Rise Up: This Day's Daily Bread

I needed a bread that fit some very specific criteria of a friend who would be coming over: no cheese and no white sugar. The first criteria meant that this would be a sweet not a savory loaf, the second that the sweet would need to be honey or maple syrup or something. Along came a recipe for something called Lou's Daily Bread. With orange zest, olive oil, honey, and whole wheat flour, I was intrigued. And the bread is intriguing: not really sweet, despite the orange and the honey, which were perhaps balanced by the oil and the whole wheat (can't wait to try walnut! Could you guess that Lou is Greek? And she uses the whey of homemade yogurt instead of the milk apparently). A gorgeous golden-orange sunset color, this bread had a pretty fine crumb and a soft crust. I liked it, my friend liked it, but the kids didn't. There has been another request for "twin bread." Which I've decided reminds me specifically, in smell anyway, of croissant. Anyway, it might be Lou's daily loaf, but it won't become ours unfortunately.

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Lou's Daily Bread

zest of two oranges, cut into very thin strips (I just zested with a grater)

1 1/4 cups fat-free milk

2 tablespoons olive or walnut oil

2 tablespoons honey

1 5/8 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cups bread flour

1 tablespoon gluten

1 1/4 teaspoon salt

2 1/4 teaspoons bread machine yeast

Place all ingredients in the pan according to the order in the manufacturer's instructions. Set crust on medium and program for Whole Wheat cycle; press Start (do not use delay timer).

When the baking cycle ends, immediately remove the bread from the pan and place it on a rack. Let cool to room temperature before slicing.

Beth Hensperger, The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook