About this bread
This Guinness and Molasses bread was a delicious surprise. It’s a hearty loaf with a soft, chewy texture and a slight malt flavor coming from the Guinness. Guinness beer isn’t popular here in the US, but according Toad & Co, it’s actually good for you:
“Antioxidants make it heart healthy Move over, red wine. A 2003 study claimed that a pint of Guinness could cut the risk of blood clots forming in the arteries, while other beers didn’t have the same effect. You can thank flavonoids, a plant-based antioxidant found in certain drinks and dark chocolate, for this heart healthy benefit.”
In addition to being a tasty loaf, Guinness and Molasses bread is super easy to bake. You can skip the KitchenAid mixer. It’s probably simpler to make it by hand. Just dump all seven ingredients in a bowl, mix well, then knead for 5-10 minutes. Let it rise for an hour. Shape into a ball. Let rise for another hour. Bake for about 30 minutes. Done!
This is recipe #13 from Paul Hollywood’s 100 Great Breads. The only change I made in the original recipe is to cut down the amount of salt to 2 teaspoons because I haven’t had success with using as much salt as Hollywood’s recipes suggest.
Guinness and Molasses Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 cup white flour (bread flour, if you have it. I use regular white flour since I bought in bulk to save money)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2¼ teaspoons instant yeast
- 2 tablespoons molasses
- 2/3 cup Guinness stout beer
- ½-⅔ cup warm water
Instructions
- Mix the flours, salt, and yeast together until mixed.
- Put the molasses in the warm water, and stir so that it's incorporated.
- Add the beer and the molasses water to the flour mixture and stir well.
- Knead the dough for 5-10 minutes. It should be just a tiny bit sticky. By this I mean that the dough won't stuck all over your hands, but it will still feel a bit moist.
- Let rise 1 hour in a bowl covered with plastic wrap.
- Form into a ball, place on a lined baking sheet, and let rise for another hour.
- Cut several slashes in the bread and dust with whole wheat flour. Bake 400°F. for 30 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
How salt affects the bread (from Ed and Marieke @ weekendbakery.com)
- Salt acts as a natural antioxidant in the dough and not only adds taste but especially helps bring out the flavors and aromas present in the flour and other ingredients.
- Next to its role in boosting the flavor of your bread, salt plays a role in tightening the gluten structure and adding strength to your dough. It helps the loaf to hold on to the carbon dioxide gas that is formed during fermentation, supporting good volume.
- Salt slows down fermentation and enzyme activity in dough. The salt crystals draw water away form their environment (salt is ‘hygroscopic’). When salt and yeast compete for water, salt wins and the yeast is slowed down.
- Because of its moisture maintaining properties, salt can prevent bread from getting stale but it can also (this is especially true in humid environments) absorb moisture from the air and leave you with soft crusts and soggy bread.
Some other breads you might like:
- Milk loaf – a slightly sweet yeasted bread that tastes something like a large croissant
- Dark Rye Bread – Even if you don’t usually like rye, you’ll like this bread.
- The best and easiest white bread – The name says it all. You will love this loaf for sandwiches, toast, and whenever you want a good white bread.
