Maritime Brown Bread Dinner Rolls

Tender, pull-apart molasses-oat dinner rolls; a cozy variation on the beloved Maritime brown bread.

In the Maritimes, brown bread doesn’t mean whole wheat bread as it does in many other parts of the country. Instead it’s a tender, molasses-oat loaf with a dark crumb that is served up in thick slabs, and in the Simple Bites kitchen, slathered with whipped molasses butter.

This style of bread is a perfect recipe for our East Coast cozy series; you’ll often see it offered in restaurants as a side to local fare. The sweetness of the molasses brown bread pairs perfectly with salty seafood and ham dishes.

Baking bread is a love language. I’d take a basket of warm rolls with molasses butter over a box of chocolates any day. Read on for the recipe and bake a batch of Maritime Brown Bread Dinner Rolls for your Valentine this month.

Maritime Brown Bread Dinner Rolls

A little over seven years ago our family moved from a Quebec homestead to Nova Scotia. Within a week of our arrival in Halifax, a friend dropped off homemade soup and molasses brown bread for us.

It was such a kind gesture, and the homecooked meal was a balm to our worn-out bodies. What I loved almost as much as the food was the handwritten recipe card for the bread, tucked into the basket. My friend knows me well!

I’ve played with her recipe over the years, and made some tweaks of my own. Ultimately, we love our Maritime brown bread as plump, pull-apart dinner rolls, warm from the oven and slathered with butter.

Ingredients for Brown Bread

Standard ingredients for brown bread include rolled oats and molasses. I’ve made the rolls a little heartier with the inclusion of ground flax, stoneground wheat flour and cornmeal.

A bit of butter in the dough helps to build even more flavour in our buns – and I much prefer butter to the shortening that is often listed in vintage recipes for brown bread.

It’s important to be able to pull together a recipe from pantry staples, and this recipe delivers with its relatively uncomplicated ingredient list. I try and always have these ingredients on hand because in the winter months, we’re baking buns at least once a week to pair with chili, soups and chowders.

Tips for Maritime Brown Bread

Soaking the grains

An important step in this recipe is soaking the oats, cornmeal and flax in hot water to help them lock away moisture. This results in an extra soft and tender dough that keeps our buns fluffy. If you want to geek out about this process, look up the tangzhong method for baking bread with oats.

Bake in a Cake Pan

For this style of dinner roll, I like to bake them all squished together in an 8 x 8 inch square cake pan (you can use a 9 inch round one too). This encourages them to expand upwards instead of sideways, giving us slightly less crust (then say, a hamburger bun, for example) and resulting in softer rolls.

Pair Buns with Molasses Butter

At the bottom of the post you’ll find our recipe for whipped molasses butter. It’s a simple two ingredient condiment, but can be punched up with maple syrup, cinnamon or ginger. It’s fantastic with the brown bread and great with our Simple Skillet Cornbread as well.

Recipes that Pair Well with Brown Bread Rolls

The deep flavour and slight sweetness of Maritime brown bread pairs perfectly with salty seafood dishes and hearty chowders. Imagine them with a smear of spicy mustard and a sliver of maple glazed ham. divine! Of course, you can serve these buns with any main dish; these are a few of our favourite pairings:

• Classic Beef Stew
• Simple Ciopino
• White Fish and Leek Chowder
• Slow Cooker Cider Ham
• Creamy Beef Stroganoff Soup
• Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili

Whipped Molasses Butter

Not essential to enjoying Maritime brown bread, but recommended, it this whipped molasses butter. It’s just 2 ingredients, whipped up into a golden spread that truly elevated the homemade bread experience. For a slightly sweeter variation, try it with a splash of pure maple syrup and a sprinkling of cinnamon.