Three Easy Approaches To Good-for-You Bread

"Eat your grains" is the phrase of the day. Happily, eating grains is one good-for-us recommendation that is deliciously easy to follow.

My grains go into homemade breads that can be mixed in minutes: a new take on corn bread made with stone-ground cornmeal, a whole-wheat batter bread and a dark Irish soda bread. They are all made with ingredients that produce moist loaves with the nutty and enhanced flavors of their grains -- particularly the corn bread, with cheddar cheese and pieces of crisped bacon.

Batter breads are yeast breads that have less flour in proportion to liquid than ordinary yeast bread and can be mixed quickly in a food processor, with an electric mixer or by hand. Mixing a batter bread is as simple as combining the dry ingredients and yeast, then adding the wet ingredients and beating or processing the dough to aerate it and develop the gluten; in other words, to get things moving.

For my yeast breads, I eliminate the step of dissolving the yeast in warm water by using fast-rising yeast that can be stirred right into the dry ingredients. The water or liquid used with this yeast should be hot, but not burning, to the touch. Yeast likes warmth and moisture to grow, and hot water produces the desired warm dough. To get the feel of how hot the water should be, prop a thermometer in a measuring cup and pour in very hot water. You're looking for a temperature of 130 degrees, which is at the upper range of the ideal temperature (120 to 130 degrees). If the water is too hot, simply add cool water to reach the right temperature. Check to see how it feels, and then you will have "the touch."

Soda breads are amazing. Baking soda leavens these breads and produces a loaf that is similar to yeast-leavened bread but can be mixed as easily as a cookie dough. Soda breads have a fine grain and a soft, sometimes crumbly, texture. When using soda bread for sandwiches, it is a good idea (tastes good, too) to toast the slices beforehand.

Both soda breads and cornmeal breads need to be mixed only slightly to moisten the ingredients. Both should be baked as soon as their batters are made; no rising step is required.

Because whole-wheat flour and stone-ground cornmeal contain the fat-rich germ, they must be stored properly. The best method is to seal them in airtight containers and freeze them. It is easy to take out the quantity needed for a recipe -- and good to know that your flour is always fresh.

Elinor Klivans's newest book is "The Essential Chocolate Chip Cookbook: Recipes From the Classic Cookie to Mocha Chip Meringue Cake" (Chronicle, 2007).