OK, I am without a doubt, a member of the vast horde who truly love bread. One of those people for whom the term “daily bread” has a literal meaning. Because not a day goes by that my taste buds don’t insist upon a piece of toast or half an English muffin or bagel with breakfast. Or a couple of baguette slices with soup, or at the very least, SOME KIND OF BREAD LIKE PRODUCT somewhere along the way during the day! Face it, I’m hooked. So, there is no way I want to live the rest of my life bread free. But life has thrown me a hard ball, and I must adjust.

So, being the cantankerous (derived from contentious plus rancorous) old stinker that I am, I’ve decided to fight for my rights. And in doing so, I’m going to take you right along with me. (Now, aren’t you the lucky one!) Because what is life without the things that bring us the most pleasure. And for me, bread is one of those things! Period. End of report.

Yesterday I baked bread using the slammed together recipe you find below. I threw in every healthy ingredient I could think of, used only whole wheat flour, and sweetened the whole mess with monk fruit sweetener. And the bread turned out just fine. It has a nice nutty flavor, great texture, and perfect for my morning toasted bread fix.

So, if you too are trying to eat healthier, but like me refuse to give up the kinds of food you love, give this bread recipe a try.

As always, have fun in your kitchen. But as with all of us, there comes a time when better judgement must prevail. I’ve never been one to deny myself good food, but if I want to keep staying healthy, I need to adapt some of my favorite recipes to accommodate the changes happening to my body. And boy oh boy are they happening at a rapid rate! And time seems to be going by so darn quickly. These days a year seems to go by in, like, 6-7 months! Maybe I just missed the memo that informed us that days were being shortened and time sped up. If so, I must have been in the kitchen. Probably baking cookies. As the old saying goes “if life throws you lemons, make lemonade”. If I shouldn’t eat white flour or sugar any longer, bring on the whole wheat flour and the monk fruit sweetener!

Peace and love to all.

1½ c. warm water

⅓ c. powdered milk

1 T. instant yeast

2 T. extra virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing the bowl

2 T. monk fruit sweetener (I like the “golden” type)

1 tsp. kosher salt  

3 T. vital wheat gluten

1 c. old-fashioned oats

2 T. wheat germ

2 T. flaxseed meal

¼ c. sunflower seeds

2 T. sesame seeds

2¾ – 3 c. whole wheat flour

Mix the warm water, powdered milk, yeast, and olive oil together in the bowl of your stand mixer. Let sit for 5 minutes. Add the monk fruit sweetener, salt, vital wheat gluten, oats, wheat germ, flaxseed meal, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, and most of the whole wheat flour. Using your dough hook, knead the dough until it holds together, but is still a bit tacky to the touch.

Pour a bit of olive oil in the bowl, and using your hands and a stiff rubber spatula, form the dough into a greased ball. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for about 90 minutes or until roughly doubled in size.

Punch down and shape the dough into a loaf (or 2 loaves), then place in 1 greased 9 × 5-inch or 2 – 7.5 x 3.5-inch loaf pan or pans. Pat the dough into the corners of the pan(s) and flatten the top(s) as much as possible.

Loosely cover the dough with plastic wrap that has been lightly coated with cooking spray (greased side down). Let rise for 90 minutes or until the dough has risen a bit. At this point, pre-heat your oven to 375-degrees. (This should give your oven plenty of time to pre-heat as your bread finishes rising.)

Bake for 40-50 minutes (9 x 5-inch loaf) or about 30 minutes (7.5 x 3.5-inch loaves) or until the bread is nicely browned and registers at least 200-degrees on an instant read thermometer.

Remove from oven and tip the loaf or loaves out onto a cooling rack. Let cool completely before slicing. Store in an airtight container.