We’re halfway through the #EVOOChallenge! This challenge, in which we make foods with the only cooking fat being olive oil, was issued by Spartan Olive Oil. The goal is to highlight the benefits of using olive oil over its less healthy counterparts, I’m looking at you butter and vegetable oil. Search the hashtag on social media to see more great recipes!

While both olive oil and vegetable oil have 120 Calories and 14 grams of fat per tbsp, olive oil has 10 grams of monounsaturated fat (the good fat) whereas vegetable oil has only 3 grams of monounsaturated fat. Monounsaturated fat is actually good for your health; it reduces bad cholesterol and provides vitamin E. (Source: American Heart Association)

This unfiltered extra-virgin olive oil is made from the olives of 700 year old trees in Sparta, Greece. The flavorful oil has a rich golden color and smooth texture. I wanted to highlight the nutty, fruity flavor of the oil in my recipes this week.

I really wanted to make bread during this challenge. I had found a recipe for olive oil bread and tried that originally. It wasn’t quite a success. The recipe went against my instincts and my changes didn’t quite work out. I powered through and baked it just to check. It was dry, flakey, and crackery. So instead of trying again I decided to take a recipe I could trust and simply do a fat swap. I took the butter (or vegetable oil) and replaced it with Spartan Olive Oil.

My rise time took a longer than the recipe indicated but given the major snow day I wasn’t surprised. The dry weather also meant I had to add a little bit more water to the dough for it to come together. Another note: the loaf pan I have is 9.25″ x 5.25″ instead of 8.5″ x 4.5″ so I don’t have the classic domed sandwich bread shape.

This homemade sandwich bread is fantastic! It’s light and spongy with a beautiful golden crunchy crust. It makes for delicious toast topped with jam, simple bread and butter, and even a flavorful BLT.

Olive Oil Sandwich Bread 

Ingredients:

• 1 pkt active dry yeast
• 3 C flour
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 C milk mixed with 1/2 C warm water
• 1/4 C olive oil

Steps:

1. Dissolve yeast in 1 tbsp warm water.
2. Place all ingredients, including yeast, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Knead until it forms a ball around the hook and comes away from the bowl. Add a little extra water if the dough is too dry.
3. Oil hands and knead dough until smooth. Place in a greased bowl and cover. Allow dough to rise 1-2 hours until almost doubled in size.
4. Punch down the dough and form into a log just slightly shorter than the loaf pan.
5. Line loaf pan with parchment paper or lightly grease it. Place dough in prepared pan, cover, and let rise until the dough domes above the pan, another 1-2 hours.
6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
7. Bake bread for 30-35 minutes, or until an internal temperate of 190 degrees F is reached.
8. Remove loaf from pan and let cool on a wire rack.

*This recipe is adapted from http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/classic-sandwich-bread-recipe*

Disclaimer: By participating in this 5 day challenge I received a bottle and pouch of Spartan Olive Oil.