Lesson 4: Many Loaves in One

You are actually in a very powerful place, young baker. Even though you’ve only been improving a single type of bread, you actually know how to bake many different types! Here’s the thing—you can take this simple loaf of bread and add all sorts of stuff to it, thereby creating many different breads.

Some additives (such as seeds) soak up water from the dough, while others (such as olives) add water to the dough, and others (such as cheese) don’t really do anything. We take this into account by letting thirsty additives like seeds soak in water before adding them to the dough. It’s no big deal either way—remember that you’re just baking bread. Here are a few ideas for adding goodies to your loaves, but don’t stop there—you can add whatever you want. (Seriously. I’ve added stuff like cereal and chocolate peanut butter cups, and they’ve made delicious loaves of bread. Get wild.)