Honey Mustard Bread

Not too long ago, I told you all about my red beans and rice adventures, and how after a few days, I craved replacing the rice with something a little more interesting and dynamic.  I (unsurprisingly) decided on bread (I'm so predictable sometimes) and wanted something a little sweet and savory!  Honey sounded like just the thing to add sweetness, and dijon mustard is the perfect compliment!

Round up your ingredients!
1 cup water
1 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp honey
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
3 cups bread flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dry Colman's mustard
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp active dry yeast

This 1.5 pound loaf does it's thing on the white bread cycle, and is delicious when fresh!

I would like to briefly talk about honey.  I admit to being a little bit of a food snob, but I would like to recommend buying the best quality honey that you can.  There has been more and more information coming to light that a surprising amount of grocery store honey is not actually honey, and due to the lack of laws and regulation around it, can be labeled "honey" when it's little more than sugar water.  The flavor difference between "honey" and real honey is remarkable, and will add something special to your honeyed treats!  Support local beekeepers and honey makers when you can, and they'll reward you with a delicious product.  For a little extra fun, get varieties like orange blossom or clover, which imparts the flavor of the plant the pollen was collected from!  So very cool.

Triple Mustard Bread!

Yes, it DOES warrant an exclamation point!  Possibly more!

When I first got my bread machine, I amassed with it a huge collection of recipes so I would never get bored.  Triple Mustard Bread was about the 5th loaf I attempted, and it's somehow gotten stuck in the permanent rotation, even though I still have another bajillion recipes to test.  I mean, just look at it!  You can see the mustard seeds that didn't get cracked creating little flavor nupps just under the crust, and that gorgeous golden color is partially caused by the Colman's mustard powder used to flavor the entire loaf.

You know you want to make this!

To your bread machine, add:

3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
4 tsp butter, cut up so you don't later find a butter
nugget in your bread (which actually sounds pretty magical)
3 cups bread flour
1 tbsp crushed mustard seeds (it's ok if you don't get them all!)
1 and 1/2 tsp dry mustard (Colman's is easy to find in its distinctive yellow tin)
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp active dry yeast

This will get you a 1.5 pound loaf, and should be baked on the white bread cycle of the machine.  If you are a fancy non-machine bread baker, then I'm assuming you're a genius and already know what to do.  :D

This loaf is particularly good for sandwiches where you would use mustard anyway for a more impactful flavor, and even places you may not, like egg salad.  Then you get just a hint without making the whole sandwich tangy and mustardy.