Healthy Cheese & Herb Bread

Alex was at the library the other day with Annie and brought me home a book. Better Food for Pregnancy. I'm not sure if he's hinting something, but I have happily perused the recipes and look forward to trying some.

Tonight, the recipe of choice was Healthy Cheese & Herb Bread. The results...yummy in the tummy. Alex isn't home yet to be the judge of it, but I was pleased. This bread is easy with no kneading and no rise times. And it claims it's healthy. I made a little adjustment at the end to make it have a wonderful crust on it.

2 c all-purpose flour

1 c whole wheat flour

1/2 c rolled oats

1 T granulated sugar

2 t baking powder

1 t dried basil

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t dried oregano

1/2 t salt

1/4 c cold butter or margarine

1 c shredded Swiss cheese

1 egg

1 c buttermilk

2 T sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 400 deg. Grease an 8-inch round pan or use a nonstick one.

In a medium bowl, combine flours, oats, sugar, baking powder, basil, baking soda, oregano and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Sir in cheese.

Beat together egg and buttermilk; add to butter mixture, stirring with fork to make a soft moist dough. Place dough in prepared pan. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until tester inserted in center comes out clean. Cut into wedges and serve.

Updates I made: After placing the dough in the prepared pan, I beat an egg into an egg wash and brushed the top of the dough with it. Then I sprinkled the sesame seeds on it. And since I bought a bag of pre-shredded Swiss cheese which came in a 1-1/2 c size, I used the remaining cheese and sprinkled it on the top. After baking the cheese browned beautifully and helped make a yummy, crusty bread.

The cookbook notes that this bread goes well with a hearty soup and it is a good source of calcium, folate, iron and fiber.