Whole Grain Bread Recipe

Here is an EASY recipe for a very tasty whole grain bread that I adapted from one of Mark Bittman's recipes. The bread is truly whole grain in that it doesn't contain any refined white flour and the only sugar that was in the bread came from the dried cranberries that I added (to be completely sugar-free, just use dried fruit that has no sugar added--unfortunately, I couldn't find any at Trader Joe's). I made it over the weekend and had some toasted for breakfast today and it was delicious, even without any toppings at all. Enjoy!!

3 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
Cornmeal for dusting
1 cup dried fruit or chopped nuts (optional--I added dried cranberries and they added some great flavor and sweetness to the bread)

-Combine the flour, salt, and yeast in a large bowl. Add 2 cups of water and stir well. The dough should be wet and sticky but not soupy--feel free to add water if needed. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it stand at room temperature for 12 to 24 hours. The dough is ready when it is dotted with little bubble holes.

-Grease the loaf pan with some of the olive oil. Add the dried fruit or nuts to the dough and use a spatula to fold the fruit or nuts into the dough. Transfer the dough into the loaf pan and even it out with the spatula. Brush the top of the loaf with the remaining olive oil and sprinkle the top of the loaf with the cornmeal. Cover the loaf with a towel and let it stand at room temperature for an hour or so. The dough should increase in size to fill the loaf pan during this time.

-When the dough is ready, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the bread until it turns a golden brown color and is hollow-sounding when tapped--approximately 45 minutes. Let bread cool before removing it from the loaf pan and before slicing.

Yield: 1 loaf