“Let Them Eat Cake…” for breakfast!! Ontbijtkoek is a spiced Dutch quick breakfast bread with molasses, honey, brown sugar, and rye flour., Translated from Dutch, ontbijtkoek literally means ‘Breakfast Bread’.
Ontbijtkoek
Traditionally the Dutch enjoy this dense cake-like bread along with their morning coffee with a pat of butter. At our house, we enjoy it at breakfast, with coffee, and also as the base of an ice cream sundae with chocolate sauce. So GOOD anyway you slice it!!!!
Dutch Spiced Breakfast Bread
This recipe for this spiced breakfast bread comes from my mother. I remember eating it when we were in Holland visiting family. I would get it smeared with butter, the way it’s traditionally served. Come to think of it, I like butter on most quick breads including banana bread, persimmon bread, and others.
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Before I started baking this at home, I could never found it in local stores or bakeries here in the US. It was something I had to special order from Vander Veen’s, a Michigan company that imports goods from the Netherlands. My version, just like the one I used to order, ships really well because it’s so dense. So it a great homemade gift for friends and neighbors near and far. You can find more homemade gifts that ship well here.
Easy to Make Breakfast Bread
All of the ingredients are easy to find too! The recipe calls for 1 cup of all-purpose flour and 1 cup of rye flour. When I’m out of rye flour, I just substitute all-purpose without any issues. It just changes the flavor, but not in a bad way.
One of the signature things about this quick bread is its slightly sticky crust. While the bread is cooling, it is wrapped in aluminum foil and allowed to rest at least 12 hours, but 24 hours is better. This creates a sticky, moist crust that the bread is known for. To keep this moist, keep it wrapped until ready to slice and serve.
How to Make Quick Bread
To make this bread, you combine all the flours and spices together. Then combine warmed milk, molasses, honey, brown sugar, and vanilla in a sauce pan. Then all the two together until it resembles a pancake batter. Bake at 300˚F for 60 minutes in a prepared bread loaf pan. Allow finished bread to cool in pan for 30 minutes and wrap in aluminum foil to cool completely. Unwrap after 12 hours to slice and serve.
Ontbijtkoek (Dutch Spiced Breakfast Bread)
This quick bread is popular in the Netherlands. Traditionally served for coffee and/or breakfast with a pat of butter.
Ingredients
- 1 cup rye flour
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon cardamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground clove
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 cup whole milk or almond milk
- 1/2 cup molasses
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
- Prepare a bread loaf pan with oil spray or butter & flour.
- Mix together dry ingredients (rye flour through black pepper) in a mixing bowl.
- In a saucepan, warm milk until lukewarm and add molasses, brown sugar, honey, and vanilla extract.
- Combine wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix just until smooth. The batter will resemble a thick pancake batter.
- Bake 1 hour or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Remove from oven and cool in the pan for about 30 minutes. Remove cake from pan and wrap immediately within a sheet of aluminum foil. Keep wrapped for 12 hours before slicing/serving.
- Serve each slice with a pat of butter.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 169Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 2mgSodium: 160mgCarbohydrates: 38gFiber: 2gSugar: 23gProtein: 3g
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This looks delicious! I love the adorable pad of butter!!!! Pinning! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Angela. This was an old photo and I was trying to be creative. I need to reshot the recipe and post some newer pictures. 🙂
This looks super yummy! Pinned! 🙂
– Brooke –
Thanks Brooke. It’s an old family recipe that came from my mom.
Hi – I can’t wait to try this bread. My grandfather was from Holland. I’ll be using spelt flour since we have wheat sensitivities – thanks for visiting my site. I can tell from your meal plan that you are a good cook.
Thanks so much Debbie. I love to cook and try different things. I’m glad to hear it shows in my website. Spelt flour would be great with this bread. My mother is from the Netherlands, just outside Amsterdam actually. If you get the chance to try it, I’d love to hear how you like it.
Oh wow! I will have to try this! I am currently living in Amsterdam and haven’t seen this…I see more brioche than anything lol I have everything on hand too (which is a miracle since we moved back in May). …I am sure kiddo will love it…she may smear it in butter and cover it in hagelslag though! hahahaha
Butter and hagelslag… is there any other way to eat bread. It’s been years since I’ve been to the Netherlands, burr I used to find ontbijtkoek with the other snack cakes. I hope you enjoy this.
Hi Nicky, just prepared it and couldnt wait to open it!!!
It was delicious! just as good as i remember as on my childhood my parent’s friend bring this bread to our home and i just love it 🙂
Just one comment i wrap it before the cool down -less than 30 minutes- wait 24 hrs to open it, but the crust has not as much moisture as you share on the photo.
Any tips or advice to achieve that crust?
Thanks! 🙂
I find that the weather affects the crust a bit. When it’s humid it does better. If you have a drier climate, after the bread is completely cooled, place it wrapped in a large plastic bag. That should help.