Healthy and Hearty Whole Wheat Bread Machine Recipe

This bread makes a delicious meal with a large salad

         Recently I have been noticing how much sodium is in even the healthiest of breads I buy, not to mention I am paying about $8 per loaf. I decided to try to make my own with less salt in the bread maker. I have been really happy with the recipe below. It is hearty and healthy tasting with a dense consistency. It also makes my apartment smell like a bakery while it is cooking! We love to eat it with a little local honey drizzled on top while it is still warm.

Ingredients:

1 cup soy milk (almond milk also works)

2/3 cup water

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp honey

1 tsp salt (you can use a little more if you like saltier bread)

3 ¾ cup whole wheat flour

½ cup old fashion oats

¼ cup sunflower seeds

2 ¼ tsp active dry yeast

Add a hole for the yeast

Method

1. Place the wet ingredients in the bread machine

2. Add flour, oats, and sunflower seeds.

3. Make a hole in the flour (see picture above) that is not too deep to touch the liquid.

4. Add the dry yeast in the hole. This is to keep the yeast from rising if you are setting your bread maker to start a little later. I love to set it for 3 hours before I wake up so I wake up to the smell!

5. Set your bread maker on the “whole wheat” setting.

6. Try to wait patiently for 3-4 hours, depending on your bread maker. Let cool for 15 minutes (let’s be honest, I never even wait this long).

7. Top with a little honey, vegan cream cheese, or a nice jam.

I estimated that this loaf costs between $2.00 and $2.50 cents to make depending on where you buy ingredients. That means more money for fun toppings like cashew cream cheese from the Dr. Cow. Oh, and it's vegan. :)