Anadama bread is a classic New England yeast bread made with molasses and cornmeal. It's gently sweet, relatively dense but soft and tender and with a lovely rounded flavor. It's great for making sandwiches, dipping in soup or simply snacking on (especially with a smear of butter).
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I first had anadama bread many years ago now in a breakfast-cafe not too far from us that is sadly no longer there. I wasn't familiar with it, but liked the sound of it so gave it a try and immediately loved the flavor. It became my go-to for later visits.
Since I hadn't been familiar with the name, I did a bit of research on the ingredients and background. I've had it elsewhere since as well, though it sadly isn't all that common. All the more reason for me to do as I had promised myself: make it at home, too.
The origins of anadama bread
This bread originates in Massachusetts, but as with so many traditional recipes, the exact origins are a bit of a mystery. Some say it goes back to early colonial times, others say it is more recent. The origins of the name, too, are just as unclear.
What is known, however, is that anadama bread was trademarked as a bread brand in 1850, so it certainly existed at least before then. It is also known to have been sold in the Rockport, Massachusetts area in the early 20th century, as well as elsewhere in New England.
As for the name, well legend has it that it's all down to a fisherman in the Rockport area and his wife, Anna. Apparently she wasn't that great a cook and so one night, on being given the same dull cornmeal mush, he started throwing some flour, yeast and molasses into it to try to make something different, yelling "Anna, damn her!"
How much truth is in that is anyone's guess. But whatever the true background, it's a shame this bread isn't better known, it's so tasty.
Core ingredients and variations
You don't need all that many ingredients for this, though you'll find a couple of minor variations in recipes. The core ingredients are wheat flour, yellow cornmeal, molasses and yeast, along with some liquid and a little fat.
The fat seems to have traditionally been shortening though butter is common in many modern versions. Some older recipes make it with just water, but you'll also see part milk as the liquid in a few recipes, though I imagine a more modern addition. You will also find some add a little rye flour in the mix as well.
I chose to use butter and part milk for the liquid as I find both add to the flavor of the loaf, but otherwise I have kept very much in the traditional style. There's really no need to mess around with the recipe as the result is so lovely and flavorful.
Method and tips
In terms of method, one of the key things where this is a little different from other breads is that you need to warm the liquid to help hydrate the cornmeal. Some recipes have you simply mix them, while others call for you to cook it slightly.
I opted to cook it a minute, but you can just as easily mix off the heat. The main thing is you want to break up any large clumps of cornmeal as otherwise, they may form coarse lumps in the bread. The corn meal will look lumpy no matter what, so don't worry about small lumps. However squish any larger lumps with a spatula/spoon to break them up.
Add the butter to the warm cornmeal mixture while it is still warm so the heat with melt the butter. Also, add the molasses and salt while it's still warm so they distribute well. Then, let the mixture cool which also allows the corn meal to further hydrate.
Then, the method is much like other yeast loaves - knead for a few minutes, let it rise to double in size, gently knock back and shape into your mould, then let it rise again.
As with all breads, don't rush the rising process. This bread is a little more dense than some, mainly due to the molasses and cornmeal, and has a little higher proportion of yeast to flour to help compensate. But it does need that rising time to make sure it isn't overly dense.
Uses
While we weren't too bad on having patience for the rises, we were less good at waiting to slice the bread once baked. Hence the texture isn't quite as good in the picture above since cutting warm bread tends to make it clump a little. But it is SO good warm with a little butter melted into it!
This bread is also a great texture for making sandwiches - just bear in mind with it's slight sweetness it might not go with everything, but cheese and/or ham would pair perfectly. It's also great dipped in soup and much more, too.
Anadama bread has such a wonderful flavor and texture from the addition of molasses and corn meal. And despite these giving a distinct, gently sweet flavor, it's still really versatile, too. It's a shame this bread isn't better known these days as it is really pretty special, though without any fancy ingredients or complicated method. Give it a try soon and enjoy!
Try these other delicious breads:
- Pain de campagne (French country bread, with tasty flavors from sourdough base and part rye)
- Spelt rolls (with a tasty, slightly nutty flavor from the spelt)
- Japanese milk bread (a lovely light, fluffy white bread)
- Piadina (an easy non-yeasted Italian flatbread)
- Pain d'epices (French spice bread, a quick bread that's slightly sweet with warm spice flavors)
- Plus get more bread recipes in the archives.
Anadama bread
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)
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
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DeeK says
OmG! This is perfect. I always bought this at farmers market in summer. And missed it all winter. Never thought I could actually make it! And now I can. Thank you!
Caroline's Cooking says
So glad to hear that! It really is such a lovely style of bread and glad this fills the farmer's market gap for you.
Brandi says
Okay, this is weird... I've been making this bread since I was a child, and I've never heated the water (my recipe doesn't call for milk) and added the cornmeal on the stovetop like that. This is our family's favorite, so now I'm curious if it's different doing it this way. Off to find out, LOL.
Caroline's Cooking says
So water v milk is definitely something you will see both - milk adds a little more flavor and a touch more rich/sweetness. As for warming, having warm liquid helps with activating the yeast and gluten formation. In terms of adding the cornmeal to the warm liquid, it helps it absorb the liquid a bit more evenly and softens the cornmeal. This helps avoid any lumps of cornmeal in the end loaf. I have tended to see this method as more common for this bread, but of course you always get differences. And not that you can't avoid that issue otherwise, but I'd say it's likely more consistent. But interested if you find any other differences - I wonder if it's maybe a little softer this way?
