I don't know why it took me so long to try Anadama Bread, but maybe it's the origin story. It always put me off a little since it involves a man (fisherman) getting frustrated with his wife's meals and saying "Anna, damn her." "Yeah, right back at you too, buddy". Well,I got over it when I saw how much my husband loved the Franciscan brown bread.
Molasses and Cornmeal Bread
Like Franciscan Brown Bread, Anadama Bread has molasses, whole wheat flour and bread flour, but it also has cornmeal which gives it a coarser texture and adds even more flavor. It's sweet, but not too sweet for sandwiches, and perfect for breakfast toast or serving alongside soups and stews.
Easy and Good Recipe
If you’ve never made it before, don’t be intimidated, especially if your name is Anna. This is just a straightforward yeast bread recipe, and the dough is easy to work with. It bakes into a soft, tender loaf with just enough structure to hold up to thick slices and generous spreads of butter.
If you love old-fashioned breads or are looking for a classic New England recipe to add to your baking repertoire, give this Damn Anna Bread a try. I think you'll like this recipe, which comes from a collection of traditional Boston recipes. It's historic!
Also, here's a picture of what the dough should like like. I recommend adding the bread flour gradually as the directions say.
The loaf fits an 8 ½ by 4 ½ inch pan. I love using my deep barrel loaf pan so that's what's shown here, but a standard dept loaf pan is fine. I do recommend getting a good deep loaf pan if you don't have one! They're a lot of fun.
And since people often ask about brands of cornmeal, I will say I used Bob's Medium Stone Ground for this. It's quite coarse, but softens up in the boiling water.
Recipe
Anadama Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup stone ground cornmeal (150 grams)
- 1 ¼ cups boiling water (280 grams)
- 4 teaspoons active dry yeast
- ¼ cup warm water for proofing yeast
- ½ cup molasses (80 grams)
- ½ cup powdered milk (110 grams)
- 1 cup whole wheat flour (130 grams)
- 1 ½ cup bread flour, divided use (140 grams plus 70 grams)
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 3 tablespoon very soft unsalted butter (42 grams)
Instructions
- Put the cornmeal in the bowl of a stand mixer and pour 1 ¼ cups boiling water over it. Let stand for 15 minutes or until it is lukewarm.
- Proof the yeast in ¼ cup of warm water. When it is foamy, add to the cornmeal along with the molasses, milk powder, whole wheat flour, just 1 cup of the bread flour, salt and butter. Mix well with a scraper.
- Place mixing bowl on the mixer stand and knead with the dough hook for about 3 minutes. At this point the dough should still be pretty sticky and cling to the side of the bowl. If for some reason it's stiff and already clinging to the hook, you can stop here. Otherwise, go ahead and add another ¼ cup of flour, return to the stand knead for another 2-3 minutes. Check dough again. It should still be pretty stiff, but still sticking to the sides of the bowl
- Scrape the dough off the sides of the bowl towards the center and add the last ¼ cup of flour. Return to mixer stand and knead for about 3-5 minutes. At this point, the dough should be clinging to the hook and very elastic, but a wee bit sticky. Scrape it all to the middle of the ball to form a ball. If you can't form a ball, then you'll need to add more flour.
- Spritz the dough with a little oil or cooking spray. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for 1 hour or until it has doubled in bulk. If you prefer, you can transfer the dough to a greased bowl, but I just left it in the work bowl.
- Meanwhile, grease am 8 ½ by 4 ½ inch loaf pan.
- Once the dough has risen, punch it down and press it into a rectangle. Roll it up, sealing the sides, and bounce it around to remove air bubbles. Set the dough the prepared pans and cover with greased plastic wrap.
- Allow the dough to rise again -- this time for only about 45 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 375 F.
- Bake for about 50-55 minutes at 375F. Let cool for 10 minutes, then remove from the loaf pan and let cool completely.
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