anadama bread from the bread baker's apprentice

by Stacy

I’m in a bread rut.

My husband has been taking sandwiches to work for lunch. I have poached eggs and a slice of toast each morning for breakfast. Sometimes he has a sandwich at home for lunch and still takes one to work for dinner. For the last few months I have averaged one loaf of 100% whole wheat bread per week. Every week. I can mix up the biga and soaker without consulting the recipe. Hell, I can mix up the final dough without consulting the recipe. To the gram.

It’s good bread! We both really like it. It’s soft for sandwiches, but still hearty, and makes a nice piece of toast. But I was getting a little bored. So I went back to the beginning. At least, the beginning of The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. The recipes are listed alphabetically, and “anadama bread” was the first one. The traditional New England bread is made with cornmeal and molasses and I had never made it before.

Unlike most direct-dough method versions, Peter Reinhart adds an overnight soak for the cornmeal to coax out the full flavor of the starchy grain. Mmm, cornmeal mush.

making anadama bread

Not exciting.

After a little rest overnight, the cornmeal mixture is added to flour, yeast, and water for a quick sponge. An hour takes it from blech to bubbling.

making anadama bread making anadama bread

Salt, molasses, and shortening round out the dough with the addition of the remaining flour. A little kneading, rising, and proofing, and we’ve got ourselves a loaf of bread!

The original recipe makes two loaves and I am low on freezer space, so I halved it. Reinhart recommends baking 24 ounces of dough in a 9-by-5 inch loaf pan, but despite careful attempts NOT to over-proof this loaf, it still got a bit wobbly on the top by the time it crowned the pan. I think next time I will try making it in an 8.5-by-4.5 inch pan and see if it’s taller.

anadama bread

The husband approved of it. It was a nice change (I mixed up another loaf of wheat bread yesterday) and still had some nice flavor and depth. The bread is quite fluffy and makes great toast! The cornmeal gives it a nice warm color, but the flavor is subtle and the corn adds sweetness more than a distinct taste. My only complaint was that the interior was so soft it made it difficult to spread refrigerated peanut butter on it without tearing. Yep, I am complaining that the sandwich bread is too soft and pillowy. Wah wah wah.

anadama bread

Anadama Bread

Adapted from Peter Reinhart’s Bread Baker’s Apprentice
Makes 1 loaf

The moisture content of molasses can vary widely, so don’t be worried if you need to add more flour to obtain a supple and tacky, not sticky, dough.

Ingredients:
Soaker
1/2 cup (3 ounces) coarse cornmeal
1/2 cup (4 ounces) water, room temperature

Dough
2 1/4 cups (10.1 ounces) unbleached bread flour
1 teaspoon (0.11 ounce) instant yeast
1/2 cup (4 ounces) water, 90-100F
3/4 teaspoon (.19 ounce) salt
3 tablespoons (2 ounces) molasses
1 tablespoon (0.5 ounce) shortening or unsalted butter, room temperature

Directions:
1.) (The night before) Mix the cornmeal and the water for the soaker in a small bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit overnight at room temperature.

2.) The next day, combine the soaker, 1 cup flour, yeast, and water in a mixing bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit for 1 hour or until it begins to bubble.

3.) Add the remaining flour, salt, molasses, and shortening or butter to the sponge. Mix on low speed with the paddle attachment (or stir) until the dough forms a ball. Add water if needed to make a soft, sticky mass.

4.) Switch to the dough hook or turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead by hand (about 10 minutes) or with the dough hook (6-8 minutes), adding flour as needed to form a dough that is tacky but not sticky which is “supple and pliable.”

5.) Form the dough into a ball and place in a lightly-oiled bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for about 90 minutes or until doubled in size.

6.) When dough has doubled, turn it onto a lightly-floured surface and shape into a loaf. Place in a lightly-oiled loaf pan (recipe says 9×5, but I am going to try a smaller one next time), mist the top with spray oil, and loosely cover with plastic wrap. Allow the loaf to proof at room temperature 60 to 90 minutes until the loaf has fully crested the top of the pan.

7.) Preheat the oven to 350F with the oven rack in the middle. Remove the plastic wrap from the bread, mist the top of the loaf with water and dust with cornmeal.

8.) Bake at 350F for 20 minutes, then rotate the pan 180 degrees and continue baking for 20-30 minutes. Loaf should be golden brown on all sides, register 185-190F in the center, and sound hollow when thumped on the bottom. Remove from pan immediately and cool on a racj at least one hour before slicing or serving.

anadama bread

Submitted to YeastSpotting.

{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }

Bridget February 7, 2010 at 9:43 am

Ooh, now I want to make this again. Unfortunately, I don’t eat a lot of sandwich bread – mostly I make rolls for some reason.

Reply

stacy February 8, 2010 at 11:04 pm

We didn’t manage to finish this loaf before it got moldy. Hopefully I will be able to use some stuff up from the freezer this week so I will be back in business of freezing half of my “fun” loaves.

Reply

Kimberly February 8, 2010 at 2:46 pm

1. Slice the bread. 2. Freeze the loaf. 3. Spread peanut butter on frozen slices. Toast or allow to thaw. You’re welcome. :)

Reply

stacy February 8, 2010 at 11:09 pm

That seems really complex, Kimberly. Perhaps you will have to come out here and demonstrate for me sometime. ;p

Reply

Jenn February 9, 2010 at 9:56 pm

Gorgeous bread! I am surprised that this had such a light texture considering the cornmeal, but it is making me want some right now!

Reply

stacy February 10, 2010 at 12:34 am

It’s one of those doughs that makes a tiny little loaf that you think could never expand enough to fill the pan… but it does. And it’s less than 1/4 cornmeal so the corn adds flavor and sugar more than heft.

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Mimi February 12, 2010 at 10:14 am

I can relate to crying about how the bread works in the real world. Sure you’ll have your share of slicing and munching, but if it tears when you spread things on it or breaks apart while trying to eat a sandwich, boo!! Not to say I complain about any fresh baked bread. đŸ˜‰

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stacy February 13, 2010 at 11:19 pm

Thank you for going with me on that one, Mimi! =)

Reply

Joanne February 13, 2010 at 12:09 pm

I got the BBA for christmas and can’t wait to try this bread. Really because I just love cornbread and molasses. Yours looks fantastic! Although I do plan on smothering it in PB so we’ll see how that goes…

Reply

sharon March 17, 2013 at 7:25 am

Sooo good! i have been trying different anadama recipes and this is the best. The secret is the mash. This makes great toast and freezes well.

Reply

Stacy March 21, 2013 at 1:17 pm

So glad you enjoyed it, Sharon! Thanks for your comment. =)

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