Old Fashioned Molasses Bread Recipe

Here’s how I make old fashioned molasses bread for our family!

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I collect old cookbooks.

One of the things I’ve noticed in these cookbooks is that molasses is used in EVERYTHING.

Molasses is a byproduct of making sugar. When sugar cane is boiled, sugar crystals are produced, leaving behind the thick, dark syrup known as molasses.

Historically, it was cheaper than sugar before the cost of sugar went down in the early 1900s.

Why use molasses now? It contains minerals such as iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium, copper, and manganese. It also has a great flavor!

So, I use molasses in place of sugar for my bread. I use freshly ground flour in my bread, but you can use regular store bought flour as well! (if you use white flour, the color of your bread will not be as dark as mine!)

I will leave links to everything I use for my bread making at the bottom of this post!

Yield: 1 -2 loaves

Old Fashioned Molasses Bread

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This old fashioned molasses bread has a dark, rich flavor, and an added nutritional boost! Whole Wheat flour may be replaced with freshly ground flour.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup molasses
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 5-6 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 2 cups warm water
• 2 TSP butter to butter bread pans with

Instructions

1. Combine the warm water, yeas, and molasses. Whisk together and allow to proof for 5-10 minutes.
2. Add in your flour, salt, and melted butter. (The melted butter should be WARM, not hot)
3. Knead well. Allow to rest for 30 minutes.
4. Butter 1-2 bread pans. You can separate your dough into two loaves for shorter loaves of bread, or you can put all of your dough into one bread pan for a nice tall loaf of bread.
5. Allow bread to rise for 30 minutes. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.
6. Bake your bread in a preheated oven for about 55 minutes, or until the bread reaches an internal temperature of 180 degrees fahrenheit (a clean meat thermometer is fantastic for getting that perfect loaf of bread!)
7. Pop out of your bread pans immediately, and allow to cool completely before slicing.

Ingredients

To make this bread, you will need:

• 1/3 cup molasses
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 5-6 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cups melted butter (1 stick)
• 2 cups warm water
• Additional 2 tsp butter to rub onto bread pans

How to make this bread:

1. Combine the warm water, yeast, and molasses. Whisk together and allow to proof for 5-10 minutes.

2. Add in your flour, salt, and melted butter. (The melted butter should be WARM, not hot)

3. Knead well. Allow to rest for 30 minutes.

4. Butter 1-2 bread pans. You can separate your dough into two loaves for shorter loaves of bread, or you can put all of your dough into one bread pan for a nice tall loaf of bread.

5. Allow bread to rise for 30 minutes. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.

6. Bake your bread in a preheated oven for about 55 minutes, or until the bread reaches an internal temperature of 180 degrees fahrenheit (a clean meat thermometer is fantastic for getting that perfect loaf of bread!)

7. Pop out of your bread pans immediately, and allow to cool completely before slicing.

My Bread Pans

I use cast iron bread pans. I’m a big believer in using natural, healthy cooking materials, and I also love purchasing something that (Lord willing) I’ll never have to replace. That, and the fact that cast iron is EXCELLENT at retaining heat, makes cast iron my #1 favorite cookware, hands down.

Here’s a link to my bread pans.

My Bread Knife

I also want to share my bread knife with you, because I honestly never thought it would make as much of a difference as it actually does when cutting my bread.

My loaves of bread cut so much more neatly (and so much easier) with this (inexpensive) bread knife!

Meat Thermometer: The key to a perfect loaf

My break baking game changed completely when I started using a meat thermometer (clean, of course!) to temp my bread before removing it from the oven.

Test your bread in the center of the loaf. When it reads between 180-190 degrees Fahrenheit, you know it’s done!

You’ll never experience a raw (or overcooked) loaf again!

Here’s a link to the thermometer!

Real Salt

Here’s the real mineral salt I use.

Real Molasses

Here’s the real (nonGMO) molasses I use.

Real Flour

Here’s my grain mill that I use to grind my own flour!

You can use the coupon code QUIETLIFE20 for $20 off your grain mill!

Certified Glyphosate Residue Free Wheat Berries

Here are the wheat berries I use!