Since I’ve posted several sweet yeast bread recipes, I thought I should post our current savory bread. This is the bread we’re using right now for sandwiches. I bake all of our bread because it has much less sodium than sandwich bread from the grocery store. Yeast bread only requires a little salt. I don’t know why they put so much in commercial breads — apparently, they think Americans like it that way. To me, commercial bread just tastes salty.

But, first, I want to acknowledge how easy it is to overeat homemade bread. Anyone can attest to that who has over-indulged in bread fresh from the oven, which I imagine would include anyone who has every had that opportunity. So, here are some tips for how to have homemade bread in the house without overindulging (too often).

Employ familiarity. Bread loses a little of its allure when you bake it a couple of times a week. If you associate fresh bread with the time your grandma baked it for you when you were 10 and you can count on one hand how many times you’ve had it since then — of course, you’re going to overeat. Once it becomes a regular part of daily life, it’s much easier to be in control around it.

Make a plan. However, no matter how many times you make it, bread still smells wonderful as it’s baking, so I always schedule my bread to come out at meal or snack time. It’s useless to pretend that I won’t eat a slice or two when the bread is done, so I just write it into my food plan.

Freeze the excess. I often put half the loaf in the freezer as soon as it’s cool. The way my brain works, I can justify rushing to eat too much bread in order not to waste it while it’s fresh. Fortunately, that half loaf of bread comes out of the freezer a few days later with the same great taste and fresh texture.

Practice self-compassion. And, finally, I confess, sometimes I overeat my own bread. Frustrating, but it happens. As a long time user and abuser of food, I’m going to slip up. Better that it happens with yeast bread I baked myself using wholesome ingredients than with bakery goods loaded with saturated and trans fats, sugars, sodium leavening, and lots of calories.

I named this loaf Golden Sunshine in February — mostly, due to the color of the flax seeds, sorghum, and honey. But also because, on gray dreary days, I’ll get out of bed for a good orange and a couple of slices of this bread toasted.

There’s cottage cheese in the recipe because the protein helps the bread rise — I almost always put an egg or cottage cheese in my bread for that reason. For me it works better than vital wheat gluten that is often advised for that purpose. In my kitchen, vital wheat gluten sometimes helps and sometimes hinders the rising — I think it has something to do with the moisture content in the flour. In Missouri, we can go from very humid to very dry and back again in a matter of days. So, the gluten wasn’t as dependable of a solution as the extra protein.

Bread Machine Golden Sunshine Bread
by Joy Weese Moll

1 3/4 cup whey, fat-free milk, or water
1/4 cup cottage cheese
2 Tablespoons sorghum
1 Tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup golden flax seeds, chopped up a little in the food processor
3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup white bread flour
2 tablespoons butter, cut into 6 or 8 pieces
2 teaspoons yeast

1. Mix the whey, cottage cheese, sorghum, honey, and salt.

2. Stir together the flax seeds, flours, and the butter.

3. Follow bread machine instructions for adding liquid and dry ingredients and the yeast.

4. Bake using the whole wheat bread setting.

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