Newfoundland Molasses Raisin Bread
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Newfoundland Molasses Raisin Bread. A classic Newfoundland recipe that everyone's Mom or Nan made back in the day. It's often enjoyed at the Holidays and is a favourite for morning toast with gobs of melting butter.
Originally published on December 22, 2008.
In the last few remaining baking days leading up to Christmas, I like to make this incredibly popular Newfoundland Molasses Raisin Bread commonly referred to in this province as "Lassie Raisin Bread".
This is another of those iconic Newfoundland recipes that every native Newfoundlander's mother or grandmother used to make and hopefully still does.
This bread is fantastic warm, straight out of the oven and makes the absolute best toast ever!
Molasses raisin toast is a bit of a Christmas morning tradition in our house. I normally make several loaves for the freezer and a few extra loaves for a couple of lucky gift recipients.
If you've never done it before, be sure to hold back a little of the dough for "Lassie Raisin Toutons" which make a fantastic brunch addition too.
Fry them at a little lower heat than you do regular toutons though as the added sugar in this dough browns and burns more easily.
Measuring flour correctly.
It is easy to over measure flour for any recipe by as much as 30% or more as you can see in the photo below. Both are one cup of flour but one weighs much more. Read more on how to avoid this common baking pitfall in our post on How to Measure Flour Correctly.
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Newfoundland Molasses Raisin Bread
A classic Newfoundland recipe that everyone's Mom or Nan made back in the day. It's often enjoyed at the Holidays and is a favourite for morning toast with gobs of melting butter.
Ingredients
- 1 cup lukewarm water
- 2 tablespoon white sugar
- 2 8 gram envelopes dry yeast (or 4 teaspoon total)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 8 cups all purpose flour, approximately
- 1 ½ cups lukewarm milk
- 1 cup molasses
- ¾ cup melted butter
- 2 beaten eggs
- 3 cups raisins
Instructions
- In a small bowl, stir the sugar into the lukewarm water and then sprinkle the yeast over the top. Let stand without stirring for 10 minutes.
- In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer that has a dough hook, stir together 3 cups of the flour along with the salt. When the yeast is ready, stir it add it to the flour and salt along with the butter, molasses, warm milk and beaten eggs.
- Using a wooden spoon or the regular paddle of your electric mixer, mix slowly for 4-5 minutes until the mixture is smooth with no lumps. If using an electric mixer, switch to the dough hook at this point and begin to slowly incorporate the remaining flour. You may need to use a little more or less flour than the recipe details to bring your dough to a proper consistency that is not too sticky. This is not unusual.
- If not using an electric mixer, keep mixing in the flour gradually until a soft dough forms that leaves the sides of the bowl.
- Add the raisins at this point and continue to knead until the raisins are evenly distributed in the dough.
- Turn the dough out onto a flour-dusted counter top or breadboard to knead. Knead the dough for an additional 5-10 minutes by hand.
Proofing the dough
- Place the dough in a large bowl cover the dough with a damp tea towel. Leave it to rest and rise for two hours. Punch the dough down and knead it for a few minutes by hand before letting it rest for another 10 minutes.
- Grease 4 medium loaf pans. 9 x 5 inches at the top or similar dimensions. Divide the dough into 12 equal portions. Form each portion into a ball. I use a kitchen scale for this purpose, taking the total weight of the dough and them dividing by 12.
- Place 3 balls of dough in each prepared loaf pan. Cover with a clean tea towel and allow the dough to rise until it is about 2 inches above the rim of the pan, about 2-3 hours depending on room temperature. Molasses bread generally takes quite a bit longer to rise/proof than white bread.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 40-50 minutes depending on the size of the pans that you are using. The top and bottom crust should have good colour.
- When baked, turn the loaves out onto a wire rack to cool. Brush the tops with melted butter if desired to soften the top crust.
Notes
For those who are familiar with making your own bread, you should be aware that the rising time for this bread is generally quite a bit longer than other breads. The times quoted here are just guidelines and will vary considerably depending on room temperature. The most important rising is in the pans; just make sure that the dough rises at least a couple of inches above the bread pans before baking the bread.
Total time noted in the recipe does not include rising times. Allow severl hours in addition.
Recommended Products
Rock Recipes a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Our product recommendations are almost exclusively for those we currently use or have used in the past.
Hello, i come here often to look at your recipes, and on the odd ocassion i try one out. Last night i made the Molasses raisin bread recipe. WOW! WAY better than the recipe i already had, this one is replacing the old one, and my husband and father are two happy men today 😛 Thanks for the great recipe.
I am to the baking stage as I write this. Oven is preheating and I am having trouble waiting. I can't wait to get it out of the oven. Thanks Barry for another fantabulous recipe.Dale MacDonald
My Nanny used to make Raisin Bread for us all of the time. She passed away a few years ago. I'm hoping this recipe is similar to hers. The ingredients look the same.
I halved the recipe and make it today, and my husband said it was the best yet. My breads can be dunchy sometimes, but this one was lovely. Thanks!
What kind of milk is best?? looking forward to trying my first homemade bread
Whole milk is always best for baking. Even undiluted evaporated milk can be used for added richness.
Excellent recipe! We always had "sweet bread" at Christmas time, in Newfoundland. Just to change things up, a bit, I substituted a cup of dried cranberries for some of the raisins. I think Cranberry-Raisin Bread may be a new tradition, in my house.
Hello Barry, could you possibly add cinnamon to this bread? Just wondering if that would work...love cinnamon-raisin bread and wondering if it would work with this recipe.
I added two teaspoons of cinnamon to the recipe. Turns out great. My granddaughter loves it and said it was as good as anything that comes from a store. Donna Heron
Absolutely Amy. Add as much as you like. You would need at least a couple of tbsp to get the cinnamon taste to come through.
Great Job. This is a bit different then our families version but it is excellent and still captures that taste that only comes from a true Newfoundlanders heart 😉
Alicia Cole
I'm very excited to try this bread!! I love baking. Iin wondering if I can freeze some dough. When would I do that? Also, could I prep this the night before I bake it?
Thank you
Meghan
Ive never frozen this dough but you could try it. Freeze after the first rise. I fond this recipe takes a long time to rise but you can try it in the fridge overnight if you have plenty of time to let it finish rising in the morning if necessary. Good luck.
I love this recipe, very close to Grandmas! By any chance, do you know of a recipe for this bread that would work in a bread machine?
Sorry Kaatt you will have to try to adapt this to your capacity bread maker. It's impossible to do a definitive bread maker recipe since they vary in size.
Thank you Barry for the recipe , it isn't like my mom's recipe which I loved . I have been having a problem with her's . but i might give your's a try .. Thanks again