Once you’ve shaped your dough, there really isn’t much more to it. You’ll need to let it rise and knead it again, and some recipes will have you divide the dough into two loafs, but that’s pretty much all there is to it other than putting it into the oven. You can bake your bread in whatever shape or vessel you like. Some people like to bake their breads in typical oblong loaf pans. Some like to shape the loafs into rounds or long loafs and bake them on a flat baking sheet. Personally, I prefer to bake my breads in an old-fashioned ceramic baking crock. It makes nice, round breads that have a good crust on them. So start looking around at different types of bread recipes. There are recipes for wheat breads, rye breads, pumpernickel breads, gluten-free breads, breads with dried fruits and nuts in them, and breads with combinations of several unique types of flour. The choices are almost endless. You can start by doing an Internet search for a particular type of bread, you can go on specific cooking websites such as KingArthurFlour.com, Allrecipes.com, Cooks.com, or buy a cookbook specific to bread recipes. Check out the ingredient list to make sure they’re ingredients you’re comfortable with, and do a quick scan of the preparation instructions to be sure that there aren’t any steps that you don’t understand or aren’t willing to do. Try a few different recipes and you’ll start to figure out the nuances of bread making. It’s really not that difficult, and the rewards are truly worth it. Imagine how much your family would enjoy and appreciate a dinner complete with a home-baked bread! Actually, my kids usually don’t wait for dinner when they walk into the house and smell the bread hot out of the oven. About half of it makes it to the dinner table, but that’s totally okay with me. This is my all-time favorite bread recipe. It’s from King Arthur Flour and it’s not very difficult to make. The raisins, dried cranberries, and nuts give it so much flavor that it’s like having a meal in itself. I especially enjoy having a slice buttered with a cup of hot coffee.
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Foodies of New England
No Knead Harvest Bread Here’s my variation of a substantial and delicious bread from the King Arthur Flour website that’s very easy to make. Personally, I enjoy a warm, buttered slice from this crusty loaf with a cup of hot coffee in the morning.
Ingredients: 3 1/4 cups Lancelot Hi-Gluten Flour or King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour 1 cup King Arthur Traditional Whole Wheat Flour or King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour 2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp instant yeast 1 3/4 cups cool water 3/4 cup dried cranberries 1/2 cup golden raisins 3/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts Preparation:
1. Mix the flours, salt, yeast, and water in a large bowl. Stir, then use your hands to mix and form a sticky dough. 2. Work the dough just enough to incorporate all the flour, then work in the fruit and nuts. 3. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let it rest at room temperature overnight, or for at least 8 hours; it’ll become bubbly and rise quite a bit, so use a large bowl. 4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and form it into a log or round loaf to fit your stoneware baker or round baking crock. 5. Place the dough in the lightly greased pan. 6. Cover and let rise at room temperature for about 2 hours, until it’s become puffy. It should rise noticeably, but it’s not a real high-riser. 7. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes. Remove the bread from the oven, turn out onto a rack, and cool before slicing.