This Lassy Raisin Bread is made with molasses, whence comes the name. It is a classic recipe from Newfoundland, often enjoyed during the holidays. It's a lovely soft loaf that is delicious plain and even better toasted and buttered!
The end of the year has snuck up on me and I can’t imagine I’m the only one who feels that way. I was determined to find time to bake bread for this final Bread Bakers event though because I have finally figured out where to buy fresh yeast here in Houston (YAY!) and I just love how it smells and tastes in freshly baked bread.
I chose to make this particular loaf because 1. My husband loves raisin bread, especially when it’s toasted and buttered and 2. this month my Bread Baker friends and I are sharing holiday breads from around the world.
There are probably as many recipes for Newfoundland lassy or molasses bread as we have neighbors to my very north, but one thing they all have in common is the requisite molasses, generally the milder unsulphured kind, and raisins. The traditional loaves are shaped by making three balls of the dough and placing them in a row in a bread pan.
Lassy Raisin Bread
My recipe is adapted from one on Rock Recipes which makes a very impressive FOUR loaves. They really, really love their lassy raisin bread! And once you've tried a slice, you'll see why.
Ingredients
1/4 cup or 60ml lukewarm water
1 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon active dry yeast or 20g fresh yeast
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 - 3 cups or 312-375g flour, plus extra for kneading
1/3 cup or 80ml lukewarm milk
1/4 cup or 60ml molasses
5 teaspoons cooled melted butter, plus extra for brushing the baked loaf, optional
1 egg, beaten lightly
3/4 cup or 100g raisins
Method
In the bowl of an electric mixer that has a dough hook, stir the yeast and brown sugar into the lukewarm water and then let stand without stirring for 10 minutes. It should get nice and fluffy if your yeast is alive.
Add in 1 cup or 125g of the flour along with the salt, butter, warm milk and the beaten egg.
Using the regular paddle of your electric mixer, mix slowly for 4-5 minutes until the mixture is smooth with no lumps. Whoops, almost forgot our namesake molasses! Add that in and beat again.
Switch to the dough hook at this point and begin to slowly incorporate the remaining flour.
You may not need to use all of the flour. This is a soft dough that’s supposed to be a little sticky.
Add the raisins at this point and continue to mix with the bread hook until the raisins are evenly distributed throughout the dough.
Place the dough in a large bowl and cover the bowl with cling film or 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 on a lightly floured work surface.
Divide the dough into three even pieces. I use my scale here to weigh the whole dough then divide by three. My dough weighed 760g so each ball weighed about 253g. Form each piece into a nice round ball.
Line a medium loaf pan with baking parchment. (Mine was 9 x 5 in or 23 x 13cm.)
Place the 3 balls of dough in your prepared loaf pan.
Cover with greased cling film and allow the dough to rise until it is about 2 inches or 5cm above the rim of the pan, about 1 1/2 - 2 hours, depending on room temperature.
[As you can see from the photo, pretty sure I overproved mine, making a strategical error when I decided I had time to nip out to the grocery store for salmon. Reader, as it turned out, I did not. While I was disappointed in the outside looks of this wonderful bread, the flavor and soft, tender crumb consoled me.]
Bake at 350°F or 180°C for about 40 minutes. The top and bottom crust should have good color. I tented mine halfway through with foil because it was browning so quickly. Check on yours in case you might want to do the same.
Once baked, turn the loaf out onto a wire rack to cool.
Brush the top with melted butter, if desired, to soften the top crust. Also, more butter is always better was one of my mom's rules. She was a very clever woman.
Leave to cool completely before slicing to serve. I'm trying to think of it as "rustic," not misshapen.
Enjoy!
It’s the second Tuesday of the month which, as I mentioned above, means it’s time for my Bread Bakers to share their recipes. Many thanks to Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm for hosting and for choosing this lovely theme. Check out all the international holiday breads below.
- Passion Kneaded: Christopsomo (Greek Christmas Bread)
- A Messy Kitchen: Joululimppu
- The Wimpy Vegetarian: Julekake : A Norwegian Christmas Bread
- Food Lust People Love: Lassy Raisin Bread
- A Day in the Life on the Farm: Laufabraud
- Zesty South Indian Kitchen: Sourdough bobalki (Slovak Christmas eve bread)
- Sneha's Recipe: Vánočka/Vanocka - Czech Christmas Bread
- Karen's Kitchen Stories: Venezuelan Christmas Ham Bread - Pan de Jamón
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#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.
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