“Is Boston Brown Bread made with molasses? I love molasses!”
Not sure about Boston but I know about Irish.
Irish Brown Bread.
1 cup + 1½ teaspoons whole wheat flour
½ cup + 1½ teaspoons wheat bran, oat bran or wheat germ, or a combination (pick wheat germ!)
2 cups all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces
1¼ cups buttermilk
1 teaspoon molasses
Throw in a bit of brown sugar. About a heaping tsp.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and put it on the center oven rack.
Whisk together the whole wheat flour and wheat/oat bran or WHEAT GERM (!) (LOL) in a large bowl.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking soda and salt. Add to the wheat flour mixture and whisk to combine
Add the butter pieces and rub them into small pieces with the flour mixture using your fingers, until as small as possible. (Oh get serious!!Use a dang fork!)
Stir in the buttermilk and molasses, brown sugar, until the dough is uniformly damp. Turn out onto a lightly floured countertop and knead gently, until the dough forms a smooth ball.
Use a sharp serrated knife (or a lame)(WHAT THE HECK IS A LAME!!!!! LOL!) to slice a cross deeply into the top of the bread, about 1-inch deep. Place the loaf on the hot baking sheet.
Bake for about 30 to 35 minutes, or until the loaf is firm on top and when you tap the bottom, feels hollow.
Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack for about one hour before serving.
Love this stuff with smoked salmon, cream cheese and all the usual fixings.
Sounds delicious, and actually incredibly healthy. It’s amazing how the “peasant” breads from centuries ago were healthier than the white stuff the royalty ate.
Thanks, I’ll give it a try. And I think a lame is a French knife used for putting those slices on the top of fridge. Only the French would have a knife that only does one thing.
You will have to go to the link for the one I make now (all are about the same). I didn't know if 3/4 cup molasses was enough but hate to tinker with that. I was going to suggest some brown sugar but held back. Now I think I will try that if I make it again. I've bought one kind at the store years ago, maybe the date version, and it had a certain sweetness and finer texture mine has always lacked.
Just thought of that chocolate dipped sponge candy I used to buy at that store (long gone). I made some, and my kids just love it. Mine didn't get quite spongy enough to suit me. It's the kind of thing you have to keep working on.
The way I make brown bread now is one pot. I pick my largest saucepan, 5 quart or so, with a sturdy handle. Mix the dry ingredients. Take out a little to coat the drained raisins later so they don't all sink to the bottom. Then I stir in the molasses and buttermilk slowly all all at once, maybe in thirds or so. Gently stir in the raisins last.
And use floured spray in my cans. Perfectemundo.
My mom had one of those Chambers gas stoves when I was growing up, heavy monsters those things. I had it in the early years of my marriage. It had a thermowell (cooked all night with the pilot light only like a crock pot now). My mom would make bean soup, then under the big lid that clamped to the part that fit nicely into the well, there was a smaller maybe sized like some coffee cans, a little taller than wide. That's what she would put the brown bread in and cook all night. I loved that stuff since I was a kid.
I asked for her electric stove when my dad broke up housekeeping to remarry after my mother had died and got rid of the Chambers. Kind of miss that thing although I prefer electric now. I loved the broiler with the griddle on top which I never used for pancakes as I preferred my electric skillet back then, don't have one for years. Didn't have to make the oven double as a broiler and the food was all easy to access at stovetop level.
A tip maybe someone can use. I probably blot the raisins a little because the flour will gunk up if too wet.. To save on multiple layers of paper towels which were once quite a luxury, I use a couple layers of fresh towels on top of several thicknesses of newspaper, throw it all away when done.