Monday, October 26, 2009

Anadama Bread



I'm going to admit a dirty secret to you. I'm not a fan of homemade bread-GASP! I know, I really hope we can all still be friends!

Don't get me wrong, I love a hot buttery slice of homemade bread right out of the oven as much as the next person. But, when it comes to using homemade bread on a regular, day to day basis, mainly sandwiches, I just don't like it. Usually the bread is too dense, or dry, or crumbly. It sits in your esophagus for days since it doesn't seem to absorb any liquid. Not a fan. BUT, a few weeks ago, my friend Kelley had a playgroup involving all sorts of peanut butter sandwiches (emulating the peanut butter place in NY, for those of you that have heard about it). The sandwiches were great, but my favorite part was the soft, nutty and flavorful homemade bread she made it on. So, after hours of begging, crying, pleading and stomping (okay, none of that happened), she gave me the recipe.

It's her dad's recipe and it's delicious! The best part about it is that it makes killer sandwiches. I kid you not, I was just looking for an excuse to make a sandwich every chance I got. It's soft and wholesome and slightly sweet from the molasses. This batch also makes three loaves, and I'm told that it freezes really well, so knock yourself out!

Do any of you have a homemade bread that you love? I've become crazy about baking bread lately, so let me know where the recipe is and I'll try it!

Anadama Bread
By Kelley and her Dad!

Ingredients

1 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup cornmeal
2 cups boiling water
2 tsp salt
1/2 cup molasses
2 cups warm water
2 tsp oil
2 pkges or 2 tbs yeast
5-7 cups flour

Directions

Put oatmeal, corn meal, salt and boiling water in a big bowl, and stir until everything is wet. Wait twenty minutes.

Add molasses, oil and warm water to the bowl. Sprinkle the yeast over the top of the mixture. Stir until all the yeast is wet. Add 5 cups of flour to the mix, one at a time, and stir. Add additional flour (probably between 1 and 2 cups) a little at a time until dough sticks together but is not sticky (the dough is still a bit sticky to me, so don't worry too much about that).

Let ball sit for 20-30 minutes. Punch it down and knead it one more time.

Cut ball of dough into thirds, and make a loaf out of each. Place in a greased bread pan and let sit for 30 minutes.

Bake at 375 for 30 minutes

33 comments:

Anonymous said...

Okay, I won't hold it against you that you normally don't like homemade bread!

Interesting addition of the molasses - I'll have to give this one a try.

Ingrid_3Bs said...

I just blogged about banana bread....does that count? I'm just getting over my fear of yeast so my experience with bread baking is a not so vast.

Your bread looks amazing.
~ingrid

Ingrid_3Bs said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jenn said...

I love bread. I've become more a fan of bread since I've started making my own. I've got to have it matter what. I bake a Filipino style bread at least once a week. It's a must.

Palidor said...

I don't like homemade bread either, unless it's made by hand. I find bread machine bread to be too dense and yeasty.

I've only made bread once, but I absolutely loved it. It was soft and moist, yet held up nicely for grilled cheese sandwiches. This is the recipe I used: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Oatmeal-Wheat-Bread-232825

Evelyn said...

Thanks for this! I'm eager to try it! I have been making homemade bread, but my family isn't too keen on eating it day to day like you. I do it out of pure pride. Haha! I ♥ pumpkin bread, especially this time of year. I have a great super easy recipe. I am sure it's pretty common. I will post it on my blog. Thanks again!

Jennifer said...

Ya know I agree with you 100% on the bread deal. I like a good sourdough for sammies, this looks really good tho!

The Blonde Duck said...

I'm so into this!

I love homemade bread, but I never made sandwiches with it--it won't slice!

Erica said...

Looks fabulous. And the party sounds like loads of fun My new most favorite bread is :

http://bitten.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/14/recipe-of-the-day-quick-whole-wheat-and-molasses-bread/

but I also love

http://www.tammysrecipes.com/homemade_wheat_bread

Julie said...

