Brown Bread

I love intense colors: hot red, deep purple, emerald blue, sapphire green, you name it. But the color I think is the most underrated? Brown. Brown can be beautiful and classy if you do it up right. Like this brown bread; there's something beautiful about it in it's simplicity. 


This would be a great breakfast on a snowy morning, maybe with a cup of tea and a good slathering of natural peanut butter.


Multigrain Brown Bread


3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/3 cup rye flour
1/3 cup oat flour (I just whirred up some rolled oats in a coffee grinder)
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup buttermilk (or a scant cup milk and 1 tbsp. lemon juice)
1/3 cup molasses
1/2 cup prunes, pureed*
1 egg white




Preheat oven to 375. Whisk together the flours, baking soda and spices. Whisk together the buttermilk, molasses, prune puree, and egg whites. Stir the liquids into the dry ingredients just until combined. Bake in a greased loaf pan for 30 minutes. 




*Soak the 1/2 cup of prunes in hot water for 5 minutes, drain and puree in a food processor (you might need a few tbsp. of the soaking liquid to get it smooth). If prunes aren't your thing, you could try raisins, dried apricots or figs. I would recommend at least trying the prunes though - they add to the great dark color of the bread.




A few notes about this bread - It's dark, spicy, and not too sweet. You'll probably need something to spread on it (like honey or jam), and it's much better the second day. If you're skeptical after the fist bite, take another, it really grows on you.