Recipes!

Easy Whole Wheat Artisan Bread

Adapted from Ceara’s Kitchen
https://www.cearaskitchen.com/easy-whole-wheat-artisan-bread-no-knead/

INGREDIENTS

3 cups whole wheat flour

½ tsp active dry yeast
1 tsp sea salt
1½ tbsp dark brown cane sugar (OR dark brown sugar* OR Honey OR molasses to preference)
2 tbsp oats
1½ tbsp pumpkin seeds/sunflower seeds
1½ tbsp chia seeds
1½ tbsp ground flax seeds (Feel free to use ANY COMBINATION of seeds etc. that you have on hand.)
1½ cups water—or more. Dough should be just stiff enough to barely hold its shape when lifted!

1. Combine Dough: In a large bowl, combine the flour, yeast, sea salt, dark brown cane sugar, oats and seeds. Add the water and combine until the dough comes together. Do not overwork the dough - the less you work the dough the softer your bread will be. (Note: The amount of waterto add depends on the flours you use. You want the ball to be very sticky and wet, just solid enough to hold its shape as a ball! Form it into a make shift ball, cover dish with plastic wrap and let sit for 12 - 20 hours (I let mine rise overnight).

2. Second Rise: The dough will have risen quite a bit and be covered in bubbles (see photo). Flour your work surface and transfer the dough to the floured area. Form the dough into a round shape with slightly dampened hands (making sure not to overwork the dough). It doesn't have to be perfectly shaped. Cover the dough with a clean kitchen towel and leave to rise for an hour.

3. Bake and Eat: Preheat the oven to 450F/230C. Place your STONEWARE BREAD BAKER casserole dish into the oven to preheat for 30 minutes while the dough is rising. Carefully remove the hot baking dish from the oven and remove cover. BE CAREFUL TO SET CASSEROLE LID AN BOTTOM ON A WARM SURFACE SUCH AS YOUR RANGE TOP IF YOUR RANGE IS OVER THE OVEN, OR ON THE OPENED OVEN DOOR-- stoneware is very heat resistant but sudden temperature changes such as setting the pot or lid on a cold surface can cause hairline cracks!

4. Place the dough ball into the ungreased casserole. You can put a little cornmeal in the bottom of the dish before dropping in the loaf, or you can line the bottom of the casserole with a piece of parchment paper but a bit smaller than the bottom of the casserole interior-- but this is not absolutely necessary. (I found parchment paper at my local Walmart.)

5.Cover the dish and bake for 30 minutes.

6.Remove the lid and bake for 15 - 20 minutes until the top of the bread is golden brown. Remove the loaf from the oven and leave it to cool before slicing.

(Note added 2020: My more recent bakers have narrower bottoms and higher sides than the old ones did. This is intended to make higher loaves. You may find that you need to cook the bread a bit longer in the uncovered phase to accommodate tne narrower shape. Carefully insert a clean knife into the center of the bread. When it comes out clean, the bread is done.)

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So...the recipe above is especially valuable because it tells you how to bake with ceramic cookware-- important! However, if you observe the above precautions, you can easily and successfully make any of the "Dutch Oven Artisan Bread" recipes that you can find on the internet. If, for example, you prefer a white flour loaf to the heavy whole-grain recipe that I have provided, above, you could try this one, linked here: https://cafedelites.com/artisan-bread-recipe/

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