We can definitely still be friends since you offered up this recipe. I think that makes up for it :) Looks super! Can't wait to try it.

Cucinista said...

I actually love homemade bread and need to stop myself from baking because if I have it around I eat it with everything. And look -- you've gone and given me another excuse to bake!

Kathleen said...

I totally agree with you about homemade bread and the sandwich thing. It always tastes dried out to me. This sounds like the perfect fix!

Lynn said...

This sounds so good. I am definitely going to try it! I love making bread in my bread machine and do it often. I like being able to control how much fat and sugar are in what we're eating. And I get nervous now about store-bought bread that doesn't get moldy even after you've had it a couple of weeks -- just what are they putting in it, anyway? Makes me nervous.

Megan said...

I haven't mae much bread but now that the weather is cooler I'm going to try and dive into bread making. At least that is the plan!

Pam said...

Bookmarked. I've been wanting to bake homemade bread for a long time - this recipe sounds great.

Christo Gonzales said...

wow this is a nice looking loaf - good bread to get to liking

Katy ~ said...

Haven't made anadama bread in ages. I'll have to revisit the recipe because it IS delicious!

Libby@CookingWithLibby said...

I never liked homemade bread either. I even had a bread machine and sold it because the bread recipes I did try, I didn't like. If you say this bread recipe is a winner, then I believe that it is :) It sounds wonderful :)

Inspired by eRecipeCards said...

I just made my very first loaf of bread a couple weeks ago (did blog about it). I now have a new passion... Will be saving yours to try soon

Melody said...

I am going to give this a try. It sounds so yummy!

Barbara Bakes said...

What a beautiful loaf of bread. A nice hot slice with jam sounds wonderful right now!

Kim said...

Nothing is better on fresh bread than peanut butter. Everytime I get a fresh loaf from the oven it is slathered in pb. This sounds like a great recipe to try. I haven't tried a bread with molasses in it yet. I'm glad you found a homemade bread that you like! One of my faves is Tyler's wonderful white bread online at the food network.

Joanne said...

I am always looking for reasons to make sandwiches and am only now getting into baking with yeast. Thanks for this recipe and recommendation! Perhaps it will be my first real bread!!

amycaseycooks said...

First I must say that I am dating myself, but when my kids and I belonged to a playgroup 15 years ago, there was a bread starter that was passed around called anadama bread. You would receive the starter much lioke sourdough starter, add to it, make bread and pass on some of the starter and recipe to a friend.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane and the recipe.

Reeni said...

I love home-made bread too! But I never make sandwiches from it - I make toast and slather it in butter. This looks great!

Debbie said...

The bread looks delicious. I love bread but enjoy a lighter bread on sandwiches. The addition of molasses sounds wonderful!

theUngourmet said...

That does sound so nice especially with the yummy molasses! I don't make bread very often but I want to. I have a terrific bread cookbook out on my table right now. I've got to get with the program! :D

Anonymous said...

I love the IDEA of homemade bread. But to be honest, a good bakery bread is so much better.
That bread looks great! Probably will be amazing with butter and honey!

Katherine Roberts Aucoin said...

I have to try this...I love, love, love bread. Your bread looks so perfect, oh how i would love a slice!

Lara said...

I have a similar recipe with the oats and molasses for rolls that we absolutely love. I think my family would love this.

PS I agree with you on the whole homemade bread thing. Love it as a treat. Don't love it for every day.

Donna-FFW said...

Oh this sounds fantastic with the molasses. Ad it makes 3 loaves for 1 time the work, definitely worth a shot.

Karine said...

I don't make homemade bread as I am scare of yeast and I don't own a bread machine.

I think you did a great job with your homemade bread :)

Lynn said...

I finally made this! (What, eight years after you posted it? ;) ) I had to add extra flour, but it was yummy. Hope you are doing well, and keep on cooking!