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Guide to BAKINGBREAD
Bread ................................ 7 Dill Bread..................................................... 8 Easy
Bread ............................. 14 Soft
................................................ 16
Index
........................................ 3 Classic
Coffee-Can Wheat Corn Banana
Bread ....................................... 9 Garlic Focaccia Bread ................................. 10
Potato and Corn Bread ........... 11 Holiday
Bread ............................. 6 Traditional
Basic White Bread Ciabatta
Bread .................................. 4
Gluten-Free Challah
Bread ............................... 12
Rustic Sourdough Pretzels
Quick Whole Wheat
Malt Bread ................ 13
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 package dry yeast
4 Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface, and knead 10 minutes, or until smooth and elastic.
• 1⁄4 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit)
8 Bake in preheated 375°F oven 35-40 minutes, or until done.
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By Carol Taylor
• 13⁄4 cups milk, room temperature
2 Add remaining sugar, salt, milk, butter and 11⁄2 cups flour. Beat on medium speed with electric mixer 2 minutes, or 200 strokes by hand.
6 Punch down, knead 2 or 3 minutes, and divide in half. Let dough rest 2 or 3 minutes, then shape into loaves and place in 2 greased 8” X 4” loaf pans.
• 1 tablespoon salt
Makes 2 loaves.
Our basic white bread doesn’t come out of the oven pre-sliced. You’ll have to do that yourself.
1 In large mixing bowl, stir yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar into water until dissolved.
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 6 to 61⁄2 cups unbleached or bread flour
7 Let rise until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes to an hour.
3 Stir in enough remaining flour to make a workable dough, adding flour by quarter cupfuls toward the end.
5 Place in greased bowl, turning once to coat. Cover and let rise in warm, draftfree place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
Basic White Bread
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 slightly rounded teaspoon (6 grams) active dry yeast
• 2 tablespoons (30 grams) olive oil, optional
DOUGH
Make dough. Using a pastry brush, lightly brush a large mixing bowl or plastic proofing box with cooking oil, and set aside.
Add the warm water to the poolish. Use your hands to release the poolish from the bowl’s sides. Transfer the poolish to a large, unoiled mixing bowl, and then add
Make poolish. Mix the flour, water, and yeast in a medium mixing bowl. Cover, and set aside at room temperature for 12 to 20 hours, preferably a minimum of 18 hours. The longer you leave it, the richer the sensory qualities of the final bread will be. Smell and taste the poolish to judge how it’s developing. When it’s ready, the poolish will have spread out and become a mass of bubbles, and it will have started to develop sweet and complex aromas.
By William Rubel
• 11⁄4 cup (150 grams) unbleached white flour, preferably bread flour
• 1⁄2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (150 grams) cool water
• 1 cup (250 grams) warm water
• Extra flour for dusting
• 21⁄2 rounded cups (350 grams) unbleached white flour, preferably bread flour
• 2 teaspoons (10 grams) salt
Classic Ciabatta Bread
• Cooking oil
POOLISH
• 3 pinches (0.3 grams) active dry
Note:yeastFor accuracy, weigh ingredients with a digital scale. Ciabatta is defined by the high ratio of water to flour by weight in the dough, and because volume measurements are imprecise, the ingredients need to be weighed to produce a true ciabatta.
From poolish to plate, this easy ciabatta bread is as forgiving as it is flavorful, making it an instant hit with the whole family.
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Repeated stretch-and-folds. Repeat the stretch-and-fold step three more times, at 30-minute intervals. Each time, return the dough to the bowl or box, and cover. With each repetition, the dough will become increasingly firm. You can vary the spacing between the stretch-and-folds. Some bakers give less time between the steps, and others more time. I prefer 30-minute intervals because they give the dough time to rise and develop flavor. Make a note of how many times you’ve stretched and folded, and always end with the dough covered in its bowl or box.
Pre-shaping rise. After the final stretch-and-fold, cover the bowl of dough and let it rise for 1 to 2 hours, or until nearly doubled in size. The time will depend on your room’s temperature.
