There was a time, many moons ago, when I was expecting my last child. I craved steak, salad and bread from the Outback Steakhouse. I wanted it, I needed it and so my dear husband ordered takeout (quite often) for me. He became friends with people at this well known establishment and often they would give him a complimentary Coke as he waited for the order to be filled. Lovely Outback Steakhouse. At a time when I was confined to bed rest and had plenty of time to conjure up cravings, they became the object of my culinary desire. To this day I love going to the Outback Steakhouse. I love the bread so much that I have searched for a recipe that might come close to their delicious appetizer. This is what I have come up with. Keep in mind, this is not a whole wheat bread. It gets its color and flavor from molasses with some help from cocoa powder. Don’t judge.
Here’s the ingredients you will need. Not pictured is the egg white you will brush on to the raised loaves to help the oats stick to the bread.
Preheat your oven to 200°. Measure 1 3/4 cups warm water into a bowl or better yet, save yourself a dirty dish and do it all in your glass measuring cup. Add 1 package of active dry yeast and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Give it a stir and set it aside. If you are working with a large package of yeast just remember that 2 1/4 teaspoons usually equals a packet of yeast. Set this aside for 6-7 minutes or until the yeast is nice a foamy.
Pour the yeast mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer and add 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder (weird huh?), 1/4 cup molasses, 3 1/2 cups bread flour, 1 cup rye flour, 2 tablespoons softened butter and 2 teaspoons of salt. At this point we have reserved 1 cup of bread flour to add later. Mix ingredients in a stand mixer on medium speed for 5 minutes. Now we are going to add that last cup of flour a little at a time, with the mixer running, until the dough pulls away from the bowl. I usually end up using the entire cup, but you don’t want a stiff dough here. It will be a bit sticky.
Turn the kneaded dough onto a floured surface.
Form dough into desired shape. You can make one large loaf, several small loaves or rolls. I like to make two loaves. This bread does not require a first rise before forming so jump right in. Lightly grease or line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place your loaves on the baking sheet. Spray the top of the loaves with cooking spray or lightly brush with cooking oil.
Turn off your preheated oven and place the baking sheet in the oven for rising. And can we say how well I cropped this photo so that none of you are any the wiser about my less than pristine oven?
Allow the loaves to rise in the oven for 25 minutes or until they have doubled in size. Remove them from the oven. Increase the temperature of the oven to 350°. While the oven is coming up to temperature carefully brush the top of the raised loaves with egg white (whisked) and sprinkle with uncooked oats. Go ahead and dab extra egg white on top of some of the oats to make them good and sticky. It looks so pretty when it comes out of the oven.
When the oven reaches the desired temperature slip the loaves in and bake them for 25 to 30 minutes. Remove them from the oven and place on a wire cooling rack. Brush with melted butter. Serve warm.
Can I just say that making bread is something you can get good at? In general it requires few ingredients and with a little practice you can enjoy a home filled with a wonderful aroma and the memorable taste of fresh homemade bread. Don’t give up!
This bread gets it's dark color from the molasses and cocoa powder. Not to worry, it doesn't taste like chocolate but the cocoa powder adds a unique richness to the bread. Add a tablespoon of caraway seeds for a lovely Rye Bread variation.
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups warm water (95°-115°)
- 1 packet active dry yeast (this equals approximately 2 1/4 teaspoons)
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 4 1/2 cups bread flour
- 1 cup rye flour
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 tablespoons melted or softened butter
- 1 egg white for brushing raised bread
- Sprinkling of uncooked oats
- additional butter for brushing the loaves after they are done
Instructions
- Begin by preheating your oven to 200°.
- Stir together water (somewhere between 95° and 115° it should be very warm, but not hot), yeast and sugar. Just a light stir to bring the yeast in contact with the sugar and water. Set aside for 6-7 minutes or until the yeast is nice and foamy.
- Pour yeast mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer and add cocoa, molasses, 3 1/2 cups of the 4 1/2 cups required flour, rye flour, 2 tablespoons softened butter and salt. With dough hook in place mix all ingredients for 5 minutes in your stand mixer. Add the last cup of flour to the dough as it mixes until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl. The dough for this bread should be slightly sticky. Most of the time I end up using the entire last cup of flour. 🙂
- Turn the dough out on a lightly floured surface and shape the dough into desired shape. I like to make mine in to two separate loaves but it works great to put the dough into a large oval pan as well. Place the dough on a parchment-lined baking sheet and coat the top of the dough lightly with cooking spray.
- Turn your preheating oven off and place the loaves into the oven. Allow the loaves to raise for 25 minutes or until the loaves have doubled in size.
- Remove the loaves and preheat the oven to 350°.
- While the oven is preheating, carefully brush the tops of the rising loaves with egg white and sprinkle uncooked oats over the top. I like to wet the sprinkled oats with a little bit more egg white to make sure they stick during the cooking process.
- Bake at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack. Brush with butter.
- Serve warm.
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