Rise Up for Homemade Bread Day
For all you bakers out there, today is your day. November 17th is Homemade Bread Day! Bread has been around for thousands of years and although most people today take a quick trip to the store to buy bread, it’s easy to make delicious and nutritious bread at home. Homemade bread can be a lot healthier, cheaper, and it can be a fun family activity!
Advantages of making homemade bread:
?Healthier ingredients
Store bought breads have a lot of additives to keep bread fresh longer, make it crispier, and to speed up the fermentation process. Making homemade bread allows you to make fresh bread without the added additives. You can make a large amount and freeze the rest until you are ready to eat it!
Alter the ingredients to your preference and make it healthier:
For added fiber:
?Substitute whole-wheat flour for white flour. If you have a favorite bread recipe, substitute half of the white flour for whole grain without making any other modifications.
?Add ground flax seed to the dough. Flax seed is high in fiber and omega-3 fatty acids; add a few tablespoons for each loaf of bread and kneed it into the dough.
?Sprinkle rolled oats on top of the dough for a fiber rich crust. Rolled oats are easy to find in your grocery store and are high in soluble fiber.
For lower sodium:
Americans are eating more than the recommended amount of 2300mg of sodium each day. Sodium is found in almost all foods and is especially high in convenience foods such as canned and frozen products. By making bread at home you can lower the amount of salt put into the loaf of bread essentially lowering the amount of sodium per slice.
For added phytonutrients:
For an added phytonutrient boost, try making breads with different fruits and vegetables. Making breads with carrot, zucchini or banana will not just make them more colorful but will also add phytonutrients. Enhancing your bread with your favorite fruits and veggies will make them even more nutritious and delicious!
?Cost effective
Making homemade bread is cost efficient. All you need is flour, yeast, water, sugar and salt (which are usually household staple items). Going to the store to purchase these ingredients will cost you only a few dollars and you’ll be able to make several loaves of bread.
?Great taste
Last but not least is the great taste of homemade bread. It is the freshest bread you can get and most importantly it tastes delicious. The aroma will fill your kitchen and your family will not be able to wait to get a taste of the warm crisp bread when it comes out of the oven.
Enjoy this recipe…it’s one of my favorites!
Carrot Bread
Serves: 12
Ingredients
1 cup whole wheat flour
½ cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
¾ cup unsweetened applesauce
¾ cup sugar
1 cup shredded raw carrots
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 egg whites
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Lightly coat a loaf pan with non-stick spray, then dust with flour.
3. Combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt and set aside.
4. Mix applesauce and sugar in a separate bowl and add to dry ingredients.
5. Add shredded carrots and vanilla extract to the mixture.
6. Beat egg whites slightly and add to mixture; mix well.
7. Pour into pan and bake for 50 minutes.
Serving Size: 1 slice
Per Serving: 118 calories, 26 gram carbohydrate, 0 gram fat, 3 gram protein, 2 gram dietary fiber
It’s funny that you post something about this because I actually had carrots in my fridge that I was just planning on making a carrot salad with, but instead I decided to make this carrot bread. Normally, I would just pop some ingredients into my bread maker and 4 hours later….TA DA, I would have a nice loaf of bread for me and my family, but now I made this carrot bread and my family did not believe that I made it from scratch!