The Easiest Brown Bread in a Can Recipe
What’s the easiest brown bread in a can recipe? The one that’s actually brown bread in a jar! Made with cornmeal, wheat, and rye flours, plus buttermilk and molasses, this brown bread in a jar recipe is the easy way to enjoy a mini Boston classic.
By Aimee Tucker|Aug 05 2022|
Easy Brown Bread in a Can Recipe
Photo Credit: Aimee SeaveyBrown bread is a New England classic. Made with a combination of three flours (corn, wheat, and rye) plus buttermilk and molasses, brown bread is delicious served warm with butter or as part of a classic Saturday night Franks & Beans Supper. Making homemade brown bread in a can has traditionally required hours of steaming, and while there’s definitely a more convenient way to get your brown bread fix (see B&M Brown Bread in a Can), sometimes you just have to get out the measuring cups and mixing bowl.
The perfect solution? Mini loaves of brown bread, baked in Mason jars.
For inspiration, I turned to our recipe for Concord Brown Bread Muffins, which are moist and flavorful without needing a drop of simmering water. They taste right, but look (as they should) like muffins, and not brown bread, which should be tall and cylindrical. The solution, it seemed, was simply a taller baking vessel.
The batter for this brown bread recipe comes together the old-fashioned way — whisking together the dry ingredients and then slowly folding them into the wet ingredients.
Photo Credit : Aimee Seavey
But then, instead of filling an empty coffee can or muffin cups, pour the batter into clean, greased Mason jars, filling them up about halfway. Arrange the jars on a baking sheet, and pop the sheet into the oven.
Photo Credit : Aimee Seavey
About 35 minutes later (for pint jars), you’ve got tall, perfectly domed loaves of fragrant, sweet, slightly gritty brown bread. All that’s missing is the butter…and (for some of you) the baked beans and hot dogs.
Photo Credit : Aimee Seavey
Are you a fan of brown bread? Now that you have our easy brown bread in a can recipe (aka, brown bread in a Mason jar), what’s to stop you from making a batch yourself?
This post was first published in 2016 and has been updated.
GET THE RECIPE:
Brown Bread in a Jar Recipe
As a Midwesterner this was a little lost on me – except I’ll do anything that is a vehicle for baked beans and hot dogs!
I will add raisins, as I’ve never had it without. How can I ensure they won’t all clump down to the bottom of the jar?
Another recipe that I tried before seeing this one, said to measure out one cup of raisins, put them into a separate bowl and add 1 cup of boiling water to them. Let sit for 10 minutes, then drain the raisins and add them to the brown bread mixture. This was for a large loaf pan recipe that I tried for the first time yesterday and it worked great! Raisins were nicely spread throughout the bread with no pile of raisins on the bottom. Hope this helps! 🙂
Whenever I add fruits or chocolate chip or nuts to a mixture, I dust them in flour. For some reason it allows the raisins (etceteras),to remain suspended in the batter, and not clump or fall to the bottom.
Just love the recipes for Brown bread. Haven,t had the steamed bread for close to60years. Thank you.
So happy to see these recipes!Used to buy brown bread and baked beans from an older lady at our small farmers market in Gansevoort, N. Y.,sadly she passed.Now I can make my own..thanks so much,keep the old recipes coming,they’re the best.
I have a severe corn intolerance and can’t do the corn meal. I’ve had this brown bread as a child, before the intolerance, and love it. Is there anything that can be substituted for the corn meal and still have good results? Thanks so much!
I doubt it, Joanne. The texture of the corn meal is an integral part of this recipe, in my opinion.
The xantham gum is going to add some of that texture. You can use ground oats or rice flour as an alternative.
Second time trying to reach you!If your baking sheet “ warps” after putting jars on pan… wouldn’t this mean uneven breads??? How do you prevent this?
You have to have baking sheets that are heavy enough to not warp. Most are too thin. The heavier ones are a little more expensive but you can find them easily enough. Otherwise try putting them into a large baking pan rather than a sheet pan.
I found super heavy vintage baking sheets at my local thrift shop. They are inexpensive, and, if you keep looking you’ll be able to find some. (Make friends with the people who work there and they might be persuaded to put them aside for you.)
Joanne – corn intolerance
Try semolina! Texture is similar, and it should work well, although it won’t have the same taste profile (blander), it’s a good substitute.
Best brown bread!I sometimes put dried cranberries in the bread.
I have used this recipe for about 4 times now. It was difficult due to the pandemic to find rye flour , but I finally did !!!!! I bought 3 bags of it !!! I first tried this recipe in what I thought would be the perfect jar, I thought it had a wide enough mouth for the bread to come out of . Boy was I wrong!!! I wound up with brown bread crumbs after trying to dig it out with a butter knife. I was able to find wide mouth Mason jars at my local Wally World . I really didn’t need 12 but I bought them any way. The jars work perfect!!!!! I would recommend adding just a tad more allspice ( just a pinch more ) . I also threw in a couple of handfuls of raisins ( i have small hands, so adjust accordingly). Also make sure you butter the jars thoroughly and don’t skimp. Basically it is for allowing the bread to come out of the jars easier. Do not substitute lard or Crisco for that procedure. I do what they tell you in the recipe just as a double measure of running a knife around between the baked bread and the jar. Allow the jars to cool for a few minutes then tip them over and give them a tap and shake and your Mini Brown breads should come out . I have been telling everyone about this recipe as the best and closest to the canned version you can find , but I feel this recipe beats the ones you get in the can . If you like a stronger taste in brown bread , use BlackStrap Molasses in the recipe. I have tried it with unsulphured molasses and Black Strap and I prefer the stronger taste of the Black Strap. As of this writing I have 2 breads stored in the fridge.
Richard – you mention that you add a tad more allspice….I don’t see allspice mentioned in the recipe??
Best bread ever! I added a few raisins, and used stevia with vanilla instead of molasses. Delightful for breakfast, or lunch or snack
Great recipe although I am a bit perplexed that you would advocate for people to bake in mason jars that are not safe to bake in. Hence why the various companies had to make press releases about not baking in their products when the country went mason jar crazy. So take the recipe and find a proper vessel to bake it in so you don’t have to depend on luck when baking your bread.
Please, please, PLEASE do not advocate for people to bake in Mason Jars! The glass is not tempered for the dry heat of an oven. It can shatter. The companies that make canning jars even tell you not to use them in the oven.