Bake. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit, and then, on a metal tray or preheated baking stone, bake the ciabatta for 35 minutes, or until an internal temperature of 190 to 210 degrees is reached. Transfer the loaf to a wire rack, and let cool for at least an hour before slicing.
Shape. Liberally flour your work surface, and, while the dough is still in the bowl, sprinkle it with a generous amount of flour. Turn the dough out onto the floured work surface. Sprinkle flour on the top surface of the dough, and gently deflate any large air holes pushing through the top of the dough. Using a dough scraper or your hands, straighten up the dough to form a rectangle roughly the size of a standard piece of notebook paper (81⁄2 by 11 inches). With gentle motions, push and stretch the dough to get the shape you want. Some common ciabatta shapes include: Large, amorphous loaf. This method requires the least amount of effort, and results in an irregular blob. This is the shape my favorite local bakery uses for its ciabatta.
Rolls. Cut long loaves, and then divide each loaf into equal-sized pieces of your choosing. Ciabatta rolls are often squarish.When you’ve achieved the shape you want, use the dough scraper or your hands to slightly lift the outer side of the dough and add flour underneath, anywhere the dough is sticking, working your way around the entire mass.
Lightly oil a work surface, and place a bowl of water nearby. Turn the mixing bowl or proof box upside down over the work surface and let the dough drop out; it will release and spread. Dip a dough scraper and your hands in the water as needed to keep the dough from sticking. Whatever shape the dough is at the time, you’ll need to imagine it as having four sides. With confident motions, use the dough scraper to get under the dough on one side, lift the edge, stretch it out, and then fold it over the remaining dough. Proceed to work around all four sides. The first stretch-and-fold is normally a bit of a mess, but keep going. When the fourth side is complete, grab the dough with both hands, and, in one quick motion, flip it over. I like to repeat this action again, but only during the first stretch-and-fold. Return the dough to the bowl, and cover. Let stand for 30 minutes.
Long loaves. Using the dough scraper, cut the rectangle the long way, separating the two halves from each other. Because the dough is very sticky, you’ll need to make a cut and then immediately slide the cut piece at least 1 inch away, or it will reattach.
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Final rise. Place a piece of parchment paper on a baking tray, or, if using a baking stone, place parchment paper on the counter and transfer it and the dough to the preheated stone when ready to bake. Once your dough is shaped, quickly and decisively lift the dough off the work surface and place it on the parchment paper. Cover and set aside for 15 minutes to begin rising again. Ciabatta dough is very forgiving; even if the bread doesn’t look like it’s risen much during this stage, it’ll continue to rise in the oven.
the flour, salt, yeast, and optional olive oil. Mix by hand or with a dough hook. When the dough is mixed, transfer it to the lightly oiled mixing bowl or box. Cover, and let rise until it’s filled with bubbles and has doubled in bulk, about 2 hours in an 80 degree Fahrenheit proofing oven, or 4 hours or more in a cooler kitchen.
First stretch-and-fold. Bakers use this technique to develop gluten in sticky, wet doughs. For a visual demonstration, search “stretch and fold Peter Reinhart” on YouTube.
FOR THE WET MIX
2 To knead, after the dough has risen, sprinkle some flour on a counter or a table top. Be sure to keep the flour on the kneading surface, dough and your hands. Turn the dough out on the floured surface. Knead by pushing down the top and folding the edges up onto the top again. Kneading usually takes 10 to 15 minutes. A well-kneaded dough is rounded and springs like a plump baby’s bottom.
FOR THE DRY MIX
• Something weird, e.g. wheat germ, soya flour, food supplements, nuts, or dried dates
Kneading the bread takes 10 to 15 minutes, but the final result is worth the effort.
