Diet Bread

Just three ingredients: bread flour, water, and yeast. No butter, no sugar, no oil, no eggs. This is about as lean as a loaf of bread gets, and the bread machine does all the work.

Don’t let the simplicity fool you. A lean dough like this produces bread with a chewy crumb and a crust that actually has some character to it. Without fat or sugar softening everything, you get more wheat flavor and a slightly denser texture that’s satisfying to chew.

Just load the ingredients into your machine and press start. The machine handles mixing, kneading, rising, and baking.

Pro Tips

• Use bread flour, not all-purpose. The higher protein content gives the loaf structure and chew that all-purpose can’t deliver, especially in a recipe with no fat to tenderize.
• Water temperature matters. Use lukewarm water around 110°F (43°C) to activate the yeast properly. Too hot kills it; too cold and it won’t wake up.
• Check your bread machine’s manual for ingredient order. Some machines want liquids first, others want dry ingredients on the bottom.
• Let the loaf cool completely before slicing. Cutting into hot bread compresses the crumb and makes it gummy.