Knock Your Socks Off Bread

When I first started on this journey of discovery, I checked out the "Whole Foods for the Whole Family" cookbook published by La Leche League International from our local library. I was fascinated by the cookbook as it had fabulous recipes that were almost 100% composed of whole, unprocessed foods. Unfortunately I had to return it and didn't have a clue how to obtain a copy (this was pre-internet days!). I recently purchased a copy of it at http://store.llli.org/public/category/4. First published in 1981, the book was revised in 1993 to add the "nutritional information" per serving.

I am always amused when I read the "nutritional information" in any recipe because they list calories, protein, carbohydrates, fiber, fat, cholesterol and sodium. The magic in food doesn't come from these things. It comes from the micronutrients (remember vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, omega 3's, etc.!) and how the synchronicity of the elements in the food impact the body. So, while I love the recipes, I think the nutritional information may cause people to unfairly judge a recipe because it has too much or too little of one of the listed items when in reality, the recipe may have wonderful health affects on the body.

One of the recipes is for a fabulous bread called "Knock Your Socks Off" Raisin Bread. I have copied the recipe exactly as printed in the book. Don't let the recipe scare you off! While the recipe was created prior to automatic bread makers becoming widely available, I modified it for my bread machine. So continue reading through the recipe and see my comments at the end!

1 1/2 T yeast

1 1/2 T honey

1/4 cup lukewarm water

1/2 cup hot milk

1/2 cup butter

2 T honey

2 T molasses

1 T nutritional yeast

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup rolled oats

8 cups whole wheat flour

4 eggs

1 heaping T ground cinnamon

1 cup dark raisins

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1/4 cup sesame seeds

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup packed grated carrots

Dissolve yeast and 1-1/2 T honey in water. Heat milk with butter and pour into large bowl. Stir in remaining honey, molasses, nutritional yeast, salt, yogurt, applesauce and oats. Beat in 1 cup flour, eggs and yeast mixture. Add 1 cup flour, cinnamon, raisins, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, walnuts and carrots. Add remaining flour, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition. Knead 10 minutes. Let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in bulk. Punch down; let rise again for 30 minutes. Shape into 3 loaves. Place in greased loaf pans. Let rise 30 to 40 minutes or until almost doubled. Bake at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes. Brush tops with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake for 10 minutes longer. Cool on racks. A good gift bread. A raisin bread so good it will, as my husband Angelo says, "knock your socks off!" Yield: 35 servings.

My comments: I modified the recipe first by cutting it in half so it will fit in my bread maker. I used 1 package yeast made for whole wheat flour. I warmed the milk long enough to just melt the butter. Then I combined all the ingredients according to my bread maker instructions. I added all the liquid ingredients first including the water, milk, melted butter, honey (all 3-1/2 T of it), molasses, yogurt, applesauce, eggs. Then I added the dry ingredients including the nutritional yeast (available in the bulk aisle at Whole Foods Market - or just skip it), sea salt (I always use sea salt - much easier on the body), oats and 4 cups whole wheat flour, cinnamon, then the yeast. I set the bread maker on the appropriate setting and let it mix the ingredients for a little while. I had to add additional flour to make the proper consistency. My bread maker has an alarm that lets me know when to add additional ingredients like the raisins, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, walnuts and carrots.

The bread was delicious. My husband loved it and it lasted several days without going bad.

It was truly worth the effort!