Hi all – Eva from Eva Bakes here again to share a hearty breakfast recipe with you!
I don’t know about you, but I tend to get into a breakfast rut. I find myself eating the same things on a daily basis. It’s gotten to the point where my 5-year old is complaining about it.
That’s when I knew it was time for a drastic change to our breakfast routine. Rather than baking up a batch of muffins (my go-to solution) or buying pre-made English muffins at the grocery store, I decided to make some versatile bread. It could be turned into sandwiches, French toast, or just eaten plain (or slathered with honey, peanut butter, Nutella or jam).
But what kind to make? I had recently finished reading my daughter The Great Molasses Flood, which is a book that a neighbor gave us. It’s a short, kid-friendly historical fiction book that talks about the molasses flood in Boston Harbor. So I definitely had molasses on the mind. And bread. So molasses bread it was.
This bread could not have been easier to bake. I decided to use my cast iron pan because it just seemed like fun. The cast iron pan helped produce a crunchy exterior to the bread, which was great to bite into. The bread felt hearty and wholesome since it used white whole wheat flour and didn’t include any processed sugar.
We’ve been snacking on this bread throughout the day, and it has made for a great breakfast alternative. Hope you enjoy this as much as we did!
- 2 and ½ cups white whole wheat flour
- ½ cup medium or coarse corn meal
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 and ⅔ cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt (or 1 and ½ cups whole milk plus 2 Tablespoons white or apple cider vinegar)
- ½ cup molasses
- 1 cup sweetened dried cranberries, optional
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, corn meal, salt and baking soda. Set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl, mix together the Greek yogurt and molasses.
- Pour the molasses mixture into the large bowl and slowly mix everything together (using as few strokes as possible). You may hear a slight fizzing sound (and this is not only OK, but totally encouraged!). When a few dry streaks remain, fold in the sweetened dried cranberries.
- Place 1 Tablespoon of butter in a round cast iron pan or loaf pan. Put this in the oven and allow it to melt. Take the pan out of the oven and swirl the butter around so it coats the entire bottom of the pan.
- Transfer the batter to the pan and bake in your preheated oven for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Yield: 1 loaf; about 8-12 servings
Source: Food52; originally adapted from Mark Bittman
