Chew Bread

Updated April 1, 2024

Chew Bread
Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Total Time
45 minutes
Prep Time
5 minutes
Cook Time
40 minutes
Rating
3(176)
Comments
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For many families growing up in North Carolina, chew bread was commonly served as dessert or a snack, especially after a Sunday church service. This recipe is from Doretha Mitchell, the mother of Ed Mitchell and grandmother of Ryan Mitchell, longtime pitmasters in Wilson, N.C., who now help run True Made Foods, a food company making barbecue sauce and other condiments. She sold the chew bread, along with other desserts, in the 1980s at a supermarket she owned with her husband. Adapted from “Ed Mitchell’s Barbeque” by Ed Mitchell and Ryan Mitchell (Ecco, 2023), this recipe is significantly chewier, denser and less sweet than a blondie. The snack likely originated from sharecroppers who made it with leftovers they received from white families. It also has different names throughout the South, like cornbread cake, or chewies in South Carolina. —Christina Morales

Featured in: This Southern Delicacy Leaves Much to Chew On

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Ingredients

Yield:About 16 squares
  • 1tablespoon canola oil
  • 2cups/256 grams all-purpose flour
  • ½teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
  • 2large eggs
  • 1cup/220 grams packed dark brown sugar
  • 3tablespoons store-bought caramel sauce (preferably Ghirardelli)
  • 1cup/100 grams pecan halves and pieces, finely chopped
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (16 servings)

179 calories; 6 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 29 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 16 grams sugars; 3 grams protein; 85 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Use a nonstick pan or lightly brush a deep, 8-by-8-inch square baking pan with canola oil.

  2. Step 2

    Sift the flour into a medium bowl. Add the salt and whisk to combine.

  3. Step 3

    In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs and brown sugar until lighter, thin and runny, about 1 minute. Transfer the mixture to a medium saucepan and heat over medium-low, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.

  4. Step 4

    Add the sifted flour, caramel and pecans to the brown sugar mixture and stir until mixture is combined and you no longer see any streaks of flour. Transfer the mixture into the prepared baking pan, spread in an even layer and bake for 15 minutes.

  5. Step 5

    Let the dessert cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, and then cut into brownie-size squares. Serve warm. Store leftovers in plastic wrap for up to 5 days in the fridge. Reheat in the microwave for 10 seconds.

Ratings

3 out of 5
176 user ratings
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Comments

Any substitute for caramel sauce?

My family baked a similar bar cookie that we called ‘Chews’ or ‘Chinese Chews’. The ingredients included brown sugar, butter, eggs, slivered almonds and shredded coconut. The recipe is called Toffee Nut Bars in a 1950’s version of the Betty Crocker cookbook. I still bake them and they are delicious.

As other said, not enough liquid. The accompanying article mentions butter, so I assume that a stick of butter is left out of the ingredients. As written, yuck!

Bland and tasteless. Not very good. Regular blondies are much, much better.

Made these tonight, taste fantastic but they came out more like a cookie than bread or brownie… any suggestions??

I made it and it is easy and so delicious, not too sweet. I made it with the ingredients and methods in the Times recipe. I think I'll eat one now.

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Credits

Adapted from “Ed Mitchell’s Barbeque” by Ed Mitchell and Ryan Mitchell (Ecco, 2023)

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