The bread that keeps you coming back: Outback Steakhouse Bushman Bread

  A few restaurants can lure me in with their free pre-meal appetizers. The two I look forward to most are Red Lobster and Outback. I have taken the adventure to recreate Red Lobster's awesome Cheddar Garlic biscuits before, but had never been brave enough to make bread from scratch. My husband always looks forward to going to Outback, so I thought for a special treat I would make him the bread along with a massive steak.

Outback Steakhouse Bushman Bread
Makes about 5 small loaves
Adapated from Food.com.


1 1/2 cups warm water
2 tablespoons butter, softened (I actually used I Can't Believe It's Not Butter light spread)
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup molasses
2 cups bread flour
1 2/3 cups wheat flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 teaspoons yeast (This should be just one packet of quick yeast)
cornmeal, for dusting

  I'm going to go ahead and apologize, but I don't have any in process shots of making this bread. I was running around and the time it took was perfect between doctor appointments. When I make this again I will update it with a guide.

 In a medium bowl combine a packet of yeast and 1 1/2 cups of warm water. Stir so the yeast is evenly distributed, then allow it to rest for five minutes. While the yeast is proofing, in a separate bowl combine all dry ingredients except  the cornmeal. Once the five minutes has passed, pour the yeast mixture into the bowl with the remaining ingredients. I used my favorite kneading tool, my hands. If you have a bread hook for your stand mixer, you can use that as well. There is just something special about getting your hands into it. Start by mixing the dry ingredients into the yeast mixture slowly until it's combined a bit. Now knead until the texture is smooth and all of the flour has been combined into the dough (about ten minutes). It might seem a bit sticky, but that is okay! Cover the bowl with a hand towel and place it into the oven to rise for an hour.

  Once an hour has passed, remove the bowl from the oven. Take out a few cookie sheets, because now you will be forming the dough into smaller loaves. Before forming the loaves, punch the dough down a little bit. I made about five small loaves from the dough, but you could alternatively form buns or one giant loaf. Coat each loaf in cornmeal and place onto the cookie sheet. Once you are done with this process, cover the cookie sheet with cling wrap. If the cling wrap does not have a good hold, place either a hand towel on top or cover with aluminum foil and make sure the edges are secured. Place back into the oven and allow to rise for another hour.

 Now comes the fun part. Baking! Remove the cookie sheets from the oven. Pre-heat the oven to 350. Remove everything you used to cover the bread. Place in the oven in the center rack. Allow to cook for 20-23 minutes or until the crust achieves your desired firmness.

I think this recipe is actually pretty spot on. I'm pretty pleased with how it came out, and I definitely didn't hear any complaints! Enjoy!