Yeast

Because the cheese may bubble and run out of this bread while in the oven, I advise baking the loaves on a parchment-lined sheet pan rather than directly on a baking stone. Any cheese that does run out onto the pan will be like a crispy little cheese snack, so it won’t go to waste.

You can use any kind of beer in this recipe, as both light and dark brews add subtle flavors that will complement the cheese.

Although store-bought English muffins may look easy to make, they’re tricky to do at home, especially if you want to get the spongelike nooks and crannies that trap butter and jam and are the key to their popularity. This version is a cross between a crumpet and a roll. On the inside, it’s soft and custardy with lots of pockets, but the outside is chewy and nicely caramelized. I took inspiration from a recipe I saw on the wonderful e-group The Bread-Baker’s List (you can sign up at www.bread-bakers.com). That recipe was sent in by Werner Gansz, who clearly spent a lot of time thinking it through. Although this formula is different from his, I thank him for getting me excited about English muffins all over again, and for his inventive method, from which I’ve borrowed many ideas. Thanks also to recipe tester Lucille Johnston, who made it her personal mission to perfect this recipe. You’ll need crumpet rings or something similar to make these, as the dough is thin and batterlike (it later sets up into a soft, sticky dough), so it must be confined by a form. The rings are readily available at cookware stores, but you can also use the rims of quart-size canning jars. They’re shorter than crumpet rings but still work quite well. You’ll need to plan ahead in order to follow the process correctly. If you have a flat griddle pan or electric griddle, this is the ideal time to use it, as making these muffins is similar to making pancakes. You can also use a large cast-iron or steel skillet. Other items you’ll also need on hand are a metal spatula, and a 1/3-cup measure for portioning and pouring the dough. Finally, you will need cornmeal to give the tops and bottoms of the English muffins an authentic look.

There are many ways to make rye bread, and every bread lover has a favorite version. But when push comes to shove, the style that sells the most is soft sandwich rye. This version includes the optional use of cocoa powder, which darkens the bread in the style of pumpernickel. Other optional ingredients, whether caraway, minced dried onion, or nigella seeds (also known as black onion seeds), transform this recipe into various regional favorites. Adding orange oil or extract and anise seeds, for example, turns it into a Swedish-style limpa rye bread. You can use various types of rye flour in this recipe. The version most commonly sold is the “white flour” version of rye, with the bran and germ sifted out. But if you look around, you should be able to find stone-ground, whole grain, or dark rye flour, as well as pumpernickel flour. You could even use rye chops or rye meal, which are more coarsely ground, resembling cracked wheat or steel-cut oats. The trade-off is that whole rye flour is more healthful, while light rye yields a softer, lighter loaf. The choice is yours. The molasses is an important flavor component in this bread, but feel free to reduce the amount or replace it with sorghum syrup or golden sugar syrup. Just don’t use blackstrap molasses, which is too strong; look for a product labeled “old-fashioned,” “fancy,” or “unsulfured.”

This type of dough is often referred to as milk dough, since the primary enrichment is milk, whether whole, skim, buttermilk, or powdered. It also contains a fair amount of sweetener and some form of fat or oil. All of these enrichments serve to keep the bread soft and slightly sweet. Because of the many enrichments, the dough has a larger percentage of yeast than lean dough, so it’s especially important to put it into the refrigerator right after it’s mixed to avoid overfermentation. If you use honey or agave nectar instead of sugar, increase the amount of flour by 3 1/2 to 7 tablespoons (1 to 2 oz / 28.5 to 56.5 g). This dough makes wonderful sandwich bread and can also be used to make many different types of rolls, including hamburger and hot dog buns. See the variations on page 106 for a variety of possibilities.

I get emails all the time asking for Philadelphia-style hoagie and cheesesteak rolls. There is something about the cultural connection we Philly folk have with these iconic sandwiches that makes many people believe that Philadelphia’s Amoroso’s Baking Company is the only place to find a good hoagie roll, which is, of course, not true. The key to this type of roll is a nice balance of texture and flavor, somewhere between lean dough and soft enriched dough, with just enough “chew” to stand up to the fillings without making it overly hard to eat the darn thing. The overnight fermentation method is ideal for this because it brings out maximum flavor with very little hands-on time. The optional barley malt syrup provides a nice undertone of flavor that’s difficult to identify and also helps with crust color. This dough also makes great Kaiser rolls.

