The Best Bread in the World

Yesterday was bread making day at our house.  Ernie, our almost 11 year old son, is the family baker and because I was an apprentice baker in high school oh so many years ago, I am his assistant.  Its fun for him to tell dad what to do for a change.  Ernie bakes the best bread in the world.  Here, after a lot of tweeking and practice, is his recipe.

Oh, but first, the flour.  Ernie has tried all of the different brands of flour that we find in our local grocery stores and Ernie asserts that King Arthur Flour is by far the best (they didn't pay me to say that).  My taste buds agree.  King Arthur Flour costs a little bit more, but it is well worth it.  If you haven't tried it then give it a try.  Anyway, here is Ernie's recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2 C warm water
• 1/4 C sugar
• 1 envelop active dry yeast
• 2 C King Arthur's whole wheat flour
• 1 T salt
• 1/4 C vegetable oil
• 4 C King Aruthr's unbleached all-purpose flour

Total time:  3 1/2 hours (but most of the time you can be off doing something else)

Steps:

1. Combine water, sugar and yeast in a large stainless steel bowl
2. Cover and let stand 5 minutes until bubbly.
3. Add 2 C whole wheat flour, cover and let stand for 10 minutes until bubbly.
4. Stir in salt and vegetable oil
5. Stir in 3 C of unbleached all-purpose flour
6. Add 1 more C of unbleached all-purpose flour, a little at a time, until the dough starts to hold together and is no longer sticky.  You may not need all of the 4th C of flour.
7. Sprinkly your work surface with flour and coat your hands with flour.
8. Turn the dough out onto your work surface and knead the dough for 5 minutes (Ernie's favorite step).  Sprinkle more flour on the doough as needed if it starts to get sticky.
9. Let the dough rest while you clean the bowl out and then coat it with vegatable oil.
10. Knead the dough for 3 more minutes and then place it in the oil-coated mixing bowl.  Move the dough around so that it is completely coated with oil.
11. Cover the mixing bowl with a clean kitchen towel, place it in a warm location, and let it raise until it has doubled in size (about an hour and a half . . . this is when Ernie and I sit down togther with good books).
12. Gently deflate the dough (don't knead it again) and turn it out onto a flour-covered surface.  Cut the dough into two piece and form into loaves.  Ernie likes to make one round loaf and one oblong loaf.  No need to use a loaf pan; artisan bread is cool.
13. Place the loaves on a greased baking sheet and cover the loaves with plastic wrap.  Let the dough rise for 30 minutes (a good time to take the dog for a walk).  Set the oven to 375 degrees F so that it is hot when the 30 minutes are up.
14. Remove the plastic wrap, carefully slice the tops of the bread if you wish, and sprinkle yummy seeds on top as well (optional).  Place the bread in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes.  The bread is done when the crust is golden brown and the loaves sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.
15. Cool the bread on a rack
16. Slice and eat when cool . . . try not to eat it all up in one afternoon.