Methodist or Wesleyan Bread

Rating: 5 stars
5 Ratings
  • 5 star values: 5
  • 4 star values: 0
  • 3 star values: 0
  • 2 star values: 0
  • 1 star values: 0

This molasses-raisin bread is an old favorite from Newfoundland. If you do not care for caraway seed, you may substitute 1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg.

By Gordon

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Recipe Summary

prep:
45 mins
cook:
1 hr
additional:
3 hrs
total:
4 hrs 45 mins
Servings:
32
Yield:
2 loaves
Nutrition Info
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Ingredients

32
Original recipe yields 32 servings
The ingredient list now reflects the servings specified

Directions

  • Dissolve 2 teaspoons of sugar in 1 cup of water. Sprinkle the yeast over the water and allow to soften for 5 to 10 minutes. Meanwhile, stir together the molasses, salt, 6 tablespoons of sugar, and shortening into the remaining 3 cups of water in a large bowl until dissolved. Add the raisins, flour, and caraway seed.

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  • Mix together until a dough forms, then turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth and elastic, 10 to 15 minutes. Place into a well oiled bowl, and brush the top with a little melted shortening. Cover with a cloth and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

  • Punch down, and allow to rise again until doubled in bulk, another hour.

  • Lightly grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans. Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface, punch down, then form into two loaves. Place loaves into the pans, cover with a cloth, and allow to rise again until doubled in size.

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

  • Bake loaves in preheated oven for 1 hour until they are nicely browned and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.

Nutrition Facts

Per Serving:
246 calories; protein 5.3g 11% DV; carbohydrates 51.5g 17% DV; fat 2.1g 3% DV; cholesterolmg; sodium 295.7mg 12% DV. Full Nutrition

Reviews (3)

Read More Reviews

Most helpful positive review

DannyBoy
Rating: 5 stars
08/07/2007
This bread is really just delicious. I substituted honey for the sugar and butter for the shortening and it came out great. You lose the refined sugar and the trans fats that way. It's a really nice mildly sweet bread that will be great for breakfast-type uses. I also added a little more caraway because this recipe makes FOUR loaves not two. 12 cups of flour seemed like an awful lot but I diligently followed the recipe and ended up with a TON of dough. Also the recipe is missing a key direction: when to add the activated yeast to the other ingredients! I mixed the raisins flour and caraway separately. Then I added the yeast to the water/molasses/honey/butter mixture just before adding the flour mixture in parts. So I can recommend doing it that way because it worked for me! Read More
Helpful
(16)
5 Ratings
  • 5 star values: 5
  • 4 star values: 0
  • 3 star values: 0
  • 2 star values: 0
  • 1 star values: 0
Reviews:
Most Helpful Most Positive Least Positive Newest
DannyBoy
Rating: 5 stars
08/06/2007
This bread is really just delicious. I substituted honey for the sugar and butter for the shortening and it came out great. You lose the refined sugar and the trans fats that way. It's a really nice mildly sweet bread that will be great for breakfast-type uses. I also added a little more caraway because this recipe makes FOUR loaves not two. 12 cups of flour seemed like an awful lot but I diligently followed the recipe and ended up with a TON of dough. Also the recipe is missing a key direction: when to add the activated yeast to the other ingredients! I mixed the raisins flour and caraway separately. Then I added the yeast to the water/molasses/honey/butter mixture just before adding the flour mixture in parts. So I can recommend doing it that way because it worked for me! Read More
Helpful
(16)
Cynthia LaFourcade
Rating: 5 stars
07/19/2015
This was a very good flavorful raisin bread. I adjusted the amount to yield one loaf to see if we were going to like it (you can do this by clicking on Change Settings above the list of ingredients). I let the bread machine take care of the dough part. It rose beautifully in the loaf pan. My only criticism is the bake time is way off so keep an eye on it. It could be because I had only one loaf baking in the oven. This loaf was perfect in 30 minutes. Read More
Helpful
(2)
Always cooking
Rating: 5 stars
03/06/2017
very large firm bread. I didn't use caraway since I didn't have any. It tastes great. I freeze it in bagged slices so my husband can grab one out the door on his way to work for breakfast. Freezes well. Read More
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