There’s nothing better than the smell of freshly baked bread wafting through your home. Although it may seem challenging or complicated, homemade bread is often easier to make than it seems! You’ll also love this Nut and Seed Loaf or my Buckwheat Bread Recipe if you need more inspiration for other easy bread recipes.
Ingredients
This recipe (adapted from the original recipe, Mark Bittman Yogurt Bread) requires only a few basic ingredients that you likely have stocked in your pantry and fridge. Besides classic bread ingredients like flour and baking soda, we’re adding molasses, dried fruits, and walnuts for the perfect balance of sweet and savory.
For this quick bread recipe, you’ll need whole wheat flour (or white whole wheat flour), cornmeal, kosher salt, baking soda, plain whole milk yogurt (or buttermilk), unsulphured molasses (I like Grandma’s Molasses – affiliate link), chopped dried fruit (any kind you prefer, such as cranberries, figs, or raisins), and chopped walnuts.
How to Make It?
This moist loaf comes together with only 15 minutes of hands-on time and an hour of cook time, making it a no-fuss option whenever you’re craving a slice of warm, homemade bread. Here’s how to make it:
- Preheat the oven: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a non-stick, 9×5 or 8.5×4.5 inch loaf pan with vegetable oil spray (such as olive oil), or line it with parchment paper.
- Combine the dry ingredients: Add the whole wheat flour, cornmeal, salt, and baking soda to a medium bowl and mix until well combined.
- Whisk the wet ingredients: In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients until combined.
- Combine ingredients together: Add the flour mixture into the bowl with the wet mixture and stir until just combined, making sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl. The dough will be very thick.
- Add the dried fruit and nuts: Gently fold in the chopped fruits and nuts until they are evenly distributed throughout the dough. This is a rather dense dough so don’t be alarmed.
- Pour into a loaf pan: Transfer batter to the prepared loaf pan and use a spatula to even it out.
- Bake loaf: Bake in the center of the oven for about 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let it rest for 5 minutes, then remove it from the pan and let it cool completely on a wire rack.
- Serve: Slice with a serrated knife and serve with your favorite spreads or toppings.
How to Serve?
This yogurt and molasses bread is so hearty and filling that it makes for the perfect quick breakfast or afternoon snack that will keep you feeling energized. Add a pat of butter and enjoy it with a hot cup of coffee or tea, or use your favorite spreads to amp up the flavor. Here are some suggestions:
- Pop it in the toaster: I personally think that this quick bread is best when served warm, so I like to pop it in the toaster before serving. The toaster warms it evenly and gives it a nice crust!
- Use your favorite spread: Lots of different butters, cheeses, and jams pair beautifully with this bread. Spread on some salted or unsalted butter to keep things simple (make sure to toast the bread, so the butter melts), or serve it with cream cheese, homemade ricotta cheese, no butter chocolate frosting, or mascarpone cheese. If you want to add some sweetness, spread on your favorite jam. I personally love to pair this bread with blackberry jam!
How to Store and Freeze
If you don’t think you can consume the loaf within about a week, you can store it in the freezer to enjoy later. Better yet, make a double recipe and store one loaf in the freezer to have homemade bread available whenever you’re craving it. Here are some storage tips:
- Store: Let the bread cool to room temperature and store it in an airtight container in the fridge. It’ll keep in the fridge for about a week.
- Freeze: Before freezing, let the bread cool to room temperature and slice it (it’s difficult to slice once it’s frozen). Wrap it in plastic wrap and store it in a freezer-safe container for up to two months.
Expert Tips
Even though this molasses whole wheat bread recipe is pretty easy and straightforward, I wanted to provide you with a few tips to help you get the best results. Here’s what you need to know:
- Don’t overmix the dough: Once you combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients, it’s important to mix until the dough is just combined. Overmixing tends to affect the texture of your bread, making the resulting bread tough, dense, or chewy. While manually mixing will help you avoid overmixing, a stand mixer and a dough hook will also work as long as you watch it closely and stop mixing once the dough comes together.
- Aerate the flour for proper measurement: The best way to measure flour for this whole wheat recipe is to spoon it into your measuring cup and level it off with a butter knife. This will help aerate the flour, which ensures proper measurement and gives the bread a nice texture.
- It is a dense dough: After you add the fruit, you will end up with a dense dough. You might think that it needs more liquid but please trust the recipe. It does not need more liquid.
- Let it cool completely before slicing: I know you will be tempted to cut into your bread as soon as it comes out of the oven (I was, too), but it’s important to wait a little bit to let the loaf cool completely before cutting into it. The bread actually continues to cook and release steam as it cools, so cutting into it too soon interrupts this process and leaves you with a dense texture that’s usually a bit sticky.
FAQs
Adding yogurt to bread recipes makes for tender, moist, and fluffy bread. It’s also a great substitute or replacement for fats and liquid, such as oil and butter, in healthy bread recipes.
I used unsulphured molasses in this molasses wheat bread recipe, as it’s made from sugar cane, usually doesn’t contain additives or preservatives, and has a sweet, “pure” taste. Blackstrap molasses, another common type of molasses, is thicker, darker, and more bitter than unsulphured.
Other Quick Bread Recipes You Might Like
Once you start making bread at home, you won’t want to buy it from the store! Whether you serve it to your family or give it away to friends and neighbors, it’s always nice to have a homemade loaf that’s ready to enjoy. If you’re looking to expand your collection of quick bread recipes, look no further than the links below:
- Almond Bread – This is my favorite gluten-free bread made with almond flour
- Simple Pumpkin Bread Recipe
- Best Vegan Zucchini Bread
If you try this Yogurt Molasses Bread recipe, please take a minute to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It helps others who are thinking of making the recipe. And if you took some pictures, be sure to share them on Instagram using #foolproofeats so I can share them on my stories.
