salted butter and baked beansfor serving, optional
Instructions
Grease a 9x5 loaf pan (or for a more authentic version, a 29 oz. coffee can) with a generous amount of butter. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
Whisk or stir together the cornmeal (1/2 cup), rye flour (1/2 cup), whole wheat flour (1/2 cup), baking powder (1 teaspoon), baking soda (1 teaspoon), and kosher salt (1 teaspoon) in a large mixing bowl.
Add the maple syrup (2 tablespoons), molasses (1/3 cup), milk (1 cup), and vanilla extract (1 teaspoon) to the batter and whisk or stir together until everything is combined.
Add the raisins to the batter and fold in.
Pour batter in prepared baking dish. Cover tightly with foil (so the steam doesn't escape to keep the bread moist).
Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before running a knife around the edge and gently removing it. Cool for 5-10 minutes longer, slice into 10 pieces, and serve slathered with butter with a side of baked beans.
Notes
Ingredient substitutions: plant-based milk (for a vegan version), buttermilk, or low-fat milk can be substituted for the whole milk, white flour can be substituted for whole wheat, sugar or honey may be substituted for maple syrup (or syrup omitted), raisins may be omitted or substituted with another dried fruit of choice, such as currants.
Brown bread mix may be available in your grocery store- it's rye flour, whole wheat flour, and cornmeal pre-mixed for convenience. You can use 1.5 heaping cups of that if you like instead of the individual flours.
Don't be alarmed if the bread collapses in the center. If you use a loaf pan, this might happen, since the batter is very wet and it's steamed while baking. Honestly, it happened to me but I took photos anyway... I just flipped it upside down! It gave it a more authentic "out of a can" look anyway :-)
This recipe is adapted from Erin French's New England Brown Bread in The Lost Kitchen cookbook, page 219.