Anyone who bakes their own bread probably knows this and I'm a late comer, but King Arthur Flour has an awesome web site with some pretty incredible recipes. In particular, I'd like to offer praise for their Vermont whole wheat, oatmeal, and honey bread. If you follow the proportions, you get two one-pound loaves that beat Sara Lee by about a buck a loaf and the grocer's bakery by two. Not only that, it tastes better (sorry, Sara, nothing personal) and you've got total control over the calories, fat, and salt.
Now, KA says to use maple sugar but I've substituted 1/4 cup of maple syrup and it comes out fine. Maple sugar's expensive and relatively hard to come by, so substitution is the order of the day. They also call for cinnamon, which is a nice addition. but I held off this week and used only maple syrup plus 1/2 teaspoon of Frontier Natural Products maple extract and it came out wonderfully sweet and tasty. I'd love to try a maple essence but thus far all I've been able to find is orange, but add that to chocolate chip cookies and you'll die happy.
I can also give five stars to their Classic Apple Crisp recipe, having made that this past week, as well. With both big apple trees going postal, I've had to be a little more creative than the usual apples and peanut butter.
This isn't an especially literary piece; I just thought I'd pass along my good fortune for anyone else who loves the aroma of home-baked bread in the kitchen.
(Creative commons image of King Arthur Flour types by gabster_ro via Flickr)
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