FARMER'S BREAD with CINNAMON

One of my favorite hobbies is bread making. Ever since learning the craft at a very young age from my mother who was at a time a commercial baker , I never stopped baking. I even got my children hooked on it too.

With the advent of the bread machine, I ran out and bought one only to find out that the finished product did not quite measure up to the real thing produced after powerful kneading and punching down and re kneading. Nothing is more satisfying than the fresh delicious smell and taste of homemade bread.

Even in those days long time ago, when bread was baked in clay and brick ovens heated by burning piles of fire wood inside the oven, evacuating the charcoal and ash before loading the pans of fluffy dough into the oven and stuffing it shut with wet "akpa aji" and slabs of stone to keep the heat from leaving the oven, that heavenly smell of fresh bread was usually the first indication of the result of so much hard work and sweating.
In those days, those assisting in bread making got to work right after morning prayers, mixing, kneading, cutting, shaping, greasing bread pans and filling the pans with egg-sized dough. While this was going on, the giant oven was loaded with firewood which burned quickly ( nku ukpaka), heating up the oven and the heat was trapped and stored in the brick and clay walls of the oven.
After doing the job for a while, it became a habit and one could knead cut and shape the loaves with one eye closed or while thinking about other things like how to hide some dough for a personal unique loaf. We were able to make these unique loaves from scrapings from the giant mortars in which the dough was mixed. These scrapings were used to create all kinds of loaves-- lizard shaped, snake shaped,masquerade shaped, all kinds of art work were produced with those loaves. Unknown to the baker, or maybe she knew and pretended not to know, her hard working helpers always found ways to sneak aside a chunk of dough to add to their signature loaves. These signature loaves usually made it to school to be enjoyed at recess with a bunch of friends and non friends who would beg and beg for a piece. Some would remind you of past favors and some would actually ask you to look them in the face and how on earth can you refuse to give a piece of bread after going eye ball to eye ball. At the end of the exercises, the bread is shared almost like communion among friends who throw the tiny piece in their mouth and go back to their playing or to beg from somebody else.

After the giant oven is evacuated and loaded and sealed, the workers start getting ready for school and then the aroma fills the air and I remember the- hm mm, hm mm and I am sure the neighbors enjoyed those aromas too. Before long, it was time to get the bread out since the slightest delay would mean burnt bread and total loss. On the other hand, if the oven did not retain enough heat, that meant the dough would not bake properly, would actually collapse, making ugly flat bread, a big loss also. It was an art, making the bread come out well almost all the time. Occasionally, something would go wrong and the bread would end up burnt or flat and breakfast for the next several days would be tea and bread. We actually liked it when this happened. If the bread came out good, the store keepers came and the piles of bread usually vanished with them in no time.

I never turned my back on baking, be it bread, meat roll, (not meat pie), puddings and all the other products my mother used to make and sell or make for people at their weddings like chin-chin shaped like braided ribbons. I bake for the fun of it and when I baked with my children I would hear that hmm, hmm, hmm when the aroma of bread filled the house just like we used to say in the good old days and I concluded that there must be something in the yeast that produced that unique aroma.

During the war, my mother had no yeast to bake bread with, so she started using palm wine, fresh palm wine from the palm tree tapped right there in our compound. I was amazed that it worked and smelled even better. Years later I learned that palm wine is loaded with yeast and other good vitamins.

Every once in a while I bake up loaves of home- made bread and store them in air -tight canisters for freshness. I bake to any consistency I want, fluffy, hard and chewy, always better than the assembly line bread in the stores.


The other day, while buying yeast, I noticed a recipe on a yeast packet tittled
"FARMER'S BREAD". That caught my attention and I read the recipe quickly and I wondered how this bread would come out, with no sugar, no butter, no egg, no fancy fruit or anything, but plain warm water, salt and flour. Also the process did not involve prolonged kneading, waiting for the dough to rise, punching it down and kneading, and letting it rise again.
I decided to try it and while at it, I modified it and split the flour portion between regular baking flour and soy flour. To my greatest amazement, the finished product was spectacular, very good texture, chewy and delicious. Being a sweet tooth, I had to put jam on it to give it the sweet taste. The bread was so good that I decided to share the recipe with folk. Those gourmet loaves in the grocer's bakery that cost an arm and one leg cannot stand up to this bread.

Second of all, Soy has been proved to be very good for the health. The health benefits of soy are numerous, prostate health, estrogen replacement,excellent source of protein, to mention a few.

Another natural spice which is very good for your health is the Cinnamon. Cinnamon has been cited to be a very good anti infective ( antibiotic & anti fungal). It has also been reported to lower blood sugar in diabetics and helps regulate blood sugar. It lowers Cholesterol. Cinnamon has a lot of good things going for it. It can be added to food, or used as a tea. Many baked goods have cinnamon added to it for flavor.

I would have added it to my bread but Cinnamon does not like me. I happen to have an allergy to cinnamon.

I will add Cinnamon to the modified recipe of the FARMER'S BREAD

1(1/4) CUPS Warm Water ( 80 F)
1(1/2) Teaspoonfuls Salt
3 Cups (450g) Bread Flour
1 Envelope Yeast
1 teaspoonful ground Cinnamon

Combine ingredients to make dough. Allow to stand for 15 minutes. Form into loaf and place in prepared pan ( lightly greased pan). Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume. Bake in 400 F oven until golden brown.


The amounts can be doubled and 3 cups of Soy flour added and a teaspoonful of ground Cinnamon for flavor and health benefits. Brush the baked loaves lightly with butter or margarine to prevent dryness.The modified recipe will then be

2(1/2) Cups Warm water (80 F)
3 teaspoonfuls Salt ( may use less salt)
3 Cups (450g) Bread flour
3 cups (450g) Soy Flour
2 envelopes Yeast
1 teaspoonful ground Cinnamon. This will make about two 20 ounce loaves.

Bon Apetit !!!!

& remain Blessed