What in the world is better than bread?

Warm, crusty, yeasty, chewy, dense, beautiful healthy bread!  I dream about this stuff.  The hubs calls me a carb addict.  Well, yeah.. so?  Who doesn't love the smell of homemade bread baking?   Who doesn't like to slice it while it is still to hot to handle, slather it with butter and stuff it in their mouths?  If I could make a candle that smelled like fresh baked bread, I would.  I know it sounds crazy, but could you imagine? Of course I would probably start some sort of feeding frenzy, not unlike the ones you see during Shark Week...maybe that wouldn't be such a great idea.

So I think I have managed to come up with a diabetic friendly (as long as you don't eat the whole loaf) healthy bread.  That actually is quite tasty.  I have tried several versions of this recipe I found online, and I have tweaked it a bit each time.  I finally got the rise I wanted, and the dense chewy texture I love.

It is a whole wheat base with tons of flax seed and depending on whether you want to make a honey loaf or a garlic loaf, it seems to take to any ingredients you want to add.

I have some in the oven as we speak!  

The recipe is adapted from a bread machine recipe, but I will tell you what has worked for me in the recipe.

Whole Wheat Flax Bread

1 pkt active dry yeast
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 Cups warm water (110- 115 degrees)
2 tbsp honey (or less if your making a savory bread)
2 tbsp oil (what type - olive, canola, sesame - depends on the flavor of bread you want)
3 cups whole wheat bread flour (or regular whole wheat if you cant find the bread flour)
1 tsp half-salt
1/3 cup flax seeds

Options - here is where your options come in...

• For a three seed bread, add 2 tbsp sunflower kernels, and 1 tbsp poppy seeds, or pumpkin seeds, or any other seed you like.
• For a garlic chive bread, add 2-3 tbsp dried chives and 8 cloves of garlic sliced up.
• For a cheddar bread, add a cup of extra sharp grated cheddar and garlic if you like.

But for any of the above, you make the bread like this:

1. Proof the packet of yeast with 1/2 cup warm water and 1/2 tbsp honey for 10 minutes in the bowl of your mixer.  Mix these together and let sit.  It will require a warm place but a hot wet towel wrapped around the bowl works good too.
2. While your yeast is proofing, measure out all dry ingredients and put aside.
3. Once yeast is proofed, add the oil and honey (if using the honey) to the proofed yeast mixture. 
4. Slowly dump about 1/2 of the dry ingredients into the mixer and mix on low to medium (please don't mix on high or you will wear your ingredients....[from note to self on first batch]).
5. Add remaining water and mix until incorporated.
6. Add remaining dry ingredients and mix on medium until dough comes away from sides. 
7. Mix another 5 minutes or so to allow the gluten to form.
8. Transfer dough to an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm spot for at least 1 1/2 hours.
9. Punch down and let rise again in the pan you will bake it in for another hour.
10. Bake in 350-375 degree oven for around 30 minutes.  Oven temps vary so this is where you want to keep an eye on yours.

Cool (if you can wait that long) and enjoy...