Boston Brown Bread

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Very easy to make. I added 1/4 cup raisins.

For those who have had trouble with this recipe, here are a couple suggestions:

1. While American cooks use dry measurements, weighing the flour is common in most other countries. The 2-1/2 ounces of corn meal, whole wheat and rye flours the recipe calls for are approximately 1/2 cup of each flour. Likewise, the 6 ounces of molasses measures out to almost 1/2 cup. (I used refiner's molasses, blackstrap (treacle is a little thicker, so I would try 1/3 cup.

2. Several people also complained the bread was underdone or "gooey" in the center. Someone suggested using a smaller diameter can. Traditionally, this bread was baked in a 2 lb. coffee can, which most roasters have replaced with plastic. A 2-lb bean can works equally well.
I would also add testing with a straw, like you would a cake. Or use an instant read thermometer and bake until the internal temperature reaches 206 degrees Fahrenheit (96 degrees Celsius

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I only had one can to use, forgot that it required a second one so I used a loaf pan on other. Both came out good. Not quite good enough to make it into my cookbook, a collection of recipes but certainly would recommend trying it if you never had Boston Brown Bread like I have.

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Kudos to Alton for a delicious recipe! I just made this bread to go with our St. Patrick's dinner and I was very surprised how delicious it was! So was my husband! My mother always bought the B&M brown bread in a can when we were kids and that was good, but this recipe is even tastier. Great texture, great flavor and nice and moist! I will definitely be making it again!

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Well that's 2 hours of my life I can't get back. This is a terribly inaccurate recipe. Mine, along with the majority of the viewers, came out mushy and uncooked. I suspect there was not enough flour in the batter after compared to other recipes. It makes no sense of ratio to can. Also giving measurements in ounces for dry ingredients is ridiculous. Who measures in ounces and ounces by weight?
Booooooooooo. I wish I had read the reviews first. I've made brown bread many times in the past and this recipe should be illegal. Seriously.

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I've ALWAYS wanted to make Boston Brown bread. AB's recipe and one other stood out in Google. Several other reviewers had trouble finding the right size tin can. I did,too. Til, I found Peppridge Farm's PIROUETTE rolled tin wafers. Perfect can size. I used cornbread mix instead, and added 1/2tsp cinnamon,1/4c demerara sugar & 1/2c currants. I, also, used dried orange peel instead. This can has it's own lid, so it keeps the mixture airtight. I used an asparagus steamer and baked it for 1hr. 45min. This bread came out SOOO moist, sweet, and DELICIOUS!!
Thanks, Alton, for a simple and classic recipe! MUUAAAH!

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Excellent recipe! Simple & delicious.
For those that are having problems with "gooiness", it's your can shape. Do not use a wide can, the dough will not cook through. You need a taller, thinner one.
I used Royal Dansk Luxury Wafer tins, & they worked perfectly. As an added bonus, they come with lids, so there's no need for all of the foil & string. Just sprayed generously with cooking spray, poured the dough in, popped the lids on, & placed in the water bath. Perfect results!

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The flavor was excellent, but it was underdone and mushy in the center, I think a longer baking time is needed for sure. It was also very crumbly and fell apart when I tried to slice it. Like I said though, it was VERY delicious, so I decided to make bread crumbs out of it to use elsewhere. Not quite sure what I'll be breading with it because of that distinct sweet flavor, but I'll come up with something! Waste not, want not! Thanks A!

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I made some minor adjustments to this recipe. Used 1 part rye, 1 part corn meal then half part wheat and half part all purpose. Omitted the vanilla and used 1/8 tsp. allspice then steamed bread in a scalloped mold on a rack on top of the stove in a large pot for 3 hours. The bread was AWESOME! I wish my grandmother could have been here to try it. It was better than what I remembered as a kid, the pinch of allspice and slight amount of orange zest may not be traditional but in my opionion, made it the ultimate brown bread. Thanks Alton!

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Not having Rye flour in my pantry, I substituted 1 part Wheat flour, 1 part All Purpose flour and 1 part Bread flour, also added a scoop of flax seeds and golden raisins. I sprinkled Demerara cane sugar on top and baked the bread in a spring form pan.

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My husband watched this episode with me and had to try this. I found the measuring of dry ingredients a bit confusing since it is listed in ounces and while you have to guess it is dry measurements, you are not really sure. The bread never cooked completely. The top couple of inches was very moist and very tasteful, however the bottom was nothing short of gummy batter. Try two batches and the second one was cooked longer, but still got the same results.

Will keep working on this though since I think it will be worth the effort once it is perfected.