Sally Lunn Bread- Old fashioned Southern recipe - Dessert for Two (2024)

Published: Sep 24, 2013 · Modified: Aug 17, 2021 by Christina Lane · This post may contain affiliate links · 41 Comments

We all have our insecurities. Since I pay money to rent this space on the internet, I’m going to tell you all about mine. Lucky you!

I become insecure when I learn about a classic Southern dish of which I've never heard. My blood rushes to my face, my palms clam up, and I try to shrug it off but can't.

I feel like my entire upbringing is called into question when I learn that fellow Southerners have been enjoying a certain dish without me. I doubt my worth as a Southern woman.

This is one of the many reasons I’m considering a ‘made in Texas’ tattoo in a prominent place on my body. (Don’t gasp, Dad, I’m 29 and can do these sorts of things now!)

When I found out about the Southern dessertMud Hens from my Alabama friend Christy, I rushed home to make them. And now I talk about them at parties like I've always had them and anyone who's never had a mud hen is deranged. True story.

I’m going to chalk it up to the fact that the South has so many great recipes that a few slip through the cracks every now and then.

Sally Lunn bread is one of those recipes that fell through the cracks.

This bread is soft like a quick bread and has the yeasty flavors reminiscent of beer bread and brioche. Also: no kneading required. Consider me swooned.

Please, for the love of all the things, don't leave me comments telling me that you've always known about Sally Lunn bread, and I'm clearly deranged and raised by ill-fit parents since my upbringing did not include it. My self confidence just can't handle it right now. I think I'll drown my sorrows in some pumpkin spice oatmeal cookies.

I made Sally Lunn bread the same day I found out about it. And in my great big rush, I didn't scale it down for two. The original plan was to scale it down for two. Then, I tasted it. We discovered a full-size bundt pan does indeed serve two when it comes to this rich bread. This is almost how I felt when I made my pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, but we quickly cut it in half before sharing--just for you.

I don't want to jump ahead of the game here, but I want to say that recipes like this are the reason that we are only considering cities south of the Mason-Dixon for our upcoming move. One bite of this bread and you'll understand why. If you love old fashioned recipes, you should try my apple fritters.

THANK YOU for all of your kind wishes on our news that we're moving. I couldn't do this without y'all. Seriously. XO