Dominique says
Delicious, easy to make, sweet and hearty!
Caroline's Cooking says
So glad to hear you enjoyed it!
Cathy says
I followed this recipe to a tee and it did not double in size. Not sure what went wrong but it was super disappointing. I’m going to try a different recipe and see if I can redeem myself.
Caroline's Cooking says
It's hard to know what exactly happened without being there as there are always a few variables, but I know I have made this recipe a number of times without issue, and I know other readers have as well. In all likelihood, I'd suggest checking your yeast as that's the most likely culprit for the dough not rising quite enough. Also consider the temperature you had where it was rising - maybe it needed to be a little warmer.
Jody Cull says
The recipe does not say when to add the yeast.
Caroline's Cooking says
Hi, it's there in step 3 - you add it at the same time as the flour.
Willard says
...Ohhh yeah !... I grew up in Rockport and still live here, the Anadama Bread Co. was behind the ball field "Evans Field" near the train station. I believe they use to have tankers of molasses come in by rail. It was awesome bread and was readily available at local grocery stores...We had it toasted with butter for breakfast before school. I am gluten intolerant now, so I'm going to do a little experimenting with the recipe and see if I can make myself a loaf. It may turn out to be a brick, but I'm giving it a shot...
Caroline's Cooking says
How interesting! I've been to Rockport many times, and by the station, but didn't know that was specifically where that company was based. Sounds like a lovely treat to start the day, and good luck trying to adapt!
Robin Smith says
When do you add the yeast?
Caroline's Cooking says
You add it in step 3, along with the flour.
Claire says
I lost my recipe for Anadama Bread and tried this recipe and I'm looking no further. Awesome recipe and thank you for sharing.
Caroline's Cooking says
I'm so glad you enjoyed it and it matched up to what you had made before!
BruceS says
I made a couple of modest tweaks, but had I not, I still feel like this would the best version of cornmeal/molasses bread that I've had the pleasure to bake. "Gently knock back the dough" is not my typical style, but I followed that direction with success.
Caroline's Cooking says
I'm so glad you enjoyed it so much!
Terri says
I have made this and it is yummy. Was wondering if I could bake this in my 4 qt Dutch oven? I assume would need to adjust temp or bake time due to the molasses so it doesn’t burn? Thanks!
Caroline's Cooking says
I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it! So in theory, you can adapt most breads to be made in a Dutch oven, but a couple things to note. First, with Dutch oven baking you typically pre-heat the Dutch oven and bake at high temperature. I'd still recommend pre-heating the pot but yes as you say with the molasses, I think you are better to bake this at 350F as in the recipe. Secondly, this bread is a bit smaller than the typical volume for a 4 quart Dutch oven and since it would normally use the sides of the pan to give it shape, this means it would likely turn out rather flat in a Dutch oven. One way to help make that less the case is to make a bigger loaf, maybe around 1 1/2 times the recipe. A larger loaf generally needs longer to bake, but while it's hard to say for definite, I'd say in general baking in the Dutch oven cooks the loaf faster so maybe the time for 1.5 times would end up similar to the original. But I am taking a bit of a guess here, you would have to check as it bakes, after an initial time with closed oven to help it expand properly (maybe say the first 20 mins). Be sure to use parchment under the bread to help avoid the base burning, maybe a double layer. I look forward to hearing if you give it a try!
Sandi from Georgia says
I made this bread and absolutely love it
Definitely will make again.
Caroline's Cooking says
I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed it - it's one we love as well!
Linda says
Can I substitute for the molasses? I usually don’t have any in the cabinet and to buy a whole new jar for the small amount in this recipe seems like a waste. It’ll last me for another 10 years! Thank you for your response!
Caroline's Cooking says
It's not really that easily substituted as it has that depth of flavor you don't quite get from anything else. A dark brown sugar has some molasses in it so would give a bit of the flavor, but is definitely sweeter, so I would use a bit less to save being overly sweet. Alternatively, maple syrup has some of the flavor, though again I would use a little less as it is sweeter. The flavor won't be quite the same, though, with either, but will give a hint of it.
Sarah says
Is this made with instant yeast or active dry yeast ?if this recipe calls for instant. How can I adapt this to be with active yeast ?
Caroline's Cooking says
So as in the recipe, I made it with instant, which allows you to mix it in with the dry ingredients (or, really, at any point). With active dry yeast, you would use the same quantity, but you also need to bloom it in lukewarm liquid before adding to the dry ingredients. For this bread, that's a little trickier since you use the liquid to soften the cornmeal, and warm it more than would be good for the yeast. So I'd suggest maybe reserving the water and just warm the milk for the cornmeal, and use lukewarm water to bloom the yeast. This may mean you are a bit short on liquid to get the cornmeal to soften properly, but it's about the only way I can think to get it to work with active dry yeast.
DH says
Wow, I'm so happy I tried out this easy recipe, aside from a few minor tweaks because I didn't have exact ingredients (I used fine cornmeal, and light molasses, this recipe is 100% on point. I'm now making it for all of my friends, and just love the return to my childhood treasured bread. thank you, this native New Englander is happy and your recipes rock!
Caroline's Cooking says
So glad to hear it worked well for you and brought back tasty memories! It's such a great set of flavors.
Carrie Robinson says
Loving the history behind this bread recipe! 🙂 And absolutely delicious.
Caroline's Cooking says
It's such a tasty loaf!