aka Amber Fox Kitchen

Basic Brown Bread

• 2 1/4 cups warm water
• 2 tbsp sweetener - sugar, honey or molasses all work
• 2 tsp regular dry yeast
• 5 cups (stone-ground or regular) whole wheat flour
• salt to taste (minimum 1/2 tsp)
• 1 tbsp butter, cold if possible; or use 3 tbsp liquid oil
• optional flavourings: 2 tbsp cocoa powder, powdered spices (2 tsp is usually enough)
• optional chunky inclusions - about half a cup of any of these: chopped nuts, dried fruit (chopped if it's bigger than a raisin), whole fennel or caraway seeds, chopped herbs, dried tomatoes, olives, cooked entire wheat grains, toasted sesame seeds, cooled fried onions, strong tasting grated cheese
• fat for greasing the pans
• cornmeal, oat flakes, wheat flakes, bran, or the like, for the pan
• optionally, a little milk, some warm water, or a beaten egg, if you wish to "wash" the bread with it while it bakes

1. Dissolve the sweetener in the water; sprinkle on the yeast (you can make the bread just fine without ANY sweetener if you need to, just omit it, but it rises higher with their addition). Stir. Wait for it to start bubbling and smelling "yeasty" (10-15 minutes) then stir it all together thoroughly. If you're using liquid oil, add that to the yeast mixture.
2. Add the salt to the flour; add cocoa or powdered spices if using (except cinnamon - add that during the shaping); stir the mixture with your fingers or a fork to combine and fluff it up. The salt is necessary to make the bread work properly, but you have a lot of leeway, from 1/2 tsp upward; 2 tsp would suit most people.
3. Combine the liquid with the flour in a big bowl, and mix until it more or less comes together into a lump. Use a spoon or your hands.
4. Dump it out and knead it, on an unfloured surface, 100 times. It will be a little bit sticky but by the end of 100 kneadings it should no longer be sticking to your fingers; if it is, sprinkle the board and the bread with about 1 heaping tbsp of flour, and knead that in. If on the other hand it's too dry and seems hard and resistant, wet the surface and your hands, and knead in the water. At the end of 200 kneadings it should have a firm and smooth texture. At that point smear the butter on the kneading surface and knead into it until it is incorporated into the dough. Altogether, the dough needs about 800 kneadings, usually about 15 minutes. At the end of the process it will be smooth and elastic and almost feels bouncy.
5. Make a ball of the dough and put it back in the bowl, covered with a damp towel. Let it rise in a warm place, until doubled in size. If you are doubtful about whether it has risen enough, poke a wet finger about 2 cm into the dough; if the dough immediately bouces back and fills in the hole, let it rise longer; if the hole more or less stays there, or if there is a sigh and a release of air, then it's ready. Dump it out onto the counter and press the dough gently to pop the larger bubbles that have formed, then gently fold it back into a ball and return it to the bowl. Let it rise again; this one will take less time.
6. When the dough has risen for the second time, dump it onto the counter and deflate it again. Now you can knead in anything chunky you want to add as flavouring. Knead thoroughly to distribute evenly, or just a few turns to make swirls in the dough.
7. You have many options in terms of shaping the loaves (see below). Divide the dough, let it rest for 5-10 minutes covered on the counter, then shape the loaves. Put them in their pans, and let them rise again until doubled - use the poke test if in doubt. Slightly tricky part: turn on the oven to about 380 F / 190 C so that it's fully hot by the time the bread has finished it's final rise. Just before you put the loaf in the oven, slash it about 2 cm deep with a sharp knife, this will help it keep its shape and make more crust.
   • Pan loaves: use two of the long narrow 5" x 13" pans, or three of the regular 5" x 9" pans. Grease or oil the pans, then sprinkle them with something like cornmeal, oat flakes, bran, or the like. Divide the dough as evenly as you can, then shape it into cylinders by tucking the edges under and letting a smooth even surface form on top. Seal the seams well by pinching. Make loaves a little shorter and narrower than the pans you plan to use. These take about 45 minutes to bake.
   • For traditional cinnamon bread for toast, use the loaf pans as above. Take one loaf portion of dough, flatten it into a rectangle about as wide as the loaf pan and about 2 cm thick, sprinkle on the cinnamon and any fruit or nuts you want to include, then roll the loaf carefully making sure there are no big bubbles trapped inside. This will result in a slice with the swirl of cinnamon and raisins.
   • Rounds (aka "hearth loaves"): use two flat baking sheets, greased and cornmeal as above. Make balls out of the dough by turning the edges under and letting the top form a smooth even surface. Seal the seams by pinching. These take about 50 minutes to bake.
   • Focaccia: use one large or two small pans with sides high enough that you can spread the dough at least half an inch thick. Grease the pans. Roll the dough out more or less flat the size of the pan, then press it into the pans, covering the whole bottom of the pan, then press your fingers into the dough to make dimples all over it. You can leave it plain, or sprinkle on rosemary, olives, garlic, diced onions, olive oil, coarse salt, etc as desired. This bakes quickly, usually 20 minutes or less, so keep an eye on it after 15 mins.
   • Dinner rolls: use muffin tins, greased and cornmeal as above. Divide the dough into 12 little balls and put them one to a muffin cup; if you don't have a muffin tin use a high-sided baking pan and put the little balls in just touching each other. Baking time varies a lot depending on your arrangements, start watching after 20 minutes.
8. You can, if you wish, brush the top of the bread with milk, water or egg about half way through the baking time. This will make the top crust softer, crunchier or shiny, respectively, but this recipe works beautifully without any brushing at all.
9. The bread is done when it is browned nicely on top, comes away from the pan, and sounds hollow when tapped on the side. Time will vary will your conditions!
10. Remove loaves from the pan and cool them on a rack.