By The Mother Earth News Editors
Mix all of these in the can. If you wish, you may add a couple spoonfuls of honey, molasses, brown sugar, or dextros. A well-cooked
• 1 cake or 2 packages of yeast (the cake works faster; if the recipe is doubled or tripled this is still enough)
• 1⁄2 cup lukewarm water (but not over 85 degrees, as the yeast would be killed)
• 1 ripe banana, mashed
• 1 tablespoon of flour
1 Mix the dry ingredients in a huge bowl or pan. Combine the dry and wet mixes and blend until it is uniform. Toward the end of this process such things as ripe bananas or sliced peaches may be thrown in. Let the dough rise in a warm place until it has risen by half. The top of a stove with the oven on is about right. Sometimes this takes an hour or two. Take this opportunity to grease the cans.
• 1⁄8 can of powdered milk
• Handful or two of raisins
3 Be sure all cans are well greased. Divvy the dough, knead the halves into balls, and put into the cans. Let rise again until dough has almost doubled in volume (about 45 minutes to an hour). Now you may switch to the baking portion of this recipe.
4 To bake, put can upright in an oven preheated to 390 degrees Fahrenheit, and bake for one hour. The larger cans take longer to bake. After baking, let the cans cool for 5 to 10 minutes. With pot holder in hand, twirl bread in the can. It will glide right on to the counter. Eat healthy!
• 1 level can of whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon salt
Coffee-Can Wheat Bread
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potato put through a blender and incorporated into the water at this stage can take the place of the milk below.
• 1 tablespoon of honey or raw sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
Generously grease an 8” or 9” cast-iron skillet or square baking pan. Place pan in oven, and preheat to 400° F. In a large bowl, stir together dry ingredients; set aside. In a medium bowl, lightly beat eggs, then stir in buttermilk and oil. Add wet ingredients to dry, stirring quickly just until combined. Remove pan from oven, and pour batter into it. Bake 20-30 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes in the pan before serving.
Traditional7 Corn Bread
By Carol Taylor
Variations: Add 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil to wet ingredients.
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
As well as being richly flavored and textured, corn bread is one of the quickest and easiest hot breads to put on the table.
• 1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 11⁄2 cups cornmeal
• 1⁄2 cup all-purpose flour
Preheat oven to 350°F. Beat egg, oil, buttermilk, sugar, honey, orange rind, and dill. Beat in flour and baking powder just until there are no lumps. Pour into standard-size greased loaf pan. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Never had dill bread? Maybe my dill bread recipe will make you a believer.
By Anne Vassal
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon grated orange rind
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon dried dill
• 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
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Dill Bread
• 21⁄2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1⁄4 cup oil (I use canola)
The first step is to preheat the oven to 375 degrees. The next step is to grease a 9×5 loaf pan and sprinkle it with flour. First sift together the flour and baking powder (sifting is not essential but greatly improves the texture). In a separate bowl, mix all the moist ingredients together. Use a wire whisk and mix the moist ingredients with the dry. Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake for 55 minutes to an hour. Place a knife into the center of the loaf — if it’s clean, then your loaf is done. Remove the loaf from the oven; if it’s not ready, check every 5 minutess until done.
Now for the hard part: Do not cut it open for at least 10 minutes. Don’t worry, it will still be warm. It just stays together so much better if allowed to cool. If you don’t mind eating your bread with a fork, go ahead and cut it open right away!
• 1 stick of melted butter
• 1⁄4 cup milk
Quick breads are a wonderful way to start for the novice baker due to their fast and satisfying results.
• 4 very ripe bananas mushed
• 2 cups whole-wheat or spelt flour (the taste and texture is nearly identical)
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
Easy Banana Bread
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 large eggs
Reader Contribution by Heather Alf
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• 1⁄2 cup honey
• 1 tablespoon instant yeast
• 11⁄4 teaspoon kosher salt
6 Place a damp towel over the pan and let it proof for 25 to 30 minutes.
11 Add a final drizzle of olive oil, a pinch of salt, and some more freshly cracked black pepper on top. Then place the focaccia in your preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until browned on top and cooked through.
• Salt and black pepper
9 Peel and cut garlic cloves in half the long way. Place garlic halves into the dimples on the dough’s surface. If you’d like to include any fresh herbs, now would be the time to dice them and sprinkle them across the dough’s surface.
