Sourdough Molasses Brown Bread | Ashley Marie Farm and Bakery (2024)

|Sourdough Molasses Brown Bread|

This Sourdough Molasses Brown Bread is everything warm, sweet, and inviting. Ultra soft, shred-able texture with deep, warm molasses flavor and easier digestibility thanks to the sourdough. Pretty much everything you could ask for on a cold winter evening.

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Well this, and some butter of course. Because what is bread without butter??

We’ve entered the deep, long days of winter here in the north. The holidays have passed and, while the days are inching closer to spring in length, the drab weather has just settled in.

It’s these days that pass slowly, with nothing but spring to look forward to. It’s these days that I try to lean into the slow, comfortable pace of winter. I try hard not to yearn too much for spring.

For when spring comes, I know it’ll be a flurry of preparing the garden to grow, purchasing of chicks, and long days that run together. So I’m trying to accept these days and use them to spend time with good food and family.

But alas, I do dream of a lush garden and the dog days of summer…

This bread is a good distraction for those dreams. It is everything a cozy winter day needs. The kneading of the dough, the slow rising, the rich smell and warmth from the oven. Then the baking and the sharing. How very blessed is a kitchen who has this bread.

Molasses and sourdough marry in such an old time-y way in this recipe. It makes me feel as though I’m in touch with my old pioneer ancestors. Although the honey in this recipe is much more of a luxuriant ingredient that our pioneer ancestors would have relished. And the avocado oil they would have only dreamed of!

This Sourdough Molasses Brown Bread is soft, tear-able (not to be confused with terrible 😉 ), rich, slightly sweet and just all around GOOD.

The sourdough makes it healthier and adds depth to the flavor. The molasses makes it rich and warm. The honey, sweet and floral…

Just go ahead and make it, then YOU tell me how it tastes!

This is a pretty straight forward recipe but here are a couple of tips to ensure success:

• This dough (like my Buttermilk Honey Bread) needs intensive kneading. You need to achieve window pane development (see my resources page if you don’t understand what I mean). If you do not achieve windowpane it won’t be as soft.
• If your kneading has been going on for a while and the gluten is developing slowly, feel free to knead in 15 minute intervals. Knead for 5 minutes or so then let it rest (covered) for 15 minutes and repeat. This allows the gluten to relax and form tighter bonds so that it develops easier.
• Use a scale to measure your ingredients. I’ll be on my death bed shouting this. Scales make baking so much more accurate. They aren’t much of an investment and so worth it! (This is similar to the one I use.)
• Resist the urge to add more flour. This dough starts out very wet but as the gluten develops it becomes a workable slightly sticky dough.
• Don’t skimp on the rise times. If your kitchen is cooler it may take a little longer, if your kitchen is warmer it may be a bit shorter but as is the nature of sourdough, it takes a while for a full rise.
• You can shape these into a pan loaf or rolls or maybe even a “rustic” free form loaf. The sky is the limit. Have fun.

Sourdough Molasses Brown Bread

Servings: 2 large loaves

Ingredients:

• 540g Water
• 100g sourdough starter
• 120g molasses
• 15g unsweetened cocoa powder
• 40g avocado oil
• 110g honey
• 12g sea salt
• 300g whole wheat flour
• 500g bread flour

Instructions:

1. Place all of the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the dough hook knead for about 10 minutes. Check for gluten development. If it is not at windowpane yet, let rest for 10 minutes then knead again for 5 minutes. Repeat as many times as it requires to achieve windowpane development.
2. Once the dough is a slightly sticky but cohesive mass and has achieved windowpane development, cover and let rise until double for about 8-10 hours.
3. When the dough has doubled prepare two loaf pans with a light greasing and dusting of flour.
4. Dump dough out onto a lightly floured counter and shape into loafs. Place in the loaf pans and cover (I put them inside a clean garbage bag and twist it trapping air inside so that the bag isn’t touching the loaves). Let proof in the covered pans for another 6-8 hours or until they have reached the top of the pans or a little over the top of the pans.
5. When the final proofing is done preheat the oven to 400*f and brush the tops of the loaves with melted butter or cream.
6. Bake at 400*f for 10 minutes then turn the oven down to 375*f and bake another 20-30 minutes for a total of 30-40 minutes. Or until fragrant and browning.
7. Take out of the oven and let stand for 5 minutes then turn out of the pans and let cool the rest of the way. Enjoy!

What do you do to embrace the long days of winter?? Tell me in the comments!