No bread is as good for us as one made completely from whole grains. The challenge with 100 percent whole grain breads, though, is achieving an open crumb and airy texture. The bran fiber in the whole grain flour, while extremely beneficial in our diet, acts like little razors in the dough, cutting the thin gluten strands. This makes it difficult for the loaf to rise as high as white flour loaves. The antidote is to use a higher percentage of hydration, which counteracts some of the stiffness caused by the bran, softening the fiber and promoting additional oven spring. The dough will seem very soft when it is first mixed but will gradually firm up as it ferments, as the fiber slowly swells as it absorbs the water. As more and more of us make the switch to whole grains, this bread will become a valuable addition to your repertoire. For a variety of options in making this bread, see page 83, where you’ll find multigrain suggestions, guidelines for making transitional breads with less than 100 percent whole grains, and more.

This bread can be used for anything that you’d make with white bread, including buns, rolls, and toast. You can use either traditional “red” whole wheat flour or the new “white” whole wheat that is lighter in color and slightly less bitter. If you choose the honey or agave nectar option in this recipe, you’ll need more flour than if you use sugar, probably an extra 3 1/2 to 7 tablespoons (1 to 2 oz). Assess the texture as you mix and adjust accordingly.

In this formula, the amounts of water and yeast for pizza dough appear after the amounts for bread dough. Note that unlike in the 50% whole grain version opposite, the sugar and oil aren’t optional; they’re definitely needed to counteract the bitter tones of the whole wheat flour and to soften the bran. If you’d like to make a multigrain version, see the variation below.

The main difference between the bread and pizza dough is the amount of hydration and the amount of yeast; pizza dough has less water and less yeast than the bread. This formula offers both options, with the amounts of water and yeast for pizza dough appearing after the amounts for bread dough. The sugar and oil are optional, but highly recommended to counteract the bitter tones of the whole wheat flour and to soften the bran

Pizzerias have long known the value of overnight, delayed fermentation, and I’ve written about this extensively in American Pie: My Search for the Perfect Pizza, as well as in other books. After teaching hundreds of pizza and focaccia classes around the country and assessing the relative benefits of the many versions of pizza dough that I wrote about in other books, I’m including and updating the most popular versions here. This recipe is a variation of the neo-Neapolitan dough I introduced in Amercian Pie. I recommend making individual size pizzas, because the heat in home ovens simply isn’t sufficient to do a good job on larger pizzas. This dough will keep for up to 4 days in the refrigerator or for months in the freezer; just be sure to move it from the freezer to the refrigerator the day before you need it, so it can thaw slowly, then treat it like refrigerated dough. Both the sugar and the oil in this formula are optional. If you leave them out, you have a Napoletana dough (though not a true pizza Napoletana dough unless you use Italian “00” flour, which is softer and more extensible than American flour and does not require as much water). However, in my pizza classes across the country, this version, which is similar to the dough used at some of the top American pizzerias (such as Frank Pepe’s, Sally’s, Totonno’s, and Lombardi’s), always gets the most votes for favorite.

This recipe uses sourdough starter primarily as a flavor enhancer rather than for leavening. It adds a subtle complexity without drawing attention to itself. However, if you prefer a more tart flavor you can omit the instant yeast and give the dough four hours of fermentation at room temperature before dividing it into dough balls and refrigerating.

Pain au levain, which is the French term for naturally leavened bread, is generally considered to be the gold standard for wild yeast breads, though opinions do vary widely—and are strongly held. People from San Francisco, Portland, New York, Boston, anywhere in Germany (where it is called Sauerteig), and many other cities and regions may dispute the superiority of the French version. In fact, there isn’t one single version of pain au levain; it’s really a category of bread, usually consisting primarily of white flour, supplemented with a small amount of whole wheat flour, rye flour, or a multigrain flour. To complicate matters further, some “authentic” French levains are made with all-natural starter, while others use a combination of starter and commercial yeast (usually just a small amount). In this book, I use the term pain au levain to indicate breads that are naturally leavened, either with or without the addition of commercial yeast, using anywhere from 5 to 20 percent whole grain flour. In the process of developing the formulas for Peter Reinhart’s Whole Grain Breads, I discovered a method of mixing natural starters with commercial yeast that seems to work especially well for home baking and small batches. By increasing the amount of starter and commercial yeast in the final dough, it’s possible to make breads with all of the flavor development of the great levains, but with a shortened proofing stage at the end. As with most of the breads in this book, the cold, overnight fermentation method also extends the life of the dough to at least 3 days, with flavors that are even more developed on the third day than on the first. Although this unconventional recipe is unlike anything you’ll find in other books, it follows and fulfills the flavor rule (that is, flavor rules!). As with the San Francisco sourdough (page 64), you can make this bread leavened only with natural starter (the “purist” method), or you can add instant yeast to the final dough (the mixed method). If you want to use the “purist” method and bake the bread on the same day as you mix the dough, don’t refrigerate the final dough; just let it rest at room temperature for about 4 hours, or until it doubles in size. Then, shape and proof it at room temperature for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours, and bake as described below.

