I've never tried making homemade bread before. Truthfully, it frightens me! I do not own a breadmaker, so if I were to make bread, it would have to be all by hand. Well, that ain't gonna happen anytime soon, because I don't have the patience nor the time. So, when I came across a simple recipe from Mark Bittman's Bitten blog in the NY Times, I figured it would be a good place to start if I'm ever going to try making bread at home.
It's a recipe for Quick Whole Wheat and Molasses Bread, with my focus on the "quick" part. It was probably the easiest, fastest recipe for any baked good I've ever tried. Not to mention, it seems pretty nutritious too!
I started by mixing together the dry ingredients...
Then I mixed the wet ingredients in a separate bowl, and added the wet to the dry...
I mixed until just combined, without overmixing the dough... looks like chocolate!
I poured it into a greased loaf pan...
And baked for about 50 minutes at 325 degrees, when my chopstick came out clean... see the hole in the middle?
It ended up looking kind of.... odd. It had a crusty texture on the top, which I like, but it just LOOKED like tree bark. Thankfully, after slicing it up, it was moist on the inside. Phew!
It looks like chocolate cake, but the rich, dark color is thanks to the sweet sweet molasses. It has a nice moist texture, slightly glutinous and slightly cakey. The flavor is whole-wheatey, with a touch of rich sweetness from the molasses, and a bit of gritty texture from the cornmeal. I put a slather of SmartBalance on it while it was warm, and it melted into creamy buttery loveliness!
I think I'll be making this pretty often. It's simple, quick, and nutritious. You can make some alterations -- honey instead of molasses, buttermilk instead of yogurt. Give it a shot!
Quick Whole Wheat and Molasses Bread
2 and 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 and 2/3 cups plain nonfat yogurt
1/2 cup blackstrap molasses
1. Mix together dry ingredients.
2. Mix together wet ingredients.
3. Add wet to the dry, and mix together until just combined, but do not overmix.
4. Pour into a greased loaf pan.
5. Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
6. Let the loaf pan cool before removing the bread from the pan.
7. Slice, spread on some butter (or SmartBalance), and enjoy!
(Mine didn't come out looking quite as nice as Mark Bittman's, but perhaps just as tasty!)
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ummmm no thanks. i prefer banana bread.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE dense, brown bread! and molasses sweetens it just right. I hate sweet breads, though.
ReplyDeletebread-baking kind of intimidates me too. the result always comes out smelling really yeasty for me!
My husband loves yummy hearty bread and I bet he would adore this!
ReplyDeleteLooks like a great recipe! If you're interested in bread, but don't have a lot of time, you have got to check out Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. I got it as a gift for Christmas and have been a bread baking machine ever since. And free time is not something I have a ton of so it's doable!
ReplyDeletei'm afraid of molasses but i'd try this.
ReplyDeletehey will you email me at madtasty@gmail.com?
i have a challenge to issue. :)
I thought this was banana bread the first time I glanced at the picture. Love the dark brown color!
ReplyDeletelove whole wheat flour, love molasses, and love Mark Bittman :) that bread looks fantastic, and so easy! you did a great job!
ReplyDeleteI actually have made this recipe, its on my blog, I loved it also.. Great job! Great RN like minds think alike;)
ReplyDeleteOops, I thought I left a comment on this before. I actually made molasses carrot bread the other day, and was disappointed by the results. I will have to make your version, as I am sure it is superior!
ReplyDeleteHey, Just made this! Turned out awesome! Thanks for the recipe
ReplyDeleteHi, Really It's Looks like a great recipe! Awesome Images, I will make it in this weekend, can I make this recipe with Australian Wheat because I have a large quantity of Australian wheat in my home...Thx in Advance
ReplyDelete