This recipe is adapted from Mark Bittman’s Quick Whole Wheat and Molasses Bread recipe in his cookbook, How To Cook Everything (affiliate link.)
Yogurt Molasses Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour, 13.75 oz.
- 1/2 cup fine cornmeal, 3 oz.
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 2/3 cups plain whole milk yogurt , 14 oz. – at room temperature
- 1/2 cup unsulphured blackstrap molasses, 4.5 oz.
- 1/2 cup dried fruit, chopped
- 1 cup walnuts , chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 Degrees F. Spray a non-stick 9X5 or 8.5 X4.5 baking dish with vegetable spray.
- Mix whole wheat flour, cornmeal, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl. Set it aside.
- Whisk together yogurt and molasses in a separate bowl until fully combined.
- Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir just until combined. It will be a very thick batter.
- Mix in the chopped fruit and walnuts and stir them in just until they are evenly distributed.
- Place the batter into the prepared pan and distribute it evenly in the pan using a spatula.
- Bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean for about 55-60 minutes. Let it rest for 5 minutes. Remove from the pan and transfer onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Slice and serve.
Notes
- It is a dense dough: After you add the fruit, you will end up with a dense dough, and it may feel like you need more liquid, but trust the recipe.
- Let it cool completely before slicing: I know you will be tempted to cut into your bread as soon as it comes out of the oven (I was, too), but it’s important to wait a little bit to let the loaf cool completely before cutting into it. Bread actually continues to cook and release steam as it cools, so cutting into it too soon interrupts this process and leaves you with a dense texture that’s usually a bit sticky.
- Storage: Bring the leftovers to room temperature before placing in an airtight container in the fridge. The sliced bread will keep fresh for up to a week.
- Freezing: This whole wheat bread is great for freezing. Though I recommend freezing it after slicing. Simply place the sliced bread in an airtight container, and get the air out as much as possible before freezing.
- Thawing: No need to thaw! Just warm it up in a toaster (or toaster oven) for a delicious breakfast toast.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I made the recipe as written but added cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. It turned out great and I will certainly make it again.
Great to hear that you liked it Rhonda. Thanks for coming by and taking the time to leave a review.
Tried this yesterday. I used Greek yogurt and added a couple tablespoons of milk to loosen it up a bit (as regular yogurt is a bit runnier). The ingredients come together into much more of a dough consistency than a batter. I considered adding a bit of maple syrup when mixing everything together as I worried this would be a bit bitter and tangy (molasses, Greek yogurt) and after tasting the bread, I wished I had. I don’t like very sweet things, but I felt this needed a touch of sweetness. However, drizzling a bit of warmed honey over each slice improved the flavor for us. Slice thinly as this is VERY hearty.
This is an Amazing recipe for quick bread. I lost the middle because I took it out too.early at 45 minutes. The stick had come out clean though… so.that is not a reliable way to tell.if this recipe is done… maybe the bounce back test for this loaf. Absolutely perfect with whipped butter.
Hi, thanks for sharing. I’ve been making this recipe for a few times now, love the taste with cream cheese. However, mine didn’t look as moist as yours in the picture & my crust was a little hard, dried & darker in color. I followed all the ingredients except cornmeal, I used 1/2 cup of flaxseed meal instead & blackstrap molasses. My batter is dense, dried & sticky and not in pourable texture…is this supposed to be like that?
Hi Sharon,
I love the idea of using cream cheese.I am surprised that the extra fat in cheese didn’t make it softer.
Mine is a dense batter as well. It has more of a bread texture than a cake texture.
I guess the darkness in color might be a result of using flaxseed meal, which I think is a genius idea. Next time I make it, I will try it with flaxseed meal myself.
Thanks for letting me know.
I hope this helps.
Best,
Aysegul
looks great! definitely going to try this soon! 🙂 love the blog! xo
Thank you Irem.
This recipe is not only very easy to make but also surprisingly delicious. Especially if you have access to good grape molasses like Koska. If you know what I mean… 🙂
Cheers! Aysegul
This bread is surprisingly good! Mine took about 40 min to cook so keep an eye on it while baking. Tastes even better with mascarpone and jam as suggested. A new staple in my breakfast routine for sure!!
Oh great to know. I am really surprised though. I wonder why?? Anyhow, I am happy that you like it.
Knowing you, I know you would love the homemade ricotta cheese. You should try! 🙂
Do you happened to have a gluton free recipe for walnut bread?
Himmm.. I do not. At least one that I know to be foolproof.
However, I think we can try this recipe with gluten free flour. I will try it sometime next week and let you know how it turns out.
Cheers. Ice
What a really awesome idea for a quick loaf! With time crunches around here, it’s always hard to find a nice hearty and fruit&nut-studded bread that doesn’t take constant supervision (plus I love yogurt in my bread). I might just have to give this a try–thanks for sharing!
Hi Ala,
This bread has been a life saver for me lately. My husband and I love having a slice of it with a cup of coffee in the morning.
The best part of it is that you can flavor it with anything you like.
I love yogurt too. I am one of those people who believes that it tastes better when you add yogurt into (pretty much) everything. 🙂
Thanks for stopping by!
Cheers..
Ice