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sweet brown bread sliced on a cutting board
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Sweet Brown Bread

Course bread
Cuisine American
Keyword brown bread
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Rise Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 50 minutes
Servings 3 loaves

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Combine the water, yeast, molasses, cocoa powder, oil, honey, salt, and 2 cups of the whole wheat flour in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix until combined. I recommend using a dough hook if you have one.
  • Add one cup of flour at a time with the mixture running until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Add the whole wheat flour first, then the bread/all-purpose flour. You may not need to use all of the flour. Knead in the mixer for 5 minutes. The dough should be soft and slightly sticky, but not sticking to the sides of the bowl.
  • Transfer the dough to a large, lightly greased bowl, then cover with plastic wrap or a clean dish towel.  Let rise until doubled in size. This will take 1-2 hours depending on how warm the room is.
  • Once the dough is doubled in size, remove from the bowl and divide it into two or three evenly-sized pieces. Two pieces will make large loaves.  Line a baking sheet with either parchment paper or a silpat mat. Shape the dough into oval shapes and place onto the baking sheet. If you are making three loaves, you will need to use two baking sheets to make sure they have space to rise without touching each other.
  • Cover the loaves with a light dish towel and let rise again until puffy and doubled in size, about an hour. Right before baking, cut three slashes across the top of each loaf.
  • Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  Bake the loaves for 25 minutes.  Remove from the oven and lightly brush with the melted butter, then sprinkle with the oats and bake for another 5-7 minutes, until browned and cooked through.  Cool before slicing.