Boston Brown Bread

4.85 from 20 votes

Traditional steamed Boston Brown Bread adapted for today's home cooks, with tips for making it at high altitudes. Instructions are for steaming it in a Steamed Pudding Mold (my preferred method) and the traditional Can Method. This is a very moist bread that reminds me a little of gingerbread.

Prep Time15

Cook Time1

Total Time1 15

Course: Bread

Cuisine: New England

Keyword: Boston Brown Bread, Brown Bread

Servings:

Calories: 192.3kcal

Author: Susan Pridmore

Equipment

Kitchen scale
Parchment paper
Steamed Pudding Mold (or 2 BPA-free 28-ounce cans)
Instant Read Thermometer
Cooling rack

Ingredients

1 ½ cups (6 ⅔ oz / 180g) whole wheat graham flour, See Ingredient Notes in the post
½ cup (2 1/10 oz / 60 g) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt, (or ¾ teaspoon kosher salt)
½ cup (4 fl oz / 118 ml) dark molasses
1 ½ cups (12 fl oz / 360 ml) buttermilk See Ingredient Notes in the post

Instructions

Steamed Pudding Mold Method (Preferred)

Spray the inside of the mold, the sides and the scooped bottom, with cooking oil. If you don't have a spray can, drizzle a little oil (such as olive oil) in the mold, and spread it on the sides and bottom of the mold using a paper towel.
Whisk the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl.
Add the molasses and buttermilk to the dry ingredients, stirring just until combined.
Pour the batter into the prepared mold, and attach the top. It should be tightly fitted.
Place the mold in a very large pot that has a lid. Fill with enough water to reach half way up the mold. Place a lid on the pot. If it doesn't completely close the pot, wrap the top of the pot with foil. You want to create a closed area as much as you can for the bread to steam in the pot. Otherwise the bottom half of the bread will cook, but the top half could be undercooked.
Steam for 45 - 60 minutes. Check the bread at 45 minutes to monitor how quickly it's baking. Using an instant read thermometer, your goal is 200˚F.
At higher altitudes, it can be difficult to get the bread to reach 200˚F, and you may need to finish it in the oven set for 375˚F. At 7100 feet, it took an additional 20 minutes for me. (See the High Altitude Tips in the post.)
Remove the steamed pudding mold from the pot. Set it on a cooling rack and remove the lid. Once the bread cools room temperature, use a knife to loosen the bread from the sides of the mold, turn it upside down, and tap it lightly. The bread should slide out.

Can Method

Remove the paper wrapper from 2 empty, BPA-free 28-ounce cans. Wash and dry them, then oil the bottom and sides with cooking spray. Cut two circles of parchment paper to fit the bottoms of the cans, press them on the bottom surface to lay them flat.
Whisk the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl.
Add the molasses and buttermilk to the dry ingredients, stirring just until combined.
Divide the batter between the 2 cans, tapping them on the counter to level out the batter. Cover the top of each can with foil, secured tightly around the sides.
Put the cans in a large pot on the stove with water halfway up the cans. I weigh the cans down with small plates, to help seal the cans while the bread steams. The tighter the seal, the more effective the steaming.
Cover the pot and bring the water to a simmer on medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to low and keep it simmering for 45-60 minutes, until the breads are set on the top and sides. The bread should pull away slightly from the sides of the can. The internal temperature of the bread should be 200˚F / 93˚C.
Remove the cans from the pot. Set them on a wire rack and cool the breads in the cans. Once they reach room temperature, use a knife to loosen the bread from the sides of the can, then turn the can upside down and tap it lightly. The bread should slide out.

Notes

The nutrition information is a little inaccurate as I had to use whole wheat for the graham flour calculations. But the data is close.

Nutrition