Well, duh, you make the dough into a loaf shape and put it in the pan, right? Yes, yes you do.

You are absolutely right.

Unless . . .

. . . you are kinda weird and like to do perfectly simple things the long and complicated way just because you know how.

Like me.

Step 1: Punch down the dough after rising and pat it out on a floured board until it is a rectangular shape, about 6″ x 9″.

Step 2: Fold the edge away from you to the center of the rectangle.

Step 3: Fold the edge closest to you to the center of the rectangle, overlapping slightly. Press gently to seal.

Step 4: Grasp each end of the dough and lift. Stretch the dough out until it is approximately twice the length of the loaf pan you are using, whapping the dough on the board a bit to encourage it to stretch. (This is the best part, the whapping. Whap, whap, whap.) I had to put one side down to snap the picture, but you hold it in both hands to whap.

Step 5: Fold one side over to the center.

Step 6: Fold the other side to the center, overlapping about an inch. Press gently to seal.

Step 7: With the edge of one hand, make a crease lengthwise across the center of the dough.

Step 8: Fold the edge closest to you to the center of the dough.

Step 9: Fold the edge away from you to the center of the dough, overlapping, pulling and stretching the dough a bit as necessary and press to seal.

Step 10: Pat and form the dough into a nice loaf shape, gently rolling it into a loaf pan-sized cylinder. Put it in the oiled loaf pan, turning once to coat. Let rise again and bake as usual.

All done. Now wasn’t that unnecessarily complex and labor-intensive?

I just love it.

TL

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