Baking Bread

I love the idea of making my own bread. I love the smell in the house and the satisfaction that lies in cutting off the first slice of bread of a new loaf. But until now, I never consistently made my own bread. Or anything close to consistently. Usually I bake a bread every few months, think that I should do this often, and then go weeks without. I want this to change. I want to be the person who bakes bread. For the flavor. For the relaxation. And for the smell in the apartment.

I'm away on vacation again. Three weeks of cycling through France with my boyfriend. I'm looking forward to the croissants now, and when you read this, I might just be eating one right this minute (sorry!).

But before I left I made the Easy Little Bread Heidi posted just a few days ago. It really is an easy recipe, you basically just throw everything together, let it sit for 30 minutes and then bake it. No long waiting, no kneading. On some days I prefer a lighter, airier (is that a word?) bread, like the No-Knead Bread. But I just ate the first piece now, with a glass of beer, and it is just wonderful. I somehow taste bananas in there, don't ask me why. The bread is dense but moist and has a deep flavor.

Easy Little Bread
adapted from the recipe on 101cookbooks.com, from the book Gran's Kitchen: Recipes from the Notebooks of Dulcie May Booker
3dl warm water
1 package of dry yeast
1 tablespoon honey
265g whole wheat flour
100g rolled oats
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon butter


Sprinkle the yeast on to the warm (not hot) water and stir until the yeast is dissolved. Add the honey and let it sit for about 10 minutes (until the yeast blooms).

Melt the butter in a pan, and brush a loaf pan with it. (we have adjustable cake pans in Switzerland, they range from 20-35 cm in length,  I used it at 25 cm length. Heidi suggests using a 8 cup loaf-pan)


In a bowl, mix flour, oats and salt. Add the liquid ingredients. Pour the dough in to the pan, cover it with a damp cloth and let it rise for about 30 minutes in a warm place.


Preheat the oven to 180°C (or 350F), put in the pan on a rack (in the middle of the oven) and let it bake for 35-40 minutes. Remove from the oven and turn the bread out right away. Let it cool on a rack. 
Don't cut off a slice when still hot, wait until it is room temperature. I don't know right now why this is, but I believe the masters and wait, impatiently, but I wait.