How to Bake Healthy Bread?

Baking bread fills a home with a comforting, soul-satisfying aroma, and making loaves at home is not as difficult as you may think. The following tips make it easy to create a healthy, hearty bread at home.

Contents

1 Understanding Carbs
2 Choose The Right Ingredients
3 Preservative-Free Healthy Breads
4 Healthy Recipe: Honey Oat Quick Bread
5 Healthy Bread Every Day

Understanding Carbs

Breads have long been banned by low-carb zealots, but the body actually needs carbs every day to stay healthy. Getting the right amount of carbs every day provides the body with energy, protects against disease and can even help you control you weight. Breads made with healthy ingredients are a great source of carbs with approximately 80 to 100 calories in every slice.

Choose The Right Ingredients

Flour is the foundation of nearly all breads, but some types of flour are healthier than others. For a nutritious bread, start with a mixture of all-purpose and whole-wheat flours. Whole-wheat flour boosts the protein and fiber count of your bread, but it can sometimes make dough tough. Mix it with all-purpose flour to keep your bread light, fluffy and nutritious.

Experiment with other types of healthy, whole-grain flours likes brown rice flour, spelt flour and corn meal. Add nuts or seeds to your bread to boost flavor, texture and nutrition. Use just a small amount so you don’t pack your bread with extra calories.

Preservative-Free Healthy Breads

Unlike most grocery store or bakery breads, the loaves you make at home do not contain preservatives. The lack of additives is good for your health, but also means that homemade breads go stale more quickly than store-bought loaves. Refrigerate the bread if you plan on eating in a few days, or freeze it for up to half a year.

Healthy Recipe: Honey Oat Quick Bread

This bread is moist, pleasantly sweet, healthy and easy to make.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, then coat a bread pan with cooking spray. Sprinkle the bottom of the pan with 1 tablespoon of old-fashioned rolled oats.

Next, stir together 1 1/3 cups of whole-wheat flour, 2 ¼ teaspoons of baking powder, 1 cup of all-purpose flour, ¼ teaspoon of baking powder and ¼ teaspoons of salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, beat 1 cup of oats, 1 large egg, 8 ounces of nonfat yogurt, ¼ cup of honey and ¼ cup of canola oil until well-combined. Stir in ¾ cup of low-fat milk, then add the mixture to the bowl of flour. Mix well.

Pour the mixture into the bread pan then sprinkle the top with 1 cup of rolled oats. Bake for about 50 minutes until the loaf’s top is golden brown. Let the loaf cool for about 15 minutes on a wire rack, then use a knife around the edges to loosen it from the pan. Remove the loaf and let it cool for another 45 minutes before serving.