Dutch Oven Honey Molasses Loaf

Bread in a Dutch oven is a wonder to behold. There is no peaking and the heat is from the fire not the oven temperature knob so you have to stay by it and use your nose. This Honey Molasses Loaf recipe comes from my friend Lynda in South Africa. You might remember she did a guest post about a South African dish called a “Potjiekos”.  And you really need to view Lynda's Blog, it's called FOOD, FUN & FARM LIFE IN EAST AFRICA ! (Sadly, as of 2012, this blog is no longer active)

I made a couple of modification to the original recipe to fit my kitchen supplies and decided this had to be baked in a Dutch oven.

Recipe

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup cake flour

1 cup bran

1 tbsp Sunflower seeds

1 tbsp Sesame seeds

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp sunflower oil

1 tbsp Honey

1 tbsp Molasses

20 g instant yeast

2 cups lukewarm water.

Preparation

Mix all ingredients together. Grease the insides and the underside of the lid of a  10″ Dutch oven. It will be a wet mix and will fill the bottom of the Dutch oven. Pour mixture into Dutch oven and let rise for 30 minutes or until it is close to the top of the Dutch oven. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45  minutes, that's about 6 coals on bottom and 13 coals on top. Rotate the lid and Dutch oven in opposite direction every 10 minutes to eliminate hot spots.

Note: I added a seed and raisin mix instead of using the recipe seeds and poured some on top of the loaf before baking. This is a fairly dense loaf and tasted great with a little butter and honey on it. If you let it rise to sandwich bread height (I didn't) it will be a fantastic sandwich bread for wheat lovers. Last point, if you peak during the baking process you will lose some height. Yep I peaked, I was multitasking the family and forgot my start time, peaked and got some plop. No matter it is still a great bread.

Thanks Lynda!!