Honey Bran Whole Wheat from Farmgirl

Is there anything prettier than some just-baked bread?  I think not.  Sorry, super models.

Don’t get me wrong–I’ll admit, I too suffered through the craziness of Low Carb and Carb-Free Eating.  I bought the ticket.  I jumped fully on the bandwagon.  I even (gasp) put my breadmaker in the basement for a couple years.  Thankfully, all phases pass.  I’m solidly in my mid-30’s now, and while I exercise often and faithfully, I also completely own the saddlebags that have now found a home on the outside of my thighs.  I earned that baggage.  Why not love it?

Ah, but this post is not about baggage.  This is actually about a lovely, delicious, and oh-my-gosh downright healthy bread recipe.  And even better, the recipe comes with a whole load of Technical Support–namely, the blog  A Year In Bread.  A sister blog to one of my favorites, Farmgirl Fare, A Year in Bread has recipes, tips, techniques, FAQs, pretty much everything a bread baker needs.  This particular recipe is Stephanie fool proof.  Twice, twice I tell you, I completely left out part of the wet ingredients until well into the first round of kneading, when the little whisper in the back of my brain said . . . something is very wrong.  But lo, I tossed in the wet, kept kneading, and all was well!  And delicious, too!

You’ll find the original recipe here.  I halved the recipe and made one regular loaf (let’s not talk about that weird looking collapsed top, because really, it tasted delicious!) and a couple dozen mini rolls–which my husband immediately deemed “chompers”–apparently for the sound he made when eating them.

Fun tip–after you divide and shape the dough (between the first and second rise) you can freeze it.  I popped my mini rolls into mini muffin tins, put them in the freezer for a half hour, and then popped the frozen dough out and stored it in a ziploc freezer bag.  When I want some mini rolls, I’ll just pull them back out, put them in a greased baking tin, and let them rise all day in the fridge before baking them for dinner.  Yay for planning ahead!  Now if I can just remember that they are in the freezer . . .

Coming up next on Chocolate & Toast:  Honey Bran Whole Wheat Cinnamon Currant Swirl Bread!  Or, the bread that really needs a shorter name.