• Optional: fresh basil, thyme, oregano, or other herbs
4 Once the dough has risen, prepare a 9” x 13” baking pan by rubbing it with olive oil and then lightly seasoning the bottom with salt and pepper.
your fingers, gently dimple the surface of the dough to incorporate olive oil and create a textured surface.
12 Once removed from the oven, let the focaccia briefly cool before cutting to allow the bottom to more easily separate from the pan.
Servings: 12 (depending on size)
2 Mix all dough ingredients in a bowl or stand mixer until combined into a smooth dough (5-6 minutes).
• Extra Virgin olive oil
7 Preheat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
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• 1⁄4 to 1⁄2 cup shredded, melting cheese
1 Briefly bloom yeast in warm water to ensure yeast is alive and active.
8 Generously drizzle the top of the focaccia with a few teaspoons of olive oil and then using
• 3 to 4 large cloves of garlic
TOPPINGS
• 11⁄4 cup water, lukewarm (90 to 105 Fahrenheit)degrees
DOUGH INGREDIENTS
5 Gently transfer your dough into the oiled pan and spread it to the covers of the pan. Try to avoid flattening the dough out as much as possible.
• 3 cups all-purpose flour or 00 type flour
Reader Contribution by Lisa Kivirist and Inn Serendipity
Rooting in Italy, focaccia is a flat oven-baked bread that is similar in texture, flavor and style to pizza dough but more bready with only light toppings like shavings of cheese or fresh herbs when in season.
Garlic Focaccia Bread
10 Place a light layer of melting cheese on top of the garlic and focaccia. Covering the garlic will help prevent it from burning in the hot oven.
3 Place dough in an oiled bowl, cover the top with plastic wrap or a wet towel, and let rise at room temperature until doubled in size (typically one to two hours).
13 Serve or use immediately, or refrigerate after cooling for use later.
2 Warm the milk in a microwave very slightly, to 105 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius). Add the yeast and sugar. Stir and set aside, leaving the mixture undisturbed for 10 to 15 minutes to allow it to begin working (foaming).
1 Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (190 degrees Celsius).
• 1⁄4 cup (60 milliliters) water
• 11⁄2 cups (350 milliliters) milk
4 Slowly add the milk mixture and the honey to the dry ingredients. Mix slowly with a wooden spoon. Add the oil and water, and mix. The dough will be heavy and thick; don’t overmix it.
• 2 tablespoons (30 milliliters) liquid honey
• 2 teaspoons (10 milliliters) xanthan gum
• 11⁄2 cups (350 milliliters) cornstarch, sifted
• 1 tsp (5 milliliters) sugar
Gluten-Free11 Potato and Corn Bread
• 11⁄2 cups (350 milliliters) potato starch, sifted
5 Scoop dough into a greased loaf pan. Smooth out the top and cut a line down the middle using a knife. Bake for 25 minutes. Test doneness with a wooden skewer or sharp knife that, when inserted in the loaf, should come out clean.
• 1 teaspoon (5 milliliters) baking soda
By David Wolfman and Marlene Finn
• 1 teaspoon (5 milliliters) table salt
This bread can be used as gluten-free sandwich bread.
6 Let bread cool, covered with a dish towel, for 10 minutes to steam before inverting it onto a cooling rack.
• 1⁄4 cup (60 milliliters) vegetable oil
• 1 package (21⁄4 teaspoons/11 milliliters) active dry yeast
3 In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine corn- starch, potato starch, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum and salt.
• 1 Tbsp (15 milliliters) baking powder
3 Spread your fingers and thumbs apart, stretching the dough.
1
The term boule is French for “ball.”
With the gathering point on the bottom, roll the dough between both hands to make it a solid spherical shape.
Starting at the top, pinch and pull a piece of the dough from the outside into the middle. Continue this method all the way around the outside of the dough, about five or six times. It helps to think of this process as gathering all the points of a star into the middle. Remember: the goal is to create a surface area with enough tension that it will keep its shape during baking.
• .25 lb/113.4 g egg yolks
• .1 lb/45.36 g vegetable oil
Boule
8 Mix on low until dry ingredients are combined into dough.
3 hours. Dough should double in size.
