{"id":308484,"date":"2018-01-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-09-24T23:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/origin-www.tasteofhome.com\/recipes\/authentic-boston-brown-bread\/"},"modified":"2025-01-17T07:09:02","modified_gmt":"2025-01-17T13:09:02","slug":"authentic-boston-brown-bread","status":"publish","type":"recipe","link":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/recipes\/authentic-boston-brown-bread\/","title":{"rendered":"Boston Brown Bread"},"content":{"rendered":"

Boston brown bread lies at the crossroads of nostalgia and hearty comfort food. The fragrant, no-knead bread is sweetened with molasses and raisins, and pairs perfectly with other\u00a0New England recipes<\/a> like baked beans and sausage. It’s also delicious with your midday coffee or alongside a hot bowl of soup.<\/p>\n

The earliest Boston brown bread recipes date back to the early American colonial period, when bakers would blend wheat and rye flours from Europe with the cornmeal introduced to them by Native Americans. The bread’s most distinctive feature is that it’s steamed, not baked like most homemade bread recipes<\/a>. Centuries ago, the loaves were steamed in kettles over open hearths. In the 1900s, home cooks found the bread could be steamed in empty coffee cans, an innovation that gave the bread its cylindrical and grooved shape.<\/p>\n

We’ll walk you through how to make steamed Boston brown bread in a loaf pan, with a variation for making it in a can. If you prefer to bake Boston brown bread, we’ll also offer directions for the oven.<\/p>\n

Ingredients for Boston Brown Bread<\/h2>\n