Whole Wheat Molasses Bread
I had some pictures taken this week…. the kind of pictures where I had to pretend to be an actress with glossy lips and curled hair.
The kind of pictures where you have to look surprised and pleased and over the shoulder and don’t do that weird thing with your lips and open your eyes wider and tuck that crazy hair under the less crazy hairs and what the heck are you doing with your chin and please stop that…
Those kind of pictures.
Dumb.
Know what I learned? My forehead is huge.
When I was a kid my Dad made fun of me for having a huge forehead (thanks dad… it’s your fault anyway!), and I had assumed that I had grown into my large upper face region. I was wrong. Totally disproportionate. I’m reconsidering bangs. Please don’t tell my Dad…. the last thing I need is for that whole thing to start up again.
I tell you about my large forehead because it has everything to do with this loaf of bread.
Where my forehead is disproportionate to my face… this bread, with its six simple ingredients, is totally proportionate to… itself.
Wait.
See what I did there?
Forehead and bread.
Proportions are very important in a loaf as simple as this. The ratio of flour to liquid and leavening lends a distinct texture… in this case, darn near perfect.
This beautiful loaf is somewhere right between sweet and savory. There’s no sugar beyond the dark molasses. But lemme tell ya… just the molasses adds a really lovely and deep flavor.
Whole wheat flour and cornmeal lend to the savory aspects of the bread and give this loaf a great nuttiness and just a bit of crunch. I could totally see serving this bread with a hearty vegetarian soup for dinner or a cup of tea for breakfast. I spread my with Nutella. Duh… delicious. Then I spread it with cream cheese and my head just about exploded. Perfect.
Whole Wheat Molasses Bread
makes one 8×4 or 9×5-inch loaf
recipe from the New York Times
1 2/3 cups buttermilk or plain yogurt
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup molasses
Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour an 8×4 or 9×5-inch loaf pan. Non-stick baking spray works well too.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, salt and baking soda.
In a small bowl whisk together buttermilk or yogurt and molasses.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold to combine. The batter will be slightly thick, but not dry. Spoon batter into prepared pan and place in the oven. Bake loaf for 45 minutes to an hour. Depending on how evenly your oven bakes, you might want to rotate the loaf in the middle of baking. Be careful though. Don’t manhandle it too hard or it might deflate.
When a skewer inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean, remove the loaf from the oven and allow to cool for 20 minutes in the loaf pan. Run a butter knife along the sides of the pan and carefully invert onto a wire rack.
Loaf will keep, well wrapped at room temperature for up to 4 days.
Serve with cream cheese, jam, salted butter or nutella.
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Hi Joy!
I just made this yesterday and I’m having a difficult time not devouring the entire loaf all by myself. I can’t handle the delicious.
I made this last night for my boyfriend and our roommate, along with split pea soup for dinner. They loved it! It’s a perfect, homey, quick bread to whip up anytime! My fellas even said we weren’t wasting any more money on store bought bread. :) Thanks so much!!
Ok, so I pretty much only bake any form of bread (quick or yeast) when I know I will be sharing it as I never finish it. Ever since I had read this recipe, though, I wanted to try it. Made it on Tuesday and devoured most of it on my own. You’re going to be the death of my waistline, Joy, but I’ll love every minute :D
I was expecting this to be good because I love molasses, but it was even more delicious than anticipated! Peanut butter tastes great on it, as does butter (of course). Must…buy…cream cheese.
I made this yesterday, and it was so good! I was going to share it with my friends because i’ve been talking about making it for the last few days but it was devoured before I had the chance.
Btw i love love love love your blog been following it for ages
ps your forehead is a fine size you silly lady!
I was interested how this bread would work without any butter/oil or eggs. It was pretty yummy right out of the oven. I liked how the cornmeal gave it a fun texture. Mine did not store well, though, and toughened significantly after a few days. I recommend eating it fresh out of the oven.
Mmmm I have to make this! Why does my darn oven have to be out of commission and why does molasses have to be so hard to find in the UK? Totally bookmarks this. I am Crap at yeast bread, but quick bread I can do! I want, I want!
Joy,
I’ve been working with yeast for a while in breads and doughs – this was my first time using baking soda as a leavening agent. I gave your recipe a try this evening and it defied expectation! My favorite topping…salted butter…amazing.
Thanks for sharing,
Jake
i’m so glad you liked it, Jake. that’s great!
I have been so excited to make this! Only I bought corn flour instead of cornmeal by accident. Could I substitute it? Or would it make it an inferior bread? I have no idea about these things. Thank you!
Hi Joy,
It was very easy to make, it did last about 40 minutes :) now I bake it 2 a week, best thing – there is no yeast! Thank you!
Hi Joy, this bread is delicious and delightfully easy to make. I smeared it with some of Tracy’s pumpkin cream cheese and about died. I highly recommend you try it; your mouth will thank you.
HOLY LOVE BATBAKER!! i made this for over sixty residents where i work for an evening snack and not one piece was left. i can’t wait to make a loaf for myself! plus all the staff wanted the recipe as well. im glad i found something healthy with a good dollop of molasses bc i have a blood disorder with extremely low iron. my picts are terrible, but i just may upload them soon. we topped it with a schmear of honey butter, they were even talking about it the next day. so THANK YOU!!! as one of our residents says, “yum yum eat ‘em up!”
would almond milk with lemon juice work for the buttermilk? and im assuming ww pastry flour would be ok….
just curious, i’ve been getting very interested in the what ingredient changes what and the texture llately :)
hm… you just need the acid (from lemon) to react with the baking soda. almond milk with lemon milk should work, although I have not yet tried this variation myself.
wonderful!
Joy,
Do you think millet could be incorporated into this? Maybe sub some for half the cornmeal called for in the recipe? I love the idea of all these ingredients combined but I adore the added crunch millet brings to baked goods!
Diana
definitely add millet to this recipe! that would be delicious. sub some of the cornmeal and add millet! great idea!
OH. MY. [pause to take another mouthful]. GOODNESS. I whipped this up at 10:00 last night when I realized I had no bread left in the house and almost half the loaf is gone not 24 hours later (we won’t mention the [lack of] number of people in the household ;) ). It is the perfect combo of softness/crunch and sweet/savory. I didn’t have buttermilk or plain yogurt so I subbed in the same amount of 2% milk mixed with 2 Tbsp lemon juice and left it to stand and curdle for 5-7 minutes. SO fast to make, healthy, and truly delicious–a keeper for sure!! Thanks again Joy!! I might just have to start baking my way through your blog one day at a time…I’ve never had a problem with any recipe!!
This was horrible. It tasted like what hampster food smells like. Weird.
That’s strange considering I cut down on the amount of hamster food in the recipe.
Thanks for the wholesome recipe! I used ww pastry flour instead (ran out of regular ww flour) and it worked fine. (I had to add a bit more yogurt and I threw in some peaches for some subtle sweetness.) This is a healthy, dense bread that keeps you full for hours (and I am constantly hungry, so anything that keeps me full is a winner in my book). Plus, with only 6 ingerdients, all of which are staples, it’s going to be my go-to “I need something easy as filler” recipe. Thanks Joy!