Anadama bread

5 from 6 votes

This traditional New England bread has a wonderful flavor and color thanks to molasses and cornmeal. A delicious and versatile loaf.

Prep Time20

Cook Time35

rest time (approx)2

Total Time55

Course: Lunch, Side

Cuisine: American

Servings: slices (approx - makes 1 loaf)

Calories: 159kcal

Author: Caroline's Cooking

Save

Ingredients

½ cup water
½ cup milk
¼ cup yellow cornmeal medium-coarse
1 ½ tablespoon butter
¼ cup molasses ('fancy' molasses/dark)
1 teaspoon salt
2 ½ cups all purpose flour plain flour (approx, may need a little more/less)
¼ oz instant yeast (¼ oz is approx 2 ½tsp, one packet)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Place the water and milk in a small pan and warm over a medium heat to bring it to just about a simmer. Add the corn meal and mix well so that it is well combined - you can do this either on the heat and cook a minute more or take off the heat. Try to make sure you break up any clumps by pressing against the edge of the pan with a spatula.
Remove the pan from the heat and add the butter. Mix it in to melt it into the corn meal mixture. Add the molasses and salt and mix both through well. Transfer the mixture to a medium-large bowl and allow it to cool so that it is lukewarm.
Once the molasses-corn meal mixture has cooled, add most of the flour, but hold back a little at first (add around 2 cups), and the yeast. Mix together well then add more flour as needed so that it comes together as a smooth dough that is not sticky, but also not dry.
Transfer the mixture to a lightly floured surface and knead for around 5 - 7 minutes. Alternatively, you can mix the dough and then knead with a stand mixer (knead around 3 - 5 minutes).
Lightly oil a bowl then form the dough into a ball and place in the bowl. Cover with cling wrap/film and leave at warm room temperature for around 1 hour to double in size.
Once the dough has doubled, lightly butter a loaf tin (can use either 9x5in (23x12.5cm) or 8.5x4.5in (22x11.5cm) tin - I used the larger size here but smaller will give a slightly higher slice). Then, gently knock back the dough and form into a log and place it in the loaf tin so that it fills the bottom.
Cover and leave to rise for another hour. The dough should roughly double in size. If using the larger size loaf tin, the middle should rise slightly above the height of the tin but the sides will be a bit lower. If using the smaller size, the dough should start to come over the sides slightly.
Pre-heat the oven to 350F/175C. Uncover the bread and once the oven has heated, bake for approximately 35 - 40 minutes until the top is lightly browned. Tip the bread from the tin onto a cooling rack or your hand with an oven glove on it and tap the bottom. It should sound slightly hollow - if not, put back in the tina and bake for a couple more minutes. Once baked, remove the bread from the pan and allow to cool on a cooling rack at least 10 minutes before slicing.

Video

Nutrition