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Molasses Oatmeal Bread

Just need the recipe?   Click here for a printable Molasses Oatmeal Bread recipe.

Homemade Molasses Oatmeal Bread

I made this bread a few times back when I was a teenager, but I’d kind of forgotten about it.

One day recently, I was needing to make some loaves of bread and I felt like I wanted to make something a little different than my usual whole wheat bread.

homemade molasses oatmeal bread

So, I flipped thru my vintage Better Homes and Gardens bread cookbook and came across this recipe.   My kids all really liked it, and it was a nice change from our usual loaf.

oatmeal bread

I have to admit, it’s probably not quite as healthy as our usual bread because it’s hasn’t got nearly as high a percentage of whole grains in it. And it contains a pretty hefty amount of molasses which is just liquid sugar.

But still, it’s not exactly junk food, and it IS really yummy.

molasses oatmeal bread

You could definitely substitute whole wheat flour for part of the white flour if you’re feeling virtuous, but I’m not sure I’d go 100% whole wheat.

Oatmeal tends to make the dough a little heavy to begin with, so using at least half white flour will help your loaves to not be overly dense.

molasses and oats

To make this bread, you combine quick-cooking oats, molasses, butter, and salt, and then add boiling water.

add boiling water

This softens the oats, which makes a lot more palatable in your bread.   And it has the handy side benefit of melting your butter!

(The original recipe called for shortening, but none of us are really putting Crisco into our bread anymore, right? Butter is better. 😉 )

Stir and then let the mixture sit until it’s lukewarm.

molasses and oats

Meanwhile, in a mixer bowl, dissolve the yeast in warm water.

dissolve yeast

Once the oats are lukewarm, add cooled oats mixture, 2 eggs, and 2 cups of flour.   Beat for 3 minutes, then stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a soft dough.

oatmeal bread dough

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead by hand for 3 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic.

kneaded oatmeal bread dough

If you prefer, you can finish the kneading in your mixer.   Or if you don’t have a mixer, stir the dough well by hand, and then turn it out onto your counter and knead it by hand for 5-8 minutes.

The molasses makes this dough a little on the sticky side, so don’t fret if your feel like your dough is more tacky than usual.

Put the dough into the mixing bowl, cover it with a wet tea towel, and let it rise for about an hour.

cover with wet tea towel

While the dough rises, grease two 1-pound or 8×4 inch loaf pans, and sprinkle each pan with oats.   It’s kind of like greasing and flouring a cake pan, except with oats.

oat coated bread pan

When the dough has finishing rising, dump it back out onto the counter, divide it in half, and roll each half out into a long rectangle. Starting from the short side, roll the dough up, and place the loaves in the prepared pans, seam side down.

bread dough ready for rising

Cover ’em with a wet tea towel again, and let them rise for about 30-40 minutes, or until they’re doubled in size.

Before the loaves are done rising, preheat your oven to 375 ° F so that it’s hot and toasty before you put your loaves in.

Yeast bread loves a hot oven!   A cold oven, not so much.

brush loaves with water

Before you bake your bread, brush a bit of water on top of the loaves and then sprinkle with more oats.

sprinkle oats on top of breadThis is really just for looks, so no worries if you want to skip it.

risen oatmeal bread

Bake your loaves for 30-35 minutes, or until they’re nicely browned.   Remove them from the pans and let them cool on a wire rack.

oatmeal bread cooling on rack

Some of the oats will fall off as you remove the bread from the pan, but most of them will stick.   Just be prepared for a small mess.

This bread stays soft for several days, but you should do yourself a favor and eat a slice or two while it’s still warm from the oven.

Preferably covered in butter. 😉

Molasses Oatmeal Bread

Printable Molasses Oatmeal Bread

Makes 2 loaves

1 1/4 cups boiling water
1 cup quick cooking rolled oats (I’ve used 1.5 cups successfully)
1/2 cup molasses
1/3 cup butter or other fat of your choice
Scant tbsp salt
4.5 teaspoons instant yeast (2 pkgs.)
1/2 cup warm water
5 3/4 to 6 cups of flour
2 beaten eggs
extra rolled oats for coating the loaves

Combine oats, molasses, butter, and salt in a bowl. Pour boiling water over oats, stir to combine, and let mixture cool to lukewarm.

In a mixer bowl, combine warm water and yeast.   Let sit for a few minutes, then add lukewarm oat mixture, 2 cups of flour, and 2 eggs.   Mix until combine, then beat for 3 minutes.

Add enough remaining flour to make a soft dough, then turn out onto floured surface. Knead 3-5 minutes, or until smooth and elastic.

Place dough in bowl, cover with wet tea towel, and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about an hour.

Grease two 1-pound (or 4×8 inch) bread pans; sprinkle with oats and tip pan to cover sides and bottom.

Turn risen dough out onto lightly floured surface; divide in half. Roll each half out into an oblong shape and roll up, starting with the short end.   Place loaves in prepared pans, seam side down.

Cover with wet tea towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 ° F.   Lightly brush tops of risen loaves with water, then sprinkle with oats.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until nicely brown.   Remove loaves from pan and let cool on a wire rack.

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Steven

Monday 19th of February 2024

Hi ON yr oatmeal molasses bread I can eat eggs what can I substutiue for them . BREAD LOOKS INCREDIBLE CANT WAIT TO TRY IT . THANKS STEVEN .

Kristen

Wednesday 21st of February 2024

You can leave the eggs out if you'd like; it won't make an enormous difference in the finished product. You could add a little extra butter (or some other kind of fat) to make up for the reduced fat from the missing egg yolks.

Nancy

Saturday 10th of September 2022

Forgot to say I only use the dough cycle on the bread machine

Nancy

Saturday 10th of September 2022

Because of MS I cannot knead the dough. Can this be made in a bread machine? Maybe if half the recipe.

Kristen

Tuesday 13th of September 2022

Yes, that should work. Just make sure the cups of flour are similar to the cups of flour you usually use in your machine.

Jerilea

Thursday 28th of July 2022

What a beautiful loaf. I'm letting it cool on the counter now. Judging by the smell...this is a keeper. Thanks!

Mimi

Tuesday 26th of April 2022

Just pulled these out of the oven. They small amazing! I did mess with the flour ratios a bit as I had some bread flour I needed to use up so used 2 cups of bread flour, 1 cup whole wheat flour and just over a cup of AP flour. The dough rose beautifully so fingers crossed I didn’t mess up too much!

Kristen

Tuesday 26th of April 2022

Yay! I hope your first taste was delicious. :)

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