Country White Bread with Flax

I am the self-proclaimed queen of fiber (it's good for cholesterol, managing weight & more!), so we eat a lot of whole grains around these parts. Wheat bread, quinoa, brown rice, barley, etc. But after months of making the same wheat bread recipe, I decided we needed something different. I had tried to make a plain country white bread before but that clearly didn't turn out so great. So, it was back to the drawing board.

This time, I started with a recipe that originally used 2/3 white flour and 1/3 whole wheat and just made it all white. Then I add flax seeds for a little texture and color (sorry - I couldn't help myself!). This time, I was very happy with the results!

The dough rose to heights I've never acheived with wheat bread and the crumb ended up being light, but not too light. These bread definitely stands up to toasting and making sandwiches. It really is delish. I'm glad to have another option to throw into the rotation. I'm thinking of adding just a touch of whole wheat flour to up the health factor next time, but I don't want to lose the wonderful texture. If I do try it, I'll let you know. 'Til then, we'll get started with this:

Country White Bread with Flax

Ingredients
1 1/2 tsp. active yeast
1 1/4 warm (room temperature) water
1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
3 cups high-gluten bread flour
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
3 Tbsp. powdered nonfat milk
2 Tbsp. flax seeds
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature (soft)

Method
Mix yeast, water and sugar together in a small bowl. Let sit about 10 minutes until frothy.
In a large bowl, mix bread flour, all-purpose flour, salt, powdered milk and flax seeds. Stir in yeast-water mixture. Then add butter. Mix until dough is even moist and starts to pull together.
Pour dough onto floured board. Knead for 10 minutes until smooth.
Place dough in an oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise 1.5-2 hours until dough is doubled in size.
Grease 8" x 4" loaf pan.
Place risen dough on a floured surface. Flatten into a rectangle about 10" long and 6" wide. Starting on the short side, roll into a log, pinch ends in with each roll. Place in greased loaf pan and let rise another hour to 1.5 hours until dough rises about 1/2"-1" above top of loaf pan.
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Place bread in preheated oven. Bake 30 minutes, then rotate the pan and bake another 20-25 minutes until bread is evenly browned and has an internal temperature of at least 190°F.
Remove from oven and let cool 10-20 minutes before removing from pan. Cool fully before slicing.