Cacao, date and walnut bread

I never, ever thought I'd utter the following sentence. And I think there are some people I know who will guffaw into their coffee when they read it. If asked what my most used kitchen gadget (after my beloved Japanese knife and coffee machine) would be, I'd have to be honest and say... bread maker. yes I know. As an ex 'artisan' baker, known for making slow-fermented, slow-risen, artisanal loaves with love, care and attention to detail, this seems a little strange. For years I told customers in the bakery, if they had a bread maker, then that was great, at least better than buying supermarket pap, but that nothing could beat making and kneading your bread by hand. And I stand by that. Nothing is better than watching your hand mixed yeasty dough rise, and kneading the cool, elastic, pliant dough with your bare hands. Somehow having done all that the smell of the crusty loaf in the oven is all the sweeter. And yet. And yet. I now use the bread maker a friend of mine gave us when she kept some of her stuff at our house during a home move almost every day. We eat a lot of bread, this family. Toast for breakfast, late lunch, evening snacks, for solace, energy, a quick boost, babies and grown ups alike. There's a reason this blog has that name. Baked goods are the way to our hearts, and the reason we have to exercise regularly!
I can't bake a fresh loaf every day by hand, I have a life to lead (of sorts). And I tried doing a weekly bake - we still ran out halfway through, and our freezer was always too full of bread for anything else to go in there. I love that fresh bread smell, and this way I get it every day. It also works out pretty cost effective too. A £2 bag of white flour does at least week's bread, excluding added ingredients.
Loaves from our bread maker are not half bad either. They're not as crusty, granted, and they are not half as chewy and substantial as a hand made sourdough. But they're tasty, fresh, healthy and full of all sorts of random stuff I chuck in as I'm making them. Our current favourite is this strange mix, great for breakfast or a sneaky mid afternoon snack, not sweet really, a strong cocoa flavour with a hint of nuttiness, but perfectly suited to sweet toppings like honey or nutella.... Even good with cheese, weirdly. A strong cheddar ideally, and a few slices of ripe pear.
BTW...You could substitute the dates, walnuts and cacao for the same weight in mixed seeds, or oats, muesli, dried fruit, or even grated veg like courgettes and carrots. I'm sure I've ranted about bread here before, but it's not half as scientific and restrictive as the purists would have you believe. Half the fun is in chucking something in and seeing what happens, especially with a bread machine. there's something magic about throwing things in a pot, and three hours later pulling out a steaming browned loaf, not knowing what it will taste like. Add yoghurt or beer instead of water, or chuck in something in your cupboard you haven't tried before. We've even had nice bread by adding uneaten porridge to the mix, or the fruit pulp from your juicer. And if it doesn't work, try something else!

Cacao, date and walnut bread.

400g strong white flour
100g wholemeal flour
1 teaspoon dried yeast
1 teaspoon salt
100g chopped dates
50g walnuts, broken up
50g cocoa nibs (from holland and barrett)
1 tablespoon raw cacao

Chuck all the above in your bread tin, then add 350 ml warm water. I use a panasonic machine, on the standard setting for a large loaf.