Logan Bread

As soon as I saw the recipe for Logan Bread I was fascinated and wanted to bake a batch.

You see there is a claim at the beginning of the recipe that states that a 2-by-2-inch square of the bread will sustain a man for a day. And at the end of the recipe it says the recipe yields enough squares of the bread to sustain two men for 16 days.

The statement at the beginning of the recipe that caught my attention.

The recipe makes 32 squares or as the recipe states, enough to sustain two men 16 days.

The cookbook from my childhood. I remember loving the cover art.

The recipe for Logan Bread comes from "The New York Times Natural Foods Cookbook," by Jean Hewitt and published in 1971. According to the book, the recipe is called Logan Bread because it was developed for numerous Canadian ascents on Mount Logan.

The cookbook was passed onto me from my parents and as a teenager I remember making a really good recipe for Oatmeal Bread from it but somehow missed seeing the Logan Bread recipe until a few weeks ago when I was just flipping through the pages.

Now of course sustaining and satisfying are not the same, so I think eating just a square of this bread for a whole day wouldn't be much fun. But after making and tasting the bread, I can definitely see why you wouldn't starve.

The bread is dense and made with nutrient rich ingredients like wheat germ, sesame seeds, powdered dry milk and whole wheat flour. There also is a good amount of sweetness from honey, molasses and raw sugar.

The bread is made by mixing all of the ingredients together in one bowl and it requires no kneading or rising. 

In the recipe it states to bake the bread in a roasting pan, with no mention as to the size of the pan. I ended up baking it in two pans, one was 9x13 and the other was 10x14. I also increased the baking time by 25 minutes.

The original recipe called for baking the bread for one hour but when I checked it I could tell that it was still doughy in the middle. 

After baking, you should cut the bread into squares and set them on a cooling rack to dry out a bit before individually wrapping and enjoying when you are in a rush and need some serious sustenance. Store the bread in the refrigerator.


Here's the recipe with my alterations:

Logan Bread
1 quart water
4 pounds whole wheat flour
1 1/2 pounds raw sugar or brown sugar
12 ounces non-fat dry milk solids
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sea salt
2 cups honey
1 cup blackstrap molasses
1 1/2 cups oil (I used canola)
1 cup sesame seeds
1 1/2 cups wheat germ

Preheat oven to 300 degrees and grease two baking pans (9x13 to 10x14).

In a very large bowl mix all the ingredients together very well. Divide the batter between the two baking pans and bake for 1 hour and 25 minutes or until brown and baked through.

Put all the ingredients into one bowl.

Mix well.

Divide the dough among two greased baking pans.

Bake for an hour and 25 minutes and cut into 2x2 squares.

Cut the bread into 2x2-inch squares and allow them to air-dry until semi-dry. Individually wrap the squares with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator.

Let the squares air-dry until they are semi-dry before individually wrapping.