Anadama Corn Bread Recipe

Enlarge Image Image Gallery Anadama Corn Bread is made with molasses, an unrefined sweetener that imparts much more flavor complexity than white sugar. There are bitter and caramel notes to savor, and it beautifully rounds out the rough edges in the whole wheat used to boost the fiber and vitamin content of the bread. MARK LUINENBURG

The recipe here is excerpted from the new book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day: 100 New Recipes Featuring Whole Grains, Fruits, Vegetables and Gluten-free Ingredients (Thomas Dunne Books, 2009). This is the much-anticipated sequel to the wildly popular Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking, which taught us how to craft delicious and crusty artisan bread with just a few minutes of work. We brought you that basic technique in our article Five Minutes a Day for Fresh-baked Bread. Now you’ll be able to use the no-knead storage dough method with even healthier recipes. To order either of the fabulous cookbooks (and get a bunch more yummy-but-easy recipes!), visit MOTHER EARTH NEWS Shopping. If you have questions about these recipes, please post them to the comments section at the end of this article, and the baking experts at King Arthur Flour will answer them.

ANADAMA CORN BREAD

Pretty much every traditional American cookbook contains a recipe for this bread, a Native American-inspired loaf sweetened with molasses. This loaf spreads and bakes flatter than most corn breads.

This recipe makes enough dough for four 1-pound loaves, and can be doubled or halved.

1 1/2 cups cornmeal
1/4 cup wheat germ
2 1⁄4 cups whole wheat flour
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tbsp (2 packets) granulated yeast
1 tbsp kosher salt (or to taste)
1/4 cup vital wheat gluten
3 1/2cups lukewarm water
1/2 cup molasses
Water

Whisk together the cornmeal, wheat germ, flours, yeast, salt and vital wheat gluten in a 5-quart bowl, or a lidded (not airtight) food container.

Combine the water and molasses, and mix them with the dry ingredients without kneading, using a spoon, a food processor (with dough attachment) or a heavy-duty stand mixer (with paddle). You may need to get your hands wet to get the last bit of flour incorporated if you’re not using a machine.

Cover (not airtight), and allow the dough to rest at room temperature until it rises and collapses (or flattens on top), approximately 2 hours.

The dough can be used immediately after the initial rise, though it is easier to handle when cold. Refrigerate it in a lidded (not airtight) container and use over the next week.