91 Comments / Kitchen / By farwellbear
My wife’s Aunt Jean has provided us with many great recipes over the years and her malt bread recipe has quickly become one of our favorites. Many of you are probably asking yourselves “what is malt bread”? That’s exactly our point! My wife’s family is from Ontario, Canada where malt bread is more commonly found. On visits back home a few loaves of Dempster’s malt bread were among some of the items that they would always bring home. That and a few boxes of Smarties candy! Both were always a real treat. A loaf of Aunt Jean’s malt bread is the closest thing we have to a loaf of Dempster’s malt bread from Canada and we love it. We think you will too.
What Is Malt Bread?
Although more common in some parts of Canada, here in the US malt bread is virtually impossible to find. This moist, dense bread’s origins are from the United Kingdom. It has a hint of sweetness and a slightly chewy texture. It’s frequently served toasted with butter on it. Our favorite way to eat it is toasted with a little peanut butter or honey.
Thanks to the craft beer revolution in the US, the malt extract required for this recipe is readily available everywhere. Any local homebrew shop should be able to help you out. If not, you can order some and have it delivered right to your door. If you want to go the delivery route, here is a link for liquid “dark malt extract” that is perfect for this malt bread recipe from Amazon (see affiliate product disclaimer at the end). I have used and had good luck with Amazon’s brewing products. The other reason I suggest them over my local brew shops are is I am sure they will have shipping options for readers outside of the US. Give this recipe a try. We think you and your family will love it!
One of the last steps in the preparation of the malt break is to brush the top of the loaves with a sugar/milk mixture 10 minutes before it finishes baking. As you can see from the above photo you do not want to skip this step. It gives the crust a slightly sweet taste and a nice rich, dark color. Give it a try, you’ll love it.
5 from 16 votes
Malt Bread
Ingredients
INGREDIENTS
- 1Tbspsugar
- 3Cupwarm water
- 3Tbspdried yeast
- 1/3Cupcup molasses
- 2/3Cupdark liquid malt(NOT hop flavored)
- 2TbspDark Cocoa Power
- 1/3Cupoil
- 1egg
- 2Tspsalt
- 7-10Cupsbread flour
Instructions
Ingredient Instructions
Dissolve sugar in 1 cup warm water. Add yeast -stir-leave to soften for 10 minutes.
In a large bowl, mix 2 C warm water and remaining ingredients (except flour). When yeast is ready, add to ingredients n bowl. Stir well.
Beat in 4 C flour till well mixed. Gradually add 4 to 6 more C flour to get the right consistency. (not too sticky, pulling away from KitchenAid bowl).
Place dough on thecounter and knead well-about 5 minutes, adding more flour slowly as necessary until dough is not sticky but not too stiff.
Form into a ball – place in a greased bowl – large enough to allow for doubling in bulk. Cover lightly with a tea towel and let dough double in size (could take up to an 1 to 1-1/2 hours at room temperature).
Punch down, shape into a ball – cut into 4 pieces, shape into loaves and put in greased bread pans. Cover and let rise double (about an hour) .
Baking Instructions
Bake 350 degrees in preheated oven about 50 minutes till brown.
Remove tins from oven 10 minutes before baking is complete. Brush tops with sugar & milk mixture (1/3 cup warm milk and 1 heaping teaspoon sugar) Return to oven for 10 minutes. This darkens the surface and gives it a nice glossy look.
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