Whole Wheat Honey Bread

Adapted from an “Allrecipes.com” recipe submitted by Melinda Halvorson.

I have been very frustrated with the bread available at our local grocery stores. Most breads that we had been getting (usually the “Arnold” brand) are high in sodium- something I never thought to check. Additionally, when I looked at all of the breads available, they had “high fructose corn syrup” and a number of preservatives. I finally found one bread that was lower in sodium, “Pepperidge Farm” “Farmhouse 100% Whole Wheat”, but still contains high fructose corn syrup, mono and diglycerides, calcium propionate and soy lecithin. Those sound an awful lot like things I can find on our chemical shelf in the lab. So I want to make our own bread. The first attempt was an utter failure (the flour was stone ground (too heavy) and had been in our pantry a number of years. The second recipe worked very well (with new flour), tastes good, slices well etc. I will experiment with gradually lowering the salt, but at least there are no strange chemicals!!!!

1 and 1/8 cups milk
1/3 cup honey
1 ½ tabs olive oil
3 cups whole wheat flour (gold medal)
1 ½ tsps salt (this is a lot for such a small loaf)
1 ½ tsps quick rising active dry yeast

Place ingredients in the bread machine and use the “White bread” setting for a 1 ½ lb loaf. When it is done, remove promptly and allow to cool before slicing. Store in a plastic bag in the fridge so it will not grow mold for a few days.