Anadama Bread

Anadama Bread

Anadama bread is a hearty lightly sweet bread that originated and is still very popular in the north eastern United States. We love it with soup, for sandwiches but best of all as toast for breakfast. It has a slightly crispy quality from the cornmeal when toasted that's really wonderful!

I found this recipe in a bread baking book my husband got me for Christmas a few years ago. It's called " The Bread Baker's Apprentice" by Peter Reinhart.

I'd never heard of Anadama bread before. Although I love to make sourdough bread I was intrigued by this recipe because of the cornmeal soaker. I have trouble digesting wheat that hasn't been fermented well and the corn content plus the overnight ferment of the cornmeal seemed like a great alternative option to sourdough. Plus we're big fans of cornbread so it just looked yummy!

The night before baking, mix 1 cup of polenta grind cornmeal and 1 cup of water to make the soaker and let it stand at room temperature overnight.

In the morning, mix together 2 cups of the flour, the yeast, the soaker and the lukewarm water in the bowl of a stand mixer. Cover with plastic wrap or a towel to ferment for one hour or until the sponge begins to bubble.

Make the sponge

Mix well

cover with plastic wrap

Add the remaining 2 1/2 cups of flour, the salt, molasses and butter. Mix on low with a dough hook until the dough begins to come together into a ball. You may need to add water or flour one tablespoon at a time to bring the dough together into a supple and not too sticky dough.

Make the dough

slowly add the water