Hallock family favorite. --a quick bread from Hilda Hallock’s kitchen
    

A wonderful learning experience for youngsters who want to be hands-on in the kitchen..  Kids can make it and enjoy it.          Great with a glass of cold milk.

Mom's MOLASSES BROWN BREAD

½ cup molasses
½ cup sugar
1¼  cups milk
1¼ teaspoons baking soda
2 cups sifted flour

Optional:  ¼ to ½ cup raisins or chopped dates

Preheat oven to 350°F.  
Grease and flour a 9”-by-5”-by-3” loaf pan. 
Dissolve baking soda in milk. 
Mix sugar and molasses, add milk and soda mixture.  Then add 2 cups sifted flour.
Add chopped dates or raisins, if you like them.
Pour into a 9”-by-5”-by-3” loaf pan and bake at 350°F. for about one hour.

A note about molasses:  Molasses is the brown syrup that remains after sugar crystals have been extracted from sugarcane.  The earlier in the extraction process the molasses is removed, the lighter the molasses.  It becomes increasingly strong and bitter in flavor with each stage of extraction.  Blackstrap molasses is the strongest.  
Most types have had cane syrup added to moderate their flavor.  Check the label, if you purchase molasses in a health-food store, it may not have cane syrup added, which would affect its flavor and your recipe’s results.  
Molasses can be substituted for half the sugar in a recipe, or, as in above recipe, it can be specified.  Molasses keeps well, for several