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Bread

Whole Wheat Bread

A yeast-leavened loaf made with whole wheat flour, molasses, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Whole Wheat Bread

Why it works: Wheat and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,373 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Whole Wheat Bread

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the dough

  1. Dissolve the yeast in a little lukewarm water.

  2. In a large bowl, combine the dissolved yeast, remaining water, flour, molasses, salt, baking soda, and melted butter.

  3. Stir well and let the mixture stand overnight in a moderately warm place to rise.

  4. In the morning, stir the dough again.

Bake

  1. Transfer the dough into pans and let it rise until it reaches the top of the pans.

  2. Bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) for about 45 minutes.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Wheat + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,373 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Wheat + buttertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,002 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Flour + molassestop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,429 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Wheat + molassestop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together702 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Whole wheat flour
Provides the structure of the loaf and a hearty, nutty flavor.
Yeast
Produces gas that makes the dough rise and gives it an airy crumb.
New orleans molasses
Adds sweetness, moisture, and a deep color to the crumb and crust.
Butter
Adds fat that softens the crumb and gives a richer texture.

The step that matters

Letting the dough rise in the pans. The dough must rise until it reaches the top of the pans. Under-proofing leaves a dense loaf, while over-proofing can collapse and make the bread coarse, so the rise needs to be checked rather than timed alone.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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