Once again someone in the comments section of one of my videos suggested an absolute winner of a recipe. They asked me to make molasses raisin bread which they said was their favourite bread ever. So, I looked it up, wrote a recipe to fit my style, made a video, and now we can all enjoy this sweet and rich loaf.
You can use molasses or black treacle for this recipe. You can swap raisins for some other dried fruit if you’re not into dried grapes. The loaf will be pretty huge, so feel free to reduce the ingredients by 25% – 50% to make it smaller.
This is a relatively quick recipe. I decided to use the scalding technique not only because it makes this already soft bread even softer, but also because the hot scald can be used for soaking the raisins while it’s cooling down. Make the scald a day ahead of time if you want to and continue the recipe on the next day.
This loaf will fit in a 2lb (900g) Pullman tin. If you are using a regular 2lb tin, I’d suggest reducing the ingredients by ¼ or else the dough will be too large.
Watch the video down below for detailed instructions.
Ingredients
For the scald –
50g (1.75oz) white bread flour
265g (9.35oz) boiling water
10g (0.35oz) salt
100g (3.5oz) melted butter
100g (3.5oz) warm molasses
200g (7oz) raisins
For the main dough –
450g (15.9oz) white bread flour
1 egg (50g; 1.75oz)
8g (0.28oz) instant dry yeast or 9.6g (0.33oz) active dry yeast or 24g (0.84oz) fresh yeast
20g (0.7oz) milk for brushing the loaf before baking.
Sugar syrup made up of 20g (0.7oz) water and 20g (0.7oz) sugar for glazing the loaf after baking (optional).
To learn more about no-knead bread dough temperature control click here.
The flour I use has a protein content of 13%. If your flour is weaker, then you may need to lower the hydration.
If you are using active dry yeast, then you may need to let it sit in the water for 10 minutes before adding the other ingredients or else it could take a lot longer to raise the dough.
If you are curious about why the dough contains butter, egg, and sugar, click the links to learn more about the effects those ingredients have on bread dough.
Method
- Make the scald. Combine the flour and boiling water in a large bowl and whisk until smooth. Add the salt, melted butter, and molasses. Whisk again. Finally, add the raisins and mix them in. Cover and leave to cool down for at least 2 hours.
- Make the dough. Add the yeast and egg to the scald and mix well. Add the flour and mix to a dough. *Desired dough temperature 27C (80F). If your dough is warmer, then it will ferment more rapidly. If it is cooler, then it will take longer. Adjust fermentation time accordingly.
- Cover and ferment for 30 minutes.
- Fold #1.
- Ferment for 30 minutes.
- Fold #2.
- Ferment for 30 minutes.
- Shape the loaf and place it in a greased baking tin. Cover and final proof for 1.5 hours.
- Brush the loaf with milk and bake it at 150C (300F) fan on for 45 minutes.
- Carefully remove it from the tin and place it back into the oven to bake for another 15 minutes. Turn it halfway through the bake to ensure the crust is browning evenly.
- Just before the loaf comes out the oven make the sugar syrup by mixing the water and sugar and bringing it up to a boil.
- As soon as the loaf comes out the oven brush it with the hot sugar syrup all over. Leave to cool down.
Enjoy your molasses raising bread toasted with jam or any other way that you like!
Keep in mind that the conditions in each kitchen are different, so fermentation times may vary for you. It is up to the baker to control the bread and react accordingly.
Your oven may be different too, so your baking time may vary.
