Ingredients:
about 3 cups of water
1/4 cup of sweetener
2 packages of yeast
about 7 cups of flour
1/3+ cup of oil
2 teaspoons of salt
Put 3 cups of water in a bowl with two packets of yeast and a quarter cup of sweetener, I used brown sugar because I was making whole wheat bread and I imagined that brown sugar was a better sweetener, I have no idea if it ACTUALLY makes a difference or not though. I let the yeast activate for about a half an hour, until I could see little bubbles forming on the surface.
The I added flour a cup at a time, stirring each cup in until it's fully incorporated before adding more, I used whole wheat flour, but someone told me that when making whole wheat bread it helps the gluten formation if you have a little bit of white flour in the mix as well, so I ended up with 3.75 cups of whole wheat flour and 0.25 cups of white flour. Add 4 cups of flour this way until it's like thick mud. Then beat it 100 times with your wooden spoon. Set it in a reasonably warm place with a damp dish towel over the bowl for 45 minutes for the first rise.
The I added 2 teaspoons of salt and 1/3 cup of canola oil . Fold these things in until they're incorporated. (This is where you in theory would add textural additives, I didn't). Then start folding in more flour, 1/2 cup at a time, fully incorporating each 1/2 cup before adding the next. You'll add another 3 cups of flour this way, and you want to keep going until the dough is thick enough that it stands away from the bowl's sides. Then you can turn it out on a floured board or counter and knead it. The person who gave me this recipe said to knead until it feels right, or about 5-10 minutes. I went for 10 minutes and that seemed to work. Keep adding flour under the dough on the board so it doesn't stick.
Stick it back in the big bowl it was in and pour a bit of oil over it. Spin the dough over and around in the bowl so both the bowl and the dough are oiled. Cover it again with your damp kitchen towel, and set it back in a warmish place. After an hour, punch the dough down in ten or so places and set the timer for another hour.
After the 2nd hour turn the dough out of the bowl back onto your floured board and sort of fold the outsides up and onto the middle, like you were going to knead it, but without the pushing. Flip the ball over and let it sit for a few minutes while you oil the bread pans. Alternatively you can just put some cornmeal down on a baking sheet and make a peasant loaf, since this recipe makes 2 loaves, I did one of each. Go back to your lump of dough and cut it in half. Knead each loaf five or six times, and form it into a loaf shape by squishing it. You don't want to tear it if you can help it because that breaks all that gluten you've just built up by kneading and rising.
Set your loaves in/on their pan(s) and cover them again with that damp kitchen towel. Let them rise again for 20 minutes while the oven preheats to 350F. After this last rise, you're supposed to slit the dough two or three times, I totally forgot to do this, but nothing was ruined. Stick them in the oven, and set your timer for 50 minutes. When it goes off, you have bread! Take it out of the oven and enjoy.
Conclusion: This recipe takes about 5 hours, but it's not super labor intensive, good for a lazy Sunday, which is exactly what I'm doing today! If it allows me to make delicious bread, then it can't be that hard!