Although this formula is exactly the same as the preceeding pain à l’ancienne rustic bread recipe (page 52), the method is quite different. This focaccia dough is also quite similar to the pizza doughs in this book, the main difference being the amount of hydration. Focaccia is wetter, at 80 percent hydration, because it has the benefit of rising and baking in a pan to provide structural support, whereas pizza dough is closer to 70 percent hydration so that it can be handled and stretched. In both cases, the dough should be slightly sticky, not just tacky. Focaccia dough is so wet that it’s best to use olive oil to handle it, whereas flour works just fine with pizza dough. You can also bake a smaller, round focaccia (pictured on page 198).

I first introduced the concept of cold-fermented wet dough in The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. While the idea isn’t new or original, it has blossomed during the past few years into various no-knead, overnight-rise permutations. I now prefer the version in this recipe because it gives the best flavor and also provides the most flexibility for scheduling. The refrigerator provides a 4-day window of baking opportunity, and that’s hard to beat. The beauty of this dough, as others have discovered, is that it can be used in so many ways: for focaccia, ciabatta, mini baguettes, and more. (Because the method for shaping this dough into focaccia is substantially different, it appears as a separate recipe on page 57.) And even though it’s the most hydrated dough in this book, it requires only minimal mixing to achieve the same gluten strength as bakeries obtain by mixing continuously for 20 minutes, due to the stretch and fold technique.

Because the methods in this book balance time, temperature, and ingredients, you don’t need an array of pre-ferments to accomplish full development of the flavor and texture of the bread. Time does most of the work through slow, cold overnight fermentation. This formula differs from similar approaches in other recent books by using less yeast, giving the bread better flavor and caramelization, or coloring, of the crust. The dough will keep in the refrigerator for up to a week, but after about 4 days the quality starts to decline. If you want to make a full-size batch and save some of the unbaked dough for longer than a week, place the dough in one or more lightly oiled freezer bags after the initial overnight fermentation, seal tightly, and freeze. To thaw, place the bag of dough in the refrigerator the day before you need it so that it can thaw slowly, without overfermenting. This dough also makes excellent pizza crust (see pages 67 to 73 for other variations and page 24 for shaping instructions).

This version of French bread is the simplest formula in the book. It uses the cold fermentation technique, and the resulting dough actually holds the shape and cuts of conventional French baguettes, bâtards, and boules better than the lean dough (page 46), which is wetter. Because the dough isn’t as wet, it’s especially important to handle it with a firm but light touch. Too much pressure will squeeze out the gas trapped during the overnight rise, resulting in small, even holes rather than the prized large, irregular holes. I’ve also included a variation that makes spectacular loaves with a distinctive blistered crust.

When making grilled pizza, roll the dough very thin so that it cooks through quickly. This means that it’ll burn easily, so keep an eye on the dough as it cooks. If you’re new to grilling pizza, make an extra batch of dough, in case a few pizzas get sacrificed to the gods of grilling. Apply toppings lightly—just a few tablespoons each.

Choose your favorite fall fruit to adorn this sweet focaccia. The great Italian cook who taught me how to make it recommended throwing three tablespoons of water into the lower part of the oven (below the pan of focaccia) three times during the first ten minutes of baking. The steam created results in a crispier crust. Try it, but be careful not to extinguish the pilot light or soak the focaccia!

Whole wheat flour may seem to be the choice of health nuts or diet-conscious shoppers looking for whole grains, neither of which suggests typical Southern bread. This is true for more modern breads, but Antebellum and Colonial grains were not as processed as modern flour is and were closer to what we now consider whole wheat flour. This homey bread also uses honey, a natural sweetener, instead of refined white sugar. I do, however, suggest using a modern fat, canola oil, over bacon fat (but now that I think of it, bacon fat sure sounds good!).