Best.Bread.Ever.

Okay, so that title is a lot to live up to, but seriously, this is the best loaf of bread I've ever made...and it came from my bread machine!! 

Isn't it gorgeous?

And it had the softest, fluffiest, texture...

and it rose taller than any other bread I've made!

It had a secret ingredient...whey.  What?  Yes, whey...as in whey that was drained from my homemade yogurt to make Greek yogurt.  I'm in love with making my own yogurt, and I've wondered for a while if there was anything I could do with the whey that gets drained off.  I felt bad just dumping it down the sink, so I did a little research (aka looked it up on the internet) and discovered you could use it in the place of your liquid in making bread.  YAY! I had a use for this stuff, b/c I certainly wasn't going to drink it or any such craziness as that.  I forgot to take a picture, but whey is a yellowish, slightly viscous liquid, and I probably get a few cups from each crockpot of yogurt (if I strain it all to make greek yogurt - which I usually on strain abt half).  So anyway, what kind of bread is it?
 
Apple Cheddar Bread! (original recipe here)

As I made it -

• 2 1/4 tsp bread machine yeast
• 1 1/2 cups bread flour
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 T. white sugar
• 1 1/4 cups whey (room temp)
• 1 cup sharp shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 T. milled flax seed
• 1 cup shredded apple

Directions -
Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer.  Select White Bread setting, press start (durrr!)

This bread was really good plain.  Or

with some homemade apple butter!  And-

it made some awesome french toast!

Doesn't that look good?!  And, somehow I forgot to take pics of the finished product.  Probably b/c I was too busy stuffing my face.  Or it could have been due to this fella -

He was not happy that he could not have any.  Poor thing.  Egg allergies suck.

and he had a cold and was tired of me taking pictures....


Hope everyone had a great weekend!