Breakfast Bread or Biscuits

   Homemade bread is wonderful, but yeast breads can be exhausting to make and bread machines are kind of expensive. I developed this recipe to be a quick bread with the taste and texture (soft inside, crunchy outside) of good homemade bread. It is ideal as a breakfast bread as it is a little too sweet and crumbly for sandwich bread. The consistency of the dough also makes it great for biscuits. Plus, it has a boost of healthy whole wheat flour.

Breakfast Bread

   I have baked with whole wheat flour in the past and had products that turned out bitter. I wasn't sure if it was just the taste of the flour or if there was something wrong with the bread, so I googled bitter whole wheat bread and found the answer. The top search results, including a post by Cooking Light magazine, said that whole wheat flour spoils faster than white flour because the oils in it go rancid quickly. The fact that grocery stores often don't sell as much whole wheat flour can also mean that it has been setting on the shelf longer. 

   There are a few things you can do to remedy this problem. First, always check the expiration dates on the flour. Don't buy anything that is close to its expiration date and throw away any flour you may have at home that has reached its date. Second, if you can, buy whole wheat flour from a store that keeps it in a cooler, and store it in the refrigerator once you get it home. These tips should ensure that you have fresh, good tasting flour to work with. 

   Another noteworthy thing about this dough is that it contains sorghum molasses. The main difference between sorghum and regular molasses is that sorghum is the delicious stuff that you buy from farmers at roadside stands. It’s viscous like honey. You can eat it on toast or use it in baking. Molasses is the runny, slightly bitter stuff that you buy in major chain grocery stores. If you can't find real sorghum molasses, honey is an acceptable substitute.

Sorghum Molasses

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups self-rising white flour (White Lily is the best)

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/4 cup sorghum molasses

1 cup skim or 1% milk

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

4 Tbsp. vegetable oil, divided

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400F. 

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl, leaving out 1 Tbsp. of vegetable oil to use to coat the pan. 

Knead dough until mixed well. 

-For bread, add 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil to a loaf pan. Shape the dough into a loaf shape, roll it in the oil in the pan, and bake for 20-30 minutes. 

-For biscuits, lightly coat a baking sheet with oil, drop the dough by heaping tablespoons onto the baking sheet, and bake for 15-20 minutes.