Recipe for Heart Healthy Garlic Herb Bread

Following from my recent bread analysis - I claimed it is possible to make heart healthy bread without being an expert chef tied to the kitchen. So, here you have one example:

Garlic Herb Bread 

• Nutrition Facts (per slice): 49mg potassium, 2mg sodium, 2g fat (25:1 health ratio!)
• Effort: under 15 minutes my time (10 min ingredient prep, 2 min rise prep, 2 min bake attention), 2.5 hrs machine time.

1 1/4 c Water
1 T Unsalted Butter
2-4 Cloves Garlic (finely chopped) [increase based on your garlic palate]
3 1/4 c Bread Flour
2 T Sugar
1/2 t Rosemary
1/2 t Oregano
1/4 t Thyme
1 1/4 t Yeast [increase to 1 1/2 for lower altitudes]

Place ingredients in bread machine in order recommended by manufacturer. Process on dough cycle. Remove and shape into two long loaves. Place on greased baking sheet, cover with towel and allow to rise until doubled, about 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Pretty simple: less than 15 minutes of my time as a chef, around 2.5 hours of letting the bread machine, nature & oven do all the work. This bread makes great sandwich bread - allowing you to bring sandwiches back into your heart healthy diet.


Note: this recipe was adapted from the Low Sodium Cooking website (modified for more garlic emphasis and high altitude cooking).

Need a great bread machine without breaking the bank? Try the Sunbeam 5891 Breadmaker. I use this for all my breads - the price is great, as is the machine itself.