It makes so much sense to bake your own bread. Everything about homemade bread is better: it is much healthier, cheaper, and tastier than store-bought; it makes the house smell wonderful; and, believe it or not, once you get the hang of it, making bread can feel easier than going to the market.
Materials for Each Project:
• Mixing bowls
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Bowl scraper
• Mixing spoon
• Lightweight dishcloth
• Baking sheets or loaf pans
• Cooling racks
Bettina’s Recipe for Super-Simple Rolls or Bread
If you’re grinding your own flour (see Grinding Whole Grains into Flour sidebar on page 41) for baking bread, this is an easy recipe to start with. It uses half freshly ground whole-wheat flour and half unbleached all-purpose store-bought flour. As you get more comfortable with grinding and baking with your own flour, you can start to use less all-purpose flour and add more whole-grain flour (of different types) and groats, seeds, nuts, herbs, and dried fruits.
Ingredients/Additional Materials:
• 3½ cups whole-wheat flour or whole-spelt flour
• 3½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp salt
• 3¾ cups lukewarm water
• 2 Tbsp oil (canola, corn, or olive)
• 1½ Tbsp active dry yeast
• 1 tsp sugar (I use organic sugar)
• Parchment paper
Step 1: Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the water and then let it stand while you measure the dry ingredients into a bowl.
Step 2: Mix the dry and wet ingredients together. Knead the dough by hand for about five to ten minutes and then let the dough rise in the bowl for thirty minutes.
Step 3: Either form the dough into rolls and put them on a parchment-covered baking tray or make a loaf and put it in a loaf pan.
Step 4: Cover the dough with a lightweight dishcloth and let it rise in a warm place for twenty minutes (I put it on top of a heater vent).
Step 5: Put your rolls or bread in the oven and turn the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit (do not preheat; you want to give the dough a little more time to rise). Once the oven reaches 400 degrees, bake the rolls for about twelve minutes or the loaf for about twenty-five minutes, rotating midway if your oven has hot spots.
Step 6: Remove the loaf or rolls from the oven when they are lightly browned and sound hollow when tapped underneath.
Jeff’s “Sand Wedge” Bread
This recipe comes from our friend Jeff, who has elevated the recipe and process to an art form. He got a scale for Christmas a few years ago and found that weighing ingredients (as Europeans do) makes all the difference in producing consistent results with any baked good. He can attest to the store-bought-like perfection and texture of these loaves, and he’s been through hundreds of practice runs and adjustments to get the recipe to this point. This yields four loaves of approximately 2½ pounds each.
Ingredients/Additional Materials:
• 1½ pounds whole-wheat flour
• 3½ pounds white flour
• 1½ Tbsp yeast
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2⁄3 cup honey
• ¼ cup molasses
• 3 egg yolks
• 1½ quarts water
• 2 Tbsp salt
• Stand mixer with dough hook
• Rolling pin
• 3-gallon stockpot or large mixing bowl
• Four standard loaf pans
• Plastic wrap
Step 1: Warm the oven to 175 degrees Fahrenheit for fifteen minutes and then turn the oven off but leave the oven light on.
Step 2: Combine the flours and yeast in the bowl of the stand mixer and mix well.
Step 3: With mixer on slow, add the oil, honey, molasses, and egg yolks. Next, add the water slowly and mix just until combined.
Step 4: Turn the mixer off and add the salt.
Step 5: Let the dough sit for twenty minutes before turning the mixer back on—this is the autolyze period, which allows the water and flour to blend and helps produce gluten during kneading.
Step 6: Turn the mixer on to medium and knead the dough for seven minutes.
Step 7: Turn out the dough onto a floured surface. Knead by hand until the dough is smooth, usually about four or five times.
Step 8: Place the dough in a well-oiled 3-gallon stockpot or large bowl and then turn the dough over so that the oiled side is on top.
Step 9: Cover the dough with a dishcloth and place it in the warm oven to rise for an hour.
Step 10: Punch down the risen dough and divide into four portions.
Step 11: Grease and flour four loaf pans.
Step 12: Roll out one portion of the dough into a large rectangle, about 12 inches by 18 inches, and fold it into thirds like you would a business letter.
Step 13: Roll the dough out into a rectangle again and then roll it up tightly, beginning at one of the narrow ends.
Step 14: Seal the rolled dough by pinching along the seam, turning it over, and karate-chopping the ends.
Step 15: Place the loaf into a prepared loaf pan, cover it with oiled plastic wrap, and return it to the warm oven to rise for about another hour.
Step 16: Repeat Steps 12–15 with the other three portions of dough.
Step 17: When the loaves have risen well above the pan rims but are not slumping down, remove them from the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Let the dough rise well above the loaf pan.
Step 18: When the oven is ready, carefully remove the plastic wrap and slice a shallow groove, centered lengthwise, in the top of each loaf with a sharp serrated knife.
Step 19: Bake the loaves for forty-five minutes on the middle rack.
Step 20: Remove the bread from the pans immediately after taking them out of the oven and let them cool completely—for at least two hours—before slicing, or you’ll have gummy bread.
Store whatever you’re not using right away in the freezer in plastic bags; the loaves will keep in the freezer for about two weeks. Defrost for about three hours on the countertop before using.
Bettina’s Bread-Baking Hints
•You don’t need a thermometer for the water—if it feels warm, not hot, then it’s fine. Water above 110 degrees Fahrenheit will kill the yeast and will feel hot to the touch.
•If you like a crisper crust, brush the rolls or loaf with water or salted water before you put them in the oven or halfway through the baking time (or both)—experiment!
•If you don’t want the bread to split naturally during baking, cut the top with a sharp knife or scissors after forming the rolls or loaf. I usually make one cut in the middle of each roll and three cuts across a loaf, but variations to suit your personal preference are fine.
•When