Brown Bread with Honey Butter

Somewhere in my warped mind I tell myself that I'm going to cut out carbs. Carbs! As in pasta, potatoes and bread. Honestly, like that's really going to happen. I say I'm going to cut down on carbs and I end up making 2 loaves of bread and a batch of ravioli.

I was actually going for a Russian Black Bread...it came out more of a brown bread. A delicious, delicious brown bread! The only thing missing was sweetened butter, but a little honey took care of that!

Perfect for a sandwich and even better plain with butter, this Fat and Happy bread is a must. Perhaps next time I say I'm giving carbs I'll try a little reverse psychology and say I'm giving up protein instead - I'd probably end up making a turkey stuffed with brown bread!

Fat and Happy Food Blog Tips and Techniques: Don't be afraid of the yeast, just let it rest in water and watch the magic happen.

Brown Bread with Honey Butter

1/2 cup warm water

1 Tbls brown sugar

1 package of yeast

3 Tbls cider vinegar

2 cups water

3 Tbls butter

1/2 cup molasses

2 Tbls cocoa powder

1 Tbls strong coffee

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 cups white flour

3 cups rye flour

1/2 Tbls salt

2 Tbls caraway seeds

1 tsp onion powder

In the bowl of a stand mixer sprinkle the yeast over 1/2 cup warm water and the brown sugar. Allow to sit for 10 minutes, the yeast should become foamy.

Warm the vinegar, molasses, butter, cocoa powder, coffee and remaining water until together over medium low heat. Pour into the mixing bowl with the yeast. Add in the salt, caraway seeds and the onion powder.

Combine all the flours in a bowl and mix together. Using a paddle attachment, slowly begin to add the flour to the mixing bowl.

Keep adding in the flour a little at a time until the dough becomes firm but still slightly sticky. Pour the dough on the counter and knead the rest of the flour in by hand. Depending on the humidity, you may not need all of the flour or you may need a little more.

Form the dough into a ball, cover and let rise until doubled in size. Then punch the dough down, separate the dough into two pieces. Knead each back into a ball, set on a floured baking sheet, cover and let rise another hour.

Bake at 425 degrees until the bread becomes hard on the outside and hollow sounding in the inside (knock on the bread and see how it sounds.) It should take about 50-60 minutes. Cool slightly before you enjoy with honey butter.

Honey Butter

 1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1 Tbls honey

Whip together the butter and the honey. Serve with warm brown butter.