Bushman Bread

I've never eaten at Outback Steakhouse before, so I had never heard of something called Bushman Bread. But, when Mickey from Monster Mama posted about it in her blog, I was intrigued. The recipe called for ingredients like cocoa powder and molasses and just looked too good to pass up. So, I whipped up a batch the very next day.

I ended up making quite a few changes to the recipe. For one thing, I didn't have any food coloring, so my loaves ended up being only a light brown rather than the rad purplish color that Mickey's got. Secondly, I realized while making the bread that I was out of bread flour. I could have sworn that I had some left, but apparently I had already used it up on something else. I also don't usually have wheat flour on hand either. So, I ended up using only all-purpose flour to make the bread. Finally, I changed the order in which the ingredients were mixed.

But, even with all the changes, the bread still turned out perfectly. It really did make the house smell amazing as it baked and I couldn't stop nibbling at the crust when it came out of the oven. I'm definitely glad I tried this recipe out. I don't know how close it is to the actual Outback Bushman Bread, but it's good enough for me.

Bushman Bread (adapted from Monster Mama)

1 1/4 c. warm water
2 tsp. sugar
2 1/4 tsp. yeast
3 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. cocoa powder
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. butter, softened
1/4 c. honey
2 Tbsp. molasses
cornmeal, for dusting

Mix sugar with warm water, then dissolve the yeast in the solution. Let stand 5 min. until foamy. Combine the honey, molasses, and butter. Add the yeast mixture and stir well. Add the cocoa powder and salt, then add the flour gradually until the dough no longer sticks to the bowl.

Knead the dough for about 10 min. in a lightly floured surface, then roll into a ball and place it in a covered bowl in a warm place for 1-1 1/2 hours or until it has doubled in size. When dough has doubled, separate it into 4 even portions. Roll each into a log shape. Sprinkle cornmeal all over work surface. Moisten your hands and rub a little on each loaf and roll each one into the cornmeal. Transfer each log onto a cookie sheet (or you can put each one into a mini bread pan like I did) and cover with plastic wrap. Let sit in a warm spot to rise for another hour until they have doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 350F. Uncover and bake 35-40 min. When bread is done, let it cool for 10-15 min.

Makes 4 mini loaves