Wheat Germ Bread

I know, it doesn’t sound tasty, does it? Wheat Germ Bread. Wheat Germ Bread? How is a person supposed to get excited about that?

Well, taste it. Because once you taste it, you’ll get it, and once you find out how easy it is to make, you’ll make it, and once you start eating it, your taste buds and your belly will smile upon you with gratitude. This bread is just light and lovely.

I found this recipe (via Google) on the TLC site, so it wasn’t embellished by some nice blogger’s adventures, nor was there much detail. The first step was to set aside 2 tablespoons of wheat germ from the total I’d need, but I didn’t think it through and just plopped the two tablespoons’ worth into a small bowl.

The next sentence began with, “Combine remaining wheat germ…” and of course I hadn’t measured the tablespoons out of the the full 3/4 of a cup I was going to need. So I measured out a new 3/4 cup, then took out two tablespoons. I poured that into a bowl along with whole wheat white flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

I whisked that together and set it aside.

Next up, a second bowl for the buttermilk, melted butter, and egg.

I whisked that up, then poured it into the flour mixture.

I mixed it just until incorporated. The batter was nice and light, almost airy.

I scooped it into a sprayed loaf pan, spread it out as evenly as I could, and sprinkled the two tablespoons of wheat germ across the top.

The recipe said to bake it for 40-50 minutes, but at 35 minutes in, the smell was wafting into the living room and I went in to check it. It was perfectly done.

I gave it ten more minutes in the pan, then removed it to a wire rack. It came out perfectly and didn’t break apart until about an hour later when I was moving it around too much trying to figure out the best way to photograph it. I’d already taken a bunch of pictures by then, so I just looked at that as a tasting opportunity.

This bread is really delicious. It’s light, with the slightly grainy feel of a great corn muffin, but the soft touch of a fluffy bread, with enough flavor to make it taste great on its own but not so much that it wouldn’t also be nice to add a pat of butter or a little honey. (It’s only 3 P+ per slice on Weight Watchers, too.)  It was incredibly easy to make, didn’t have any strange ingredients (now that I’m a wheat gem junkie), and came together in no time. Make this bread. Embrace its name and its flavor. You will be pleased.

WHEAT GERM BREAD RECIPE

(I don’t think I need to post my version: just use whole wheat white flour, measure out your wheat germ before taking the two tablespoons out, and start checking at 35 minutes into your baking time!)