batch of homemade baked beans and a couple loaves of my grandmother’s Oatmeal Molasses Brown Bread.  I have modified her original bread recipe just a bit, but the results are still as fabulous! […]

    Reply

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