Quick and Easy Anadama Bread

I didn't have much time for this week's bread-baking lesson, so I decided to go with a "quick" bread... quick being about 2 hours.

This recipe is from 'Granny White's Bread Recipes:'

• 1/3 cup cornmeal
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 package active dry yeast (1 Tbsp)
• 3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup light molasses
• 3 Tbsp butter

The butter gets melted gently in a small saucepan, along with the molasses. I didn't have "light" molasses, so some extra water was added to the wet ingredients.

The cornmeal, salt, yeast, and 1 cup of flour are mixed together, then the wet ingredients are added and mixed in for a few minutes. Then the second cup of flour is mixed in, the egg added, and finally the third cup is stirred in until just mixed. I asked Kheng why the flour is added this way... he told me that the first two cups of flour gets kneaded in to create elasticity, and the last cup keeps the bread airy.

The dough gets placed into a loaf pan, where it rises for about an hour, then baked at 375F for 30 to 35 minutes.

I have to say that this bread worked out well, compared to the others I've made so far. It rose beautifully and had a deep molasses flavor. My guess is that the success resulted from using wheat flour