Set up stand mixer with a dough hook.
12 Take dough out of mixing bowl and transfer to lightly oiled airtight container.
18 Score an “X” in the top of the loaf.
5 Add yeast.
3 Mix on medium-low for 5 minutes.
13 Let dough rest on counter top for approximately
6
Mix on medium for an additional 6 minutes.
• .04 lb/18.14 g salt
16 Shape each into a boule (see below).
• .03 lb/13.61 g instant yeast
20 Bake for 33 minutes until lightly golden brown.
1 Cut off a small amount of dough, roughly the size of an egg.
Take an individual piece of dough and place it on a lightly floured work surface.
• .35 lb/158.8 pistachios
15 Cut dough with a scraper into 4 even squares/rectangles, approximately 1.25 lbs/567 g each.
14 Roll dough out of container onto a lightly floured work surface (marble or butcher block is ideal).
17 Let dough rest 4 hours after shaping.
2 Hold it between your thumb and first two fingers with both hands.
11 Do the dough test (see below).
2 Place flour, water, egg yolks, oil, sugar, and salt in mixing bowl.
10 Dough should appear shiny and pull away from the mixing bowl
7 Add cranberries, golden raisins, pistachios, and orange zest.
9 Dough temperature should be between 76 degrees Fahrenheit and 78 degrees F/24 degrees Celsius and 26 degrees C.
• .5 lb/226.8 g golden raisins
The Window Pane Dough Test
• 1.9 lbs/861.8 g bread flour
19 Preheat oven to 390 degrees F/200 degrees C.
As you may have guessed, a boule is the traditional shape for French bread—aside from the long, narrow baguette, of course. When shaping a boule, the goal is to give the dough enough surface tension so that the shape will keep through the baking process rather than flatten out.
• .18 lb/81.65 g orange zest
By Keith Cohen
• .05 lb/22.68 g sugar
Perform this test to see if the dough has been mixed or kneaded enough.
4 Mix on medium-high for 2 minutes.
The Holiday Challah Bread Recipe was created as a sweet way to celebrate seasonal festivities.
• .4 lb/181.4 g cranberries
• 1.2 lbs/544.3 g water
4 You should be able to see translucency in the middle part of the dough, similar to a windowpane.
5 If the dough is not translucent, mix for an additional two minutes and try again.
ChallahHoliday12Bread
• 13-14 cups of unsifted whole wheat flour
Quick Whole Wheat Malt Bread
3 Bake the delicious and healthful treats in a preheated oven at 350 to 375 °F for 35 to 40 minutes. Remove the finished loaves from their pans immediately…and try to avoid eating the whole batch while it’s still warm and fragrant.
• 2 tablespoons of salt
• 1⁄4 cup of lecithin (optional)
A small amount of sprouted wheat will make a lot of sugar-free bread.
• 4 tablespoons of yeast
• 3⁄4 cup of whey powder or dried milk
By Nancy M. Hoch
• 1⁄2 cup of gluten flour (optional)
• 1 teaspoon of malt
1 Add lukewarm water into a large (six-quart) container. Add yeast and let the mixture stand until the leavening begins to dissolve. Then add oil, malt, gluten flour (optional), salt, lecithin (optional), whey powder or dried milk, and 6 cups of unsifted whole wheat flour. Beat the ingredients thoroughly with a spoon or an electric mixer until a “spongy” consistency is reached, and let the dough rest for 10 to 15 minutes before stirring in 7 or 8 additional cups of unsifted whole wheat flour. Knead the mixture on a floured breadboard. Let it rest again while you grease your loaf pans.
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2 Divide the dough and form it into 4 or 5 loaves (smaller pans will produce more “reliable” whole wheat bread). Cover the containers with a towel and put them in a warm spot to rise. Never allow the loaves to reach more than 3 1/2 inches in height. If time permits, remold each loaf–allowing the dough to rise again after each shaping–one or two additional times. This process will produce a more finely textured bread.
