Stir 1 cup (250 ml) raisins into the batter just before the first rise. Bake as for the basic bread.
Cheese Casserole Bread
Reduce the butter or oil to 2 tbsp. (30 ml). Add 1½ cups (375 ml) grated sharp cheddar cheese to the batter when you beat in the egg. Bake as for the basic bread.
Feta and Olive Casserole Bread
Substitute olive oil for the butter in the basic recipe. Stir 1 cup (250 ml) pitted black olives (preferably kalamata or other brine-cured ones) into the batter just before the first rise. Sprinkle the top of the bread with ½ cup (125 ml) crumbled feta cheese just before the second rise. Bake as for the basic bread.
Rosemary Parmesan Bread
Substitute olive oil for the butter in the basic recipe. Add ½ cup (125 ml) grated Parmesan cheese and 1 tbsp. (15 ml) chopped fresh rosemary to the batter before the first rise. Just before baking, brush the top of the loaf with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle with coarse salt and a bit more chopped rosemary. Bake as for the basic bread.
Different is good
Because this bread hasn’t been kneaded like a traditional loaf of bread, the texture will be somewhat different from what you might expect. A bit cakey — not quite as bready — but very delicious. Just thought you should know.
Getting a Rise Out of Your Dough
Fine. You’ve made the dough. Now where do you put it to rise? Here are some ideas:
Fill a large pan or bowl with very hot tap water and place it in the bottom of your oven. Do not turn the oven on. Place your dough in a bowl on a rack over the hot water. The water will add both warmth and humidity to the oven and give your yeast dough a perfect environment in which to grow.
Fill a measuring cup with water and place it in the microwave. Zap until it comes to a boil, then shove it into a corner of the microwave. Put your bowl of dough into the microwave with the cup of water. Same deal — warmth and humidity.
Cover your dough with plastic wrap (to keep the surface from drying out) and place the bowl on top of your refrigerator (if there’s room). The heat from the fridge motor can often provide a lovely warm spot for dough to rise.
One Hundred Percent Whole Wheat Bread
This whole wheat bread is neither overly dense nor aggressively healthy tasting. It’s just delicious, hearty and spectacularly good for you.
8½ cups (2 liters) whole wheat flour (approximately), divided
4½ tsp. (22 ml) (2 envelopes) quick-rise instant yeast
2½ tsp. (12 ml) salt
1½ cups (375 ml) water
1½ cups (375 ml) milk
¼ cup (60 ml) honey, maple syrup or molasses
¼ cup (60 ml) butter or vegetable oil
In a large mixing bowl, stir together 4 cups (1 liter) of the flour (only part of the flour — pay attention!), the yeast and salt.
In a saucepan, or in a microwave-safe bowl, combine the water, milk honey (or other sweetener) and butter or oil. Heat on the stove or in the microwave until very warm to the touch — don’t boil. Add warm liquid to the flour mixture and beat with an electric mixer for 2 minutes on high speed (or by hand with a wooden spoon) until it forms a gooey but homogenous dough. Now, stirring by hand with a wooden spoon, add the remaining flour, ½ cup (125 ml) at a time, until the dough becomes too difficult to stir. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface, and knead by hand until smooth and elastic, sprinkling with additional flour to keep the dough from sticking to either your hands or the table — about 6 to 8 minutes. When the dough feels just damp — not sticky — it’s ready to rise. You might not need to use the entire amount of flour. (Properly kneaded dough should have about the same consistency as your earlobe when you pinch it.)
Place the dough in a large oiled bowl, and turn the dough over to oil the top. Cover with plastic wrap and place it in a warm spot to rise until doubled — about 30 to 45 minutes.
Now uncover the dough, make a fist and punch down to deflate it. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead it a few times. Let rest while you prepare the baking pans.
Grease two 9 x 5-inch (23 x 13 cm) loaf pans or cookie sheets (depending on how you want to shape and bake the loaves). Divide the dough in half and form two loaves — using whatever shaping method you like. Place in the prepared pans, cover and let rise again, until not quite double — about 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
Place loaves in the oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until loaves are golden brown and sound hollow when you tap them with your finger. Let cool on a rack for at least a little while.
Makes 2 loaves.
Just Tell Me How Much Flour!
You probably won’t notice it, but different flours contain different amounts of moisture. This may not be obvious when you’re making cookies or cakes, but for some reason it makes a big difference when you’re baking a yeast bread. One type of flour might absorb a lot more liquid than another type — causing the dough to be heavier and denser, or softer and stickier.
Most yeast bread recipes will tell you to add flour gradually, a bit at a time, until the dough reaches the right texture. And that’s just what you should do. Begin with the smallest quantity of flour specified in the recipe and continue adding until the dough is smooth and elastic. You may not need the entire amount of flour listed in the recipe — or you may need more than it states.
Sorry. That’s as specific as it gets. Bread baking is an art, not nuclear physics.
Molasses
Molasses is a liquid sweetener made from sugarcane (just like regular sugar). Depending on the process used to make it, molasses can be any color from medium brown to jet black. Generally, the darker the color, the stronger the taste, but even a light molasses will have a very distinctive flavor. So if you like it, use it. If not, then substitute another liquid sweetener, such as honey or maple syrup or corn syrup. It will bake just fine.
Yeast — a Matter of Life or Death
Up until now, the subject of baking has been a relatively simple matter. You mix up a bunch of ingredients, put the mixture in a pan, bake it. Pretty straightforward business.
With yeast, things get a bit weird, because yeast is no mere ingredient. It is a living organism. Like a hamster, it requires care and feeding or else it will die. Creepy? Sure, a little. But that’s what makes yeast so interesting.
The most convenient way to purchase baking yeast is as a dry, granular product. This is called active dry yeast. Active because it’s still alive — just dehydrated. Add liquid and warmth and the yeast begins to grow, exhaling, as a side effect, carbon dioxide, which creates the little bubbles you see in a loaf of bread.
The type of yeast recommended for the recipes in this book is quick-rise instant yeast. This product is an extra-speedy breed of yeast, which can be mixed directly into the dry ingredients in the recipe. It works much more quickly to rise bread dough than does ordinary yeast. Especially handy if you are an impatient person or in a big hurry for pizza. Purists may frown at this high-speed superyeast, but frankly, it’s nobody’s business.
You can also use regular, slow-speed active dry yeast in any of the recipes in this book that call for yeast. But you’ll need to dissolve it in liquid before you add it to the flour, and the rising time of the dough will be considerably longer.
Both kinds of active dry yeast are available in individual premeasured packets or in small cans or jars. If you do a lot of baking, a jar of yeast granules is more economical. But if you only