Mum's Molasses Brown Bread

While it may seem I'm copping out twice in a row by posting other people's recipes, this recipe is actually in my Grammie's cookbook. My Mum, who is an AMAZING baker, has the best brown bread recipe I've ever made or tasted. Hands down. Over the past few years I've shared it with many friends and members of my husband's family. Even the most novice bread-maker will find this recipe manageable and easy to follow. It was the first bread I ever made, and unlike my first try with white bread, it was a complete success. I think we ate an entire loaf in a day. What made me choose to share it here even though I've already passed it along to many people, is the fact that I can tell my Grammie really liked it too. There are several copies of the recipe in her cookbook, one in Grammie's handwriting, and two in my Mum's. The recipe is always the same, and the one my Grammie wrote down has my mother's name proudly written at the top. The second copy I found is in my mother's neat handwriting, familiar to me from her signature on permission slips and birthday cards. The third copy I found looked like her handwriting, but different from what I remember. It's youthful, unsure, and not so different from my own. It's fascinating to me that as she changed, this recipe stayed the same. I think I'm like that too. I know I've changed. At first I was a child, then I moved out, became a wife, and now a mother. Still, through all the changes in my life, inside I'm still the same person, learning new talents but not forgetting my old ones. As I'm sure my parents will tell you if you ask, I was not always an accomplished baker or cook. I lacked confidence and foresight. I had more than one incident in which I almost burned my parents house down by means of the microwave. While it may be a funny story to them, to me it was a learning experience. I learned about patience, attentiveness, and in the long run to trust my instincts. Now, here I am today using those hard-won skills for my family. It always seemed to me my Mum and Grammie came by their talent for baking genetically. There are generations of women in my family who had no fears in the kitchen. Somehow though, looking at my mother's uncertain handwriting as she shared her recipe with her own mother, I realised maybe I was wrong. We are only who we are because of who we were. We are women because once upon a time we were princesses playing tea party under our mother's watchful eyes. Or in my mother's case, my Mum is a confident baker because once upon a time her mother like a recipe enough that she included it amongst her favourites in her flour-covered cookbook. I'm grateful for this realisation because I appreciate something so simple as a bread recipe more today because it tells me something of who my mother and grandmother were yesterday. Maybe someday I'll have a recipe to share with you, Mum, that you can proudly write my name at the top of. Until then, I'll keep learning from the written history of the women of our family. A few old binders crammed with the memories of a woman who left us too soon but who helped give you and now me confidence to share old things and try new things.

Now, on to the recipe! Here's a shot of everything you'll need. Just add water! Doesn't look so menacing, does it? And no, you don't have to buy the jumbo jug of molasses. I just REALLY like this bread recipe so it behooves me to keep molasses in bulk.

Mix and let cool to lukewarm:

4 cups boiling water

2 cups quick rolled oats

1 1/2 cups golden molasses (I use dark with great results)

1/2 cup margarine

If you stir this mix frequently, I think you'll find it's cool in 10 minutes. As such, you'll want to get your yeast ready pretty much as soon as you've combined the oat mixture.

Mix and let stand for 10 minutes:

2 1/2 tablespoons quick rise dry yeast

1 tablespoon sugar

1 cup lukewarm water

Once the 10 minutes has elapsed, combine the two mixtures in a large bowl. Mix in 12 to 14 cups of flour. Just like the white bread, I recommend you mix in the flour gradually so your mix isn't overwhelmed. Turn mix out onto a floured surface and knead well. You will want the dough to be a little sticky. A great feature of this recipe is that you don't have to double rise the dough in a bowl. Cut the dough into four, form the quarters into loaves and put into greased bread pans. Let your loaves rise to double covered with a dry cloth towel. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 to 35 minutes. Stay close to the oven and follow your nose because the bottom burns very easily. You'll know it's ready when the top of your bread is a beautiful golden brown. Let the loaves cool in the pans for 20 minutes, then cool them the rest of the way on wire racks. Or, if you don't want to let them cool, take a bread knife and dig in. Much like the white bread, this bread freezes very well. Just pop it into clean bread bags once it's cooled and put it right in your freezer. When you're ready for it, take it out and let it defrost on your counter. This bread is SO good it doesn't need any spreads, but it's very good as a grilled cheese sandwhich. I'm salivating just thinking of it. I'd better wrap this up so I can get downstairs and get some while it's fresh...

This one's for you Mum! Enjoy your baking!