Quite a few years ago I bought a cook book, Bread for All Seasons. There have been 2 recipes that I’ve made consistently over the years I’ve had it. This is one of them. Surprisingly this is one of the few recipes I’ve posted where I haven’t changed anything. Well other than HOW I bake it.

Like many people I hopped on the Sourdough band wagon during the pandemic. So I read a lot of recipes, watched a lot of videos, tried a lot of different ways to make sourdough. The it occurred to me, why don’t I try one of the most recommended methods of baking bread, a dutch oven. This is the result and I’ll tell you this came out waaaay bigger, fluffier than any other time I’ve made this.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
• 2 cups warm water (105° to 115°)
• 3 1/4 to 3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup coarse-grind whole-wheat flour
• pinch of salt*
• pinch of sugar

Directions:

In a large bowl or electric mixer combine the yeast & water with a pinch of sugar. Beat in 1 cup of unbleached flour and all of the whole-wheat flour. Beat hard until combined, about 1 minute. cover and let stand 1 hour or until bubbly.

Beat in 1 cup of flour with the salt until smooth, again about 1 minute. Add the remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time until the dough is soft and clears the sides of the bowl. The amount of flour can vary but stop adding when it starts to clear the sides of the mixer bowl, too much flour will make for a tough bread.

Turn out the dough and knead vigorously until it’s smooth and pliable, or use a dough hook on the mixer. This will take about 5-8 minutes. Place the ball of dough in to a lightly oiled bowl, cover and let rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours (until it’s doubled in size).

Glatten gently and form the dough into a tight round ball. Place it into a dutch oven lined with parchment paper (really prevent it from sticking). Cover and let rest for 20 minutes. Heat your over to 425° and put the rack in the lowest position. Score the top, I did a square pattern, and bake covered for 25 minutes. Then remove the lid and bake for another 30 minutes or until the top is dark golden brown. Remove it from the dutch oven when done as it will get a soggy bottom if you don’t and allow to cool.

*why the asterisk on salt? This was the original recipe suggestion but an alternative, which is below, has more salt. And salt equals flavor, so more salt makes for a more flavorful bread. Less salt though means longer shelf life.

Alternative with Olives

Add 1 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/3 cup of green and 1/3 cup of black olives. Add the olives added all the flour and right before the 5-8 minutes of kneading.