• 1⁄2 cup of oil
• 51⁄2 cups of lukewarm water
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RusticBreadSourdough
1 Feed your starter by setting aside half of it and feeding the remainder with 4 ounces of flour and 4 ounces of lukewarm water. Stir to combine, and set the starter aside for 8 to 12 hours to complete the culture proof before you use it to bake.
Yield: 11⁄2-pound sourdough boule
• 2 cups lukewarm water
By Tabitha Alterman
A covered pan, like this Lodge Combo Cooker, provides a humid environment as the sourdough bakes.
• 5 cups flour, plus up to 1 cup more for the work surface
3 After the dough’s autolyse period (about 20 minutes for white flour, and as much as 40 for whole-grain flour), sprinkle the salt over the dough and mix it in using your hands.
Feed the set-aside starter with 4 ounces each of flour and lukewarm water. Stir to combine, cover loosely, and leave at room temperature until it becomes fully active. This is your new starter to maintain and use.
2 In a mixing bowl, pour 1 cup fed sourdough starter into 1 cup lukewarm water. Add 3 cups flour, a little at a time. Stir until loosely combined, then mix thoroughly with wet hands. Cover the container loosely and set aside for a half-hour if using white flour, or 45 minutes for whole-grain flour.
• 11⁄2 tsp salt
• 1 cup leaven, or fed sourdough starter
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After 30 minutes, carefully remove the lid, and use the baker’s peel to shuttle the loaf into the pan (or turn the loaf upside down from the proofing basket or bowl into the pan). Replace the lid, turn the oven down to 450 degrees, and bake the bread for 20 minutes. Then, remove the lid and allow the loaf to bake for 20 to 25 minutes more, uncovered, for good browning.
If the dough feels dry, add a little more water — it should be somewhat sticky. Turn the dough out onto a floured board and knead it for a couple of minutes, until it no longer picks up any new flour. Return it to the container, cover loosely and leave at room temperature to undergo bulk fermentation.
10 Remove the finished bread to a cooling rack. Let the loaf cool for at least one hour. Proper cooling is important to keep moisture from escaping and for the bread’s final crust development.
Go beyond the traditional and try your hand at flatbreads, boiled breads, naan, bagels, pizza crust even gluten-free breads. With more than 150 recipes to choose from, you’re sure to find new loaves to love … fresh from the oven, of course.
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5 Turn the dough out onto a floured board and let it rest for 10 to 20 minutes. If it seems very strong and cohesive at this point, take care not to overwork it when shaping the dough. If it seems slack and tears as you stretch, you may want to give it extra stretching folds before the final shaping. If it is extremely slack, incorporate more flour as you fold and shape, although ideally you would not incorporate any more flour at this point.
The dough should proof 2 to 4 hours at room temperature. Dust a bit of flour on the surface, and cover it with a kitchen towel to keep a crust from forming.
From the pages of Mother earth News, this volume features more than 150 triedand-true recipes to choose from.
9 Preheat the oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit about 30 minutes before baking, with a Dutch oven, cloche or enclosed pan in the oven.
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6 Pat the dough lightly into a rectangle. Pick up each side one at a time, gently stretch it out, and fold it back over the dough’s center, until all four sides have been stretched. Leave the dough alone for a minute to relax.
8 Let the shaped dough rise for its final proof, right-side-up, on a floured baker’s peel. You can improvise a baker’s peel by flouring the back of a cookie sheet. Or, let the dough rise upside down in a floured proofing basket, or “banneton,” which will help it keep its structure. You can improvise one by lining a mixing bowl with a floured cotton towel.
You’ll find all the classic recipes, including rustic white, whole-wheat sandwich bread and sourdough. Bread also contains plenty of quick breads and cornbread, Irish soda bread, and fruit- and nut-filled harvest breads.
7 Roll the dough into a ball, or “boule.” Pull gently but tightly to ensure that the top is taut all the way around. One way to do this is to put the ball on an unfloured surface and begin
The timeless allure of fresh bread has been part of Mother earth News since 1970, when the first issue was published. Now, for the first time, we have collected our very best recipes and techniques together in one book, Bread.
spinning it gently. The bottom will grab the work surface and create tension as you rotate the ball. Another way is to grab and gently pull four “corners” to the bottom and pinch them together.
