millet bread

Yeast breads and I don't have a good relationship, but I continue to try making them. A few weeks ago I tried making millet bread from a recipe I found on Recipe Source. I put off posting about it because I ate about 2 slices of it, it tasted bad, and then it went bad after only 3 days. So it was thrown out and forgotten about. But I felt it was time to finally spread the word.

The first sign of something going wrong should have been when I noticed my soy flour was a few months past the expiration date. It smelled okay so I used it anyway. Note that I have no idea what expired soy flour smells like, so it could have smelled rancid, but not bad, if you know what I mean.

I mixed everything together successfully and it rose during the 45 minutes just like it was supposed to, so I was feeling better. I put it in the oven, using my 5 x 9 loaf pan instead of the 4 x 8 pan the recipe suggests. After 30 minutes I peeked at it, and it had sunk! No more rising. Thin brick of bread. At 40 minutes it had started to brown on top so I took it out of the oven.

When it was cool I sliced into it. Yuck. Is it possible I don't like millet flour? Was my soy flour really expired? I won't know either of these answers until I make something else with millet flour. I've tossed the soy flour just to be safe.

The next day I wanted to give the bread another try, maybe I could salvage it. So I made French toast. Not a bad way to use dense, weird tasting bread. Still yuck.

On the third day I was taking stock of the kitchen contents, throwing old foods out of the fridge and pantry, and I saw mold starting to appear on the bread. So away it went. And I'm hesitant to try a third millet recipe (it's used in the zucchini bread) right now, but I want to use the package I have before moving on to a new flour.

Full recipe:
Millet Bread from Recipe Source
1 cup Plain yogurt or buttermilk (I used nonfat plain yogurt)
1/4 cup Butter
1 Tb Honey
1 package Dry yeast (I took this to mean the 1/4 oz. packs)
1/4 cup Warm water
2 Eggs
2 cups AM Millet Flour (I used Bob's Red Mill)
1/2 cup AM Soy Flour (I used Bob's Red Mill)

Combine yogurt and butter in saucepan, heating slowly to melt butter. Dissolve yeast and honey in the warm water; add yogurt mixture and blend. Beat in eggs; add flours and beat well. Pour into well-oiled 4″ x 8″ loaf pan and let rise for 45 minutes. Bake at 375 F. for 40-45 minutes or until done. Cool before cutting.
Source: Arrowhead Mills “Recipes for Special Dietary Needs” tri-fold Reprinted by permission of Arrowhead Mills, Inc. Electronic format courtesy of: Karen Mintzias