Molasses oatmeal loaf
Cookbook Challenge: Week 30 Theme: Baked
Recipe: Molasses oatmeal loaf
From: Quick Breads
We’re on to week 30 of the Cookbook Challenge, and the theme is “baked”. Easy right?! For someone who does a lot of baking, this week’s theme was great!
I was pretty keen to bake bread of some kind, but I ran out of time to do a proper loaf. Instead, I pulled out a book that has recipes for quick breads, and put together this loaf in just over an hour. It should have taken longer, but I didn’t let the oats soak for the full 30 minutes – as soon as my oven had preheated I figured it was good enough.
The loaf is made with porridge oats, molasses or treacle (I used treacle), buttermilk and a mixture of wholemeal and white flour. And it is really good! The oats and wholemeal flour give a chewy, nutty, texture and flavour with a crisp crust. Because it has a mix of white and wholemeal flour, it’s not too dense or heavy. When it came out of the oven, I couldn’t wait for the loaf to cool completely before I cut a slice to taste. Bad, I know, but who can resist bread straight from the oven? Not me! It was great with butter (natch) and a second slice was also really good with honey. The third slice (ha!) saw the return of butter, but I do think a bit of sweetness works really well with this bread.
I’ll definitely make it again. And I’m looking forward to eating the rest for breakfast tomorrow!
See previous Cookbook Challenge posts here.
Update: see the round up for this week at My Food Trail.
Molasses oatmeal loaf
From Quick Breads
Makes a medium loaf
2 tablespoons molasses/black treacle
300ml buttermilk
75g porridge oats
200g plain wholemeal flour
200g plain white flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon sea salt
25g unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes
1 large egg, beaten
a 450g loaf tin, well greased
Mix the molasses/treacle and buttermilk in a bowl and add the oats. Stir, and let it soak for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 200ยฐC.
In a separate bowl, stir together the flours, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Add the butter and rub it in, using the tips of your fingers until it looks like fine breadcrumbs.
Add the beaten egg and the soaked oats and mix well with a wooden spoon. It will be a very thick, heavy dough. Pour it into the greased tin and press it into a loaf shape.
Bake the loaf for 10 minutes, and then reduce the oven temperature to 180ยฐC. Bake for a further 35 minutes.
Turn out on to a wire rack and let it cool completely before slicing.
mademoiselle dรฉlicieuse
June 14, 2010 @ 9:32 am
Looks like an easy breakfast loaf and lovely when warmed in this winter weather. Brrr!
Hannah
June 14, 2010 @ 10:03 am
Agnes! This is *perfect*! I really can't express it enough. I went to bed last night wanting to bake something with the limited ingredients I have (so far) at my new place, and this is the shizzle! I am never without oats as I'm a diehard porridge lover, and mmm… gotsta love me some dark dark treacle ๐
Nice to know you've got my back.
penny aka jeroxie
June 14, 2010 @ 2:09 pm
Drool! Now I know what to do with my molasses.
Anja
June 14, 2010 @ 9:00 pm
Just the name of it makes me want to go straight to the kitchen and bake that thing. This loaf goes very high up on my priority list of what to cook or bake asap. Thanks for sharing.
Agnes
June 14, 2010 @ 9:57 pm
mademoiselle: Brr, indeed! I'm so over this grey winter already and it hasn't even been that cold this year! The loaf was very yummy for breakfast this morning ๐
Hannah: Oooh there goes that psychic link again – I must have picked up on your baking thoughts. Now, let me guess what you're thinking about tonight… ummm… hang on a sec… is it something blue? Or something starting with F? Huh, I'm a terrible psychic, but you know I've always got your back!
Penny: Molasses is one of those ingredients that aren't really used much, isn't it? I'm like that with my jar of treacle. I bought it thinking it would be really useful, but I've hardly used it!
Anja: thanks for the comment! Hope you get a chance to try it. ๐
Sophia
June 15, 2010 @ 6:36 am
This loaf looks so tasty! I've only ever cooked with molasses a couple of times before. Once was with my grandma. We made Molasses Syrup Cookies and boy were they delicious! Thanks for sharing this!
Maria@TheGourmetChallenge
June 15, 2010 @ 9:25 pm
oh yum, fresh hot bread with loads of butter and the honey on top sounds just perfect!!! Oh how I wish we were in the future where a click of the mouse would result in the bread being in front of me right now!!
OohLookBel
June 16, 2010 @ 4:59 pm
Looks amazing! There's nothing like a piece of just-baked bread, is there? Pinging it in the microwave is good, too ๐
Jennie
June 16, 2010 @ 5:20 pm
This looks really yummy! Having a baby is definitely testing my capability to multitask. Will be trying this recipe soon ๐
Miss you twinsy!
April @ My Food Trail
June 17, 2010 @ 2:45 pm
This looks like an interesting recipe! I've never cooked with molasses before… I never associate it with nice things, but your bread looks great!
Ange
June 17, 2010 @ 4:27 pm
Agreed, bread straight out of the oven is amazing slathered with butter of course
Agnes
June 18, 2010 @ 1:56 pm
Sophia: Thanks for the comment, molasses is pretty interesting stuff.
Maria: In the future, you'll just need to think about food and it will magically appear in front of you!
Bel: the smell of fresh bread makes my mouth water!
Jennie: See you SOON! ๐
April: I used treacle in mine – but I think it's very similar to molasses! They both have that really dark sugary quality.
Ange: of course, can't ever forget the butter ๐