Honey Molasses Oatmeal Bread

Supper

Be jealous of my mad photography skillz. :/ Okay, not. It turned out rather dark, which worried me at first - I thought I had burnt it (the bread, not the photo). But this stuff was pretty good. It was deemed less good than the original which came straight out of my breadmaker's manufacturer's manual. The original also turned out half size, which is why I was trying to tweak it. And I ran out of honey. So though it got down-voted compared to the orig, I don't know what made it slightly less than heavenly. It could have been the egg that I added (**BREADMAKER TIP** Add one egg and subtract 1/4 cup liquid to make your AP flour rise higher). I was working on the theory that the orig smaller loaf could have a higher rise with no flavor impact, so I used the egg tip. Even though I was using bread flour both times. It could have been that I only managed to scrape out a scant 1 Tablespoon of honey, and that only after I nuked the container to get a few more drops into the spoon. I thought molasses sounded good, and I knew I had an unopened bottle in my cupboard, so I made up for the honey with it. I figured molasses isn't as sweet as honey so I added another half Tablespoon plain granulated sugar. And though it mentions in the manual that salt inhibits the yeast growth, it's still recommended to add as the last two ingredients. So I put in the oatmeal, then the salt, covered with flour and ended with yeast. Inventive? Check. Creative? Sure! Mad Scientist? Surely not, there's no science here, just theories! Go ahead, make it your own!

Honey Molasses Oatmeal Bread (for 1.5 loaf breadmaker)

1/2 Cup + 3 Tbs. Milk (75-85° F)
1 Large Egg
1 Tbs. Honey
2 Tbs. Molasses
2 Tbs. Butter
1/2 Tbs. Sugar
1 Cup Oatmeal
2 Tbs. Dry Milk
1 1/4 tsp. Salt
1 Cup Bread Flour (AP probably works fine)
2 tsp. Active Dry Yeast
  OR 1 1/2 tsp. Fast Rise/Bread Machine Yeast

Add to breadmaker in the order listed. Push the buttons for light or normal crust, the molasses has tendancy to carmalize the loaf. Start your motor! Wait. Wait some more. Probably there's a really load beep when it's done. Don't burn your fingers when you again thumb your nose at the manual by eating it before it cools!