Spinach bread - or how much I love my bread machine

I love bread, but unfortunately my stomach can't handle too many carbs at the moment and bread tends to upset it. However, if it's a particularly hearty bread I can have a few nibbles.

Although, I can't eat much of the bread myself, I still love baking it. Occasionally, I'll hand make baguettes, but mostly I experiment with my bread machine. I love the anticipation as the smell of bread fills the house, grabbing a nibble here and there, and watching my family enjoy the fresh baked bread.



Yesterday, I was researching bread recipes with quinoa (there is a quinoa banana bread experiment brewing) and stumbled upon this recipe for spinach bread- though it was made with white flour I decided it was interesting enough to tinker with, I put in some rye flour, added cheese, and switched out the vegetable oil for lard, however butter would also work. For today at least, I'll save you the rant about how healthy a fat lard actually is when taken from a grassfed animal. Instead, I'll just link you. Read!

The healing power of lard

Health Hazards of Lettuce - We need fat in our diet!

The result was beautiful. A loaf that was dense without being hard or gritty. Full of flavor and color. It was a huge hit with the entire family.

Spinach Bread - adapted from Spinach Bread by Ginny M. allrecipes.com

 - makes a 2 lb loaf

1 cup water
1 tbsp lard (can substitute butter)
1/2 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup dark rye flour
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp maple syrup (or honey or white sugar)
1 tsp thyme
1 tbsp gluten
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast

Put the ingredients in your bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Use the basic or white bread cycle. Sit back, relax and enjoy your bread.

*note - never leave your bread sit in the bread machine after it is finished! It will steam and get soggy.