The bread I make is very simple. It's unsweetened, and whole grain. It can be made into breadsticks, or into long loafs like French or Italian bread, or into a big round loaf. It can also be baked into sliced bread, if you put it in pans, but I don't, usually. If I'm going to make sliced bread, I use a more complicated recipe that includes a sweetener.
I start with two cups of warm water-- not hot, just warm. I add to that two cups of whole wheat flour, and then I let it sit an hour or two. Then I add in a packet of yeast, a teaspoon of salt, a few tablespoons of butter or oil-- any kind you like will do, even bacon drippings if that's your fancy. Then I mix it, and then add more flour-- enough to make a thick sticky dough.
Then I turn out the dough, and start kneading-- adding in more flour as needed, so that the dough is not excessively sticky, but not dry either-- just a bit tacky on the surface. I knead until it's smooth and elastic, which takes a long time-- about 20 minutes at the minimum. I knead roughly- I sometimes actually get my three year old to whack the dough with his fists, even.
Then I put it in an oiled bowl, and cover with a wet towel, and let it rise until it's doubled in size (about two hours) then flatten it into a ball again, and let it rise again (about an hour this time.)
Then I shape it into whatever shape it's going to have. I put some cornmeal on a wooden peel (the back side of a cookie sheet will do, if you have no peel)-- the corn meal is to keep the dough from sticking. Then I preheat the oven to 400.
When the oven is hot, the bread goes in. I bake directly on a pizza stone. You can just put it in on the back side of the cookie sheet, as it is, if you haven't got a stone.
It's usually done in half an hour.
If your whole wheat flour isn't "hard" enough, you may wind up with a poorly risen bread. Adding a pinch of vital wheat gluten to the flour will solve that problem.
