Sweet Molasses Brown Bread Rolls Recipe

Molasses Brown Bread Rolls are soft and tender. Molasses and a bit of honey give this easy brown bread recipe a mild sweetness. Topped with our special butter makes them unforgettable!

Molasses Brown Bread Rolls recipe is an easy bread roll to make.

The combination of molasses and honey adds just a hint of sweetness to these brown bread rolls. A touch of cocoa gives this bread a depth of flavor but by no means a chocolate flavor.

This Homemade Brown Bread has been compared to the bread served at Outback and Cheesecake Factory restaurants.

There’s a reason that we go to those restaurants, and the memory of their Brown Bread Rolls with honey butter is a big one! This recipe, in my humble opinion, resembles that bread that we gorge on.

This recipe is more bread than sweet and the perfect balance to a savory meal.

Molasses Brown Bread Recipe Ingredients

• Dry Yeast – Active, Instant, or Rapid Rise
• Egg – Makes this bread richer and acts as a binder for the ingredients
• Honey – Adds sweetness to this brown bread recipe. We use local but use what you have available to you.
• Molasses – Adds sweetness to these rolls and also aids in keeping the bread moist. The varieties are explained below.
• Cocoa – Adds a deep richness to the flavor without the actual taste of chocolate. We use Dutch-processed cocoa.
• Brown Sugar – Either light or dark varieties will work just fine.
• Flour – We used whole wheat and all-purpose flour in this recipe. Using just whole wheat would have made these rolls dense. The combination of the two flours kept our Molasses Brown Bread soft and tender.
• Salt – We like using fine sea salt in our bread recipes. The granules are small and will not sink to the bottom of our dry ingredients like the coarser varieties.
• Garnish – The tops of these rolls can be dusted with a light sprinkle of cornmeal or oats. It can be skipped altogether as well

What’s the best variety of molasses to use?

Molasses is a liquid and will add moisture and a darker hue to Brown Bread. There are basically three varieties of molasses. You can use what you prefer. Here are the differences.

1. Light molasses – lighter in flavor and hue. Perfect for baking and candies.
2. Dark molasses – stronger in flavor and darker hue. Can be used interchangeably with light molasses. Often used for gingersnap recipes.
3. Blackstrap molasses – very dark in hue and has a strong flavor with a bitterness to it. Often used in barbecue or baked bean recipe. (source)

How to make Brown Bread

1. Combine dry yeast with warm water and let it rest until it blooms in the bowl of an electric stand mixer, approximately 5 to 10 minutes. Note: if you use instant yeast, rapid rise, or active yeast, you don’t have to wait.
2. Add the egg, honey, molasses, all-purpose flour, cocoa, brown sugar, salt, to the yeast mixture. Mix together using the paddle attachment.
3. Change the paddle attachment to the dough hook attachment on the mixer.
4. With the mixer on low, gradually add 1 cup of whole wheat flour and mix until combined. Gradually add the other cup of whole wheat flour until the dough starts to ball and leaves the sides of the bowl. Beat on low for 7 minutes, adding additional flour if necessary.
   • This is a stiff dough but it will bake up soft and tender.
5. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it until it’s tight and smooth 4 to 5 times.
6. Place the dough in a large lightly oiled bowl, turning once to oil both sides of the dough ball. Cover and allow the dough to rise until doubled in size, 90 minutes.
7. Punch down the dough and form 16 rolls. Place them on a greased 9X13 inch baking dish and allow them to rise again for 1 hour.
8. Brush the tops with melted butter and dust with cornmeal or oats. (optional)
9. Bake

If you’re going to use the Brown Sugar Honey Butter, you can make it before or while you’re making your rolls.

Bread can be stored at room temperature for 2 to 3 days or frozen wrapped with plastic wrap and placed in a freezer bag for up to 3 months.

How to make Brown Sugar Honey Butter

1. Whip a stick of butter in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until light and fluffy.
2. Add the brown sugar and honey. Continue beating until well blended.
3. Store in a covered container in the refrigerator. Brown sugar honey butter and also be frozen. We like to roll ours in a piece of plastic wrap in the shape of a tube and freeze it so it can be sliced for serving.

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We LOVE baking bread! You can find all of our bread recipes here!

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We really enjoyed these rolls, and even though I bake a lot of bread it reminded me that I need to make rolls more often.

Oh and that butter would be delicious on pancakes or waffles too. I’m just drooling thinking about it.

If you like this recipe, we would appreciate your comment and a 5-star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review!

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5 from 9 votes

Sweet Molasses Brown Bread Rolls Recipe

Molasses Brown Bread Rolls are soft and tender. Molasses and a bit of honey give this easy brown bread recipe a mild sweetness. Topped with our special butter makes them unforgettable.

Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 22 mins

Proofing time 2 hrs 30 mins

Total Time 3 hrs 7 mins

Servings 16

Author Hostess At Heart

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

Bread Dough

• 4 tsps active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water 110 degrees F
• 1 egg room temperature
• 1/4 cup honey
• 3 tbsp molasses
• 2 tbsp cocoa I used dutch processed
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour plus ½ if needed
• 1¾ cups whole wheat flour
• Cornmeal optional

Brown sugar butter

• 8 tbsp salted butter 1 stick
• 1/4 cup brown sugar light or dark
• 1 tbsp honey

Instructions

Molasses Brown Bread

• Combine warm water and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer and let sit for 10 minutes.
• Add the egg, honey, molasses, whole wheat flour, cocoa, brown sugar, salt, to the yeast mixture. Mix together using the paddle attachment until combined.
• Change the beater to the dough hook. Add one cup of the all-purpose flour and mix on low until combined. Gradually add another ½ to ¾ cup of all-purpose flour until dough starts to ball and leaves the sides of the bowl. Beat on low for 7 minutes, adding additional flour if necessary.
• Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until tight and smooth, 4 to 5 times. Place the dough in a large lightly oiled bowl, turning once to oil both sides of the dough ball. Cover the dough and allow to rise until doubled in size, 90 minutes.
• Punch down dough and form 16 rolls. Place in a greased 9X13 inch pan and allow to rise again for 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with cornflour or oats (optional)
• Bake for 22 minutes.

Brown Sugar Honey Butter

• Add the stick of butter to the bowl of an electric mixer and mix until the butter is light and fluffy.
• Add the brown sugar and honey to the butter. Continue beating until smooth.

Notes

Adapted from Itsalwaysautumn.com

Nutritional value doesn’t include brown sugar butter.

Nutrition

Sodium: 155mg | Calcium: 22mg | Vitamin C: 1mg | Vitamin A: 16IU | Sugar: 11g | Fiber: 3g | Potassium: 175mg | Cholesterol: 10mg | Calories: 163kcal | Trans Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Fat: 1g | Protein: 5g | Carbohydrates: 35g | Iron: 2mg

This recipe was calculated using the exact brands and measurements I used to make this recipe. If you are following a strict diet please note changing anything will cause the nutritional info to change. My calculations are intended as a guide only.

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