Bread on the barbecue

And now for the taste test.

Because Abby and I are gluten and dairy free most of the things we eat are things we can all enjoy together. However, I really wanted to try baking bread on our houseboat vacation and I’m still more comfortable baking wheat bread than gluten free. Besides I wanted to make something special just for Mike. 

The bread turned out great! I mean it looked fantastic. I was a bit worried when it wasn’t rising very well but that was because I wasn’t sure where to put it. My original plan was to put it on top of the fridge as it’s always hot there. Of course this afternoon when I needed it to be hot it wasn’t. Mike came up with the perfect solution: we put it in the cupboard above the fridge. It was protected from the drafty open window as we traveled down the lake. The fridge eventually kicked in and the heat from the exhaust warmed the cupboard up beautifully.

Beautiful bread baking to perfection.

I chose to make a batter bread instead of the more traditional raised bread simply because it’s less time consuming. There is only one rising of the dough and no kneading. Really, it’s a beautiful thing. Thank you Betty Crocker for another great recipe! We bought the Big Red Betty Crocker cookbook with money from our wedding gifts and we have never regretted it.

So here it is: easy, amazing bread baked on the barbecue:

Oatmeal Molasses Bread

3/4 cup boiling water

1/2 cup old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats

3 TB shortening

1/4 cup mild-flavoured molasses

2 tsp. salt

1 package regular or quick active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp.)

1/4 cup warm water

1 large egg

2 3/4 cup all purpose flour

Grease the bottom and sides of a 9X5 loaf pan with shortening. Mix boiling water, oats, shortening, molasses and salt in a large bowl; cool to lukewarm.

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add yeast mixture, egg and 1 1/2 cups of the flour to the oat mixture. Beat for 2 minutes with and electric mixer on medium speed, scraping bowl frequently. (I didn’t have an electric mixer but it mixes very easily and I mixed for almost five minutes just to make sure I had combined it enough.) Stir in remaining 1 1/4 cups of flour until completely mixed.

Spread batter evenly in pan and pat into shape with floured hands. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place about 1 hour and 30 minutes or until the batter is 1 inch from the top of the pan.

Heat the barbecue to 375. I’ll be honest. I had a hard time finding the right temperature on the barbecue. Sometimes it was 325. Sometimes it was 450. But the bread seemed to cook fine just the same.
Bake 50-55 minutes or until the loaf is brown and sounds hollow when tapped. If the loaf browns too quickly, cover loosely with aluminum foil during the last 15 mnutes of baking. Remove from pan to wire rack to cool. I started checking the bread early because I knew the temperature had been high but it still took the full 50 minutes and I didn’t find it browned too quickly. Now mind you I had the lid open often to check on other things cooking in there at the same time and to take some pictures so that may be why it needed the full cooking time.