2Tablespoonbutter, at room temperature or vegetable oil, in same quantity
1largeegg, lightly beaten
1teaspoongranulated white sugar
1/2cuplukewarm water, about 105F
1Tablespoonactive dry or Instant yeast, not rapid or quick-rising
1cupwhole wheat flour
1 3/4teaspoonfine salt
3cupsall purpose flour, approximately
Topping before baking:
1largeegg, beaten
2Tablespoonslarge-flake rolled oats
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Instructions
In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, add the oats and boiling water. Stir and let stand 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine the white sugar, lukewarm water and yeast in a small bowl. Stir to combine and let stand 10 minutes.
Once oats have soaked, add the molasses, butter and egg to the bowl and stir to combine with a spoon or kneading hook on a mixer. Add the yeast mixture, whole wheat flour, salt and 1 1/2 cups of the all purpose flour.
Use a spoon or kneading hook to mix in thoroughly. Continue by adding the last cup of flour, in small increments, adding only as much as needed to create a moist dough that wraps the kneading hook and cleans the bowl in spots. You may not need all of the last cup or you may need a bit more that 1 cup. Dough will be quite moist.
Remove dough to a floured work surface and knead 1 minutes, adding additional flour if dough is sticking to hands or work surface. Form into a ball, place in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size, approximately 60-75 minutes.
Remove dough to a floured work surface. Press to deflate, then divide into 2 equal pieces.
Take one piece of the dough and roll into a 8 x 11-inch rectangle. Starting from the short side, roll the dough up jelly-roll style and pinch the seams to seal.
Place into a greased 8 x 4-inch loaf pan. Repeat with the other piece of dough. **If you only have 9x5-inch loaf pans, you can use them here. Roll your dough into a slightly larger 9x12-inch rectangle, so it will fill the larger pan. Your resulting loaf will be wider and shorter and the cooking time may change, so watch closely.
Cover the pans with greased plastic wrap or a clean tea towel and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 375F (not fan-assisted), with rack in the centre of the oven.
Once loaves are ready to bake, brush tops with beaten egg and sprinkle with additional rolled oats.
Bake in preheated over for about 40 minutes, checking after about 25 minutes and covering the tops loosely with a sheet of aluminum foil if loaves are nicely browned already, to prevent over-browning. If you have an instant-read thermometer, baked loaves until the loaves read at least 200F when inserted into the centre of the loaf.
Remove from oven and immediately remove loaves to a cooling rack to cool completely before slicing.
Notes
1. Be sure to use "Fancy" molasses and not Cooking or Blackstrap molasses, which is too strong and harsh in flavour. If you only have Cooking molasses on hand, you can try and use half Cooking molasses and half liquid honey.This bread freezes beautifully up to 3 months.