4 Bulk fermentation usually lasts 3 to 4 hours. During the first couple of hours, gently stretch and fold the dough about every half-hour, pulling one edge at a time up and over the center, until all sides have been stretched. After the first few times, be extra-gentle, and take care to keep the built-up gases inside the dough.
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 2 tablespoons of shortening
• 4 teaspoons of baking soda
3 To make the traditional design, form an oval shape with the “rope,” crossing one long end first over and then under the other. Then bring the left end down to an imaginary seven
• 1 egg
• 11⁄2 cups of hot water
By Carol-Ann Fuller
• 1 tablespoon of honey
• coarse (or sea) salt
Soft Pretzels
A full plate of doughy treats.
2 You’ll likely find it easier to work with half of the dough at one time (put what you’re not using under a clean cloth so it won’t dry out). Roll out the dough to about 1⁄8” thick and then cut it into 12 strips. Shape these strips into “ropes” — each 16” to 18” long — by rolling them between your hands. The strands will double in size when baked, so they should be only half as thick as you want your finished pretzels to be.
• 4 cups of boiling water
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• 4 to 41⁄2 cups of flour
• 1⁄3 cup of powdered milk
1 First, in a small bowl, stir together 1⁄2 cup of warm water and 1 tablespoon of dry yeast. Set this aside for 10 or 15 minutes until it becomes bubbly. Meanwhile, mix 11⁄2 cups of hot water, 1⁄3 cup of powdered milk, 1 tablespoon of honey, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 2 tablespoons of shortening in a large bowl. Once this concoction has cooled to lukewarm, pour in the frothy yeast mixture and stir. Next, slowly add 4 to 41⁄2 cups of flour and knead the dough until it becomes satiny-smooth. It should then be greased, covered with a clean cloth, and placed in a warm, draft-free spot to rise. After about one hour, punch the dough down to its original size and allow it to rise for another 30 minutes. It’ll then be ready to be shaped into pretzels.
• 1⁄2 cup of warm water
• 1 tablespoon of dry yeast
5 You might also want to try making soft pretzels from whole wheat flour. If so, prepare your yeast mixture from 1⁄2 tablespoon of dry yeast, 1 teaspoon of honey, and 11⁄2 cups of warm water. As soon as the mix bubbles, add 4 to 41⁄2 cups of whole wheat flour (leave out all the other ingredients). Knead this together and then follow the same steps as in the first recipe, but bake the twists at 475°F for 8-10 minutes without boiling them. And of course, your pretzels don’t have to be coated with salt. My family has enjoyed them with sesame seeds or flavored frostings in place of the traditional seasoning.
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4 In a large pot, add 4 teaspoons of baking soda to 4 cups of water and bring to a rapid boil. Gently place two or three pretzels in the water, let them cook for a minute (or until they float), lift them out, and drain them. After all have been cooked and drained, place them on a greased baking sheet, brush them with beaten egg, and sprinkle on some coarse salt (sea salt can, of course, be substituted here). Let the pretzels bake in a hot oven (450°F) for 12 to 15 minutes, or until they’re golden brown. Serve them warm (perhaps with some piquant mustard or cream cheese), but do let them cool a bit or your eager eaters could end up with burned fingers and tongues.
6 Although I’ve found it hard to make more “little rewards” than my brood can promptly consume, you might be able to cook up a big enough batch to have extras. If so, you’ll be pleased to find that the baked pretzels freeze nicely — and if taken straight from the freezer and put in a 200°F oven for a few minutes, they’ll taste as fresh and chewy as if they’d been prepared that day.
o’clock position on the oval, and the right end to five o’clock. Press these tips down firmly so they won’t come loose while cooking. After you’ve twisted all of the first lump of dough into the proper shapes, do the same with the second one (again, it will be best to store the uncooked pretzel dough under a clean cloth).
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