Delicious Healthy Breads (Low-Fat Banana Bread & Honey Wheat Bread)

Low-Fat Banana Bread

1 Cup Flour
1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
½ Cup oat Bran
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
½ cup brown sugar
1 egg
½ cup applesauce (unsweetened)
¼ up milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 mashed ripe bananas
½ tsp salt

Preheat oven to 375 Degrees F. Spray loaf pan with cooking spray. In mixing bowl combine both flours and oat bran, baking powder and soda, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir well to mix. In a separate bowl whisk together the sugar, egg, applesauce, milk, vanilla, and bananas. Fold the flour mix into the wet mixture, be careful not to over mix. Pour batter into the loaf pan. Bake for 45-60 minutes, until well risen and a tooth pick into the thickest part of bread comes out clean. Cool a little and then enjoy!

Honey Wheat Bread (This is a lot like Old Grist Meal’s Bread)

3 cups warm water
2 TBL yeast
1/3 cup honey or sugar

Put ingredients in bowl and let sit for 5 minutes, it should be bubbly and yeasty smelling. Add 5 cups of whole wheat flour. Mix well and let it rise for about 30 minutes. This is called a sponge.

Add:
3 TBL oil or melted butter
1/3 cup honey or sugar
1 tsp salt
4-5 TBL vial wheat gluten (Don’t skip this!!)

Gradually Add:
2-3 cups more flour (white or wheat) until the dough firms up.
Knead until smooth and firm. ( If you are using a mixer with a dough hook you can let the mixer do the work. Or if you do not have a dough hook you can do the kneading by hand. I actually prefer this. What you will need to do is instead of adding the 2-3 cups of flour into the bowl just put it onto your counter and kind of make a little hole in the middle. Then pour your dough onto it and just start kneading in the flour. Once almost all the flour is incorporated knead for 5 minutes or so. The dough should be firm and smooth.) Then let the dough rise about 30 minutes. Then punch down and divide into 2 large or 3 medium loafs. Form and put into sprayed loaf pans and let rise another 30 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for 24-30 minutes. Tip place a bowl of water in the oven to help the crust not get hard. Bread is done when you can tap on the top and it sounds hollow.