Hard Dough Bread

Tanya Harris’s Jamaican hard dough bread is a dense loaf with a tight, chewy crumb. Her selected recipe uses bread flour, instant yeast, granulated sugar, salt, warm water and divided unsalted butter, with the remaining butter brushed over the baked crust.

Bread flour, sugar, salt and yeast are combined in a large bowl. A wooden spoon works softened unsalted butter into the flour until it forms small bits. Water is stirred in to make a shaggy dough, then the selected stand mixer and dough hook knead it smooth.

The dough rises in a lightly oiled bowl, turned once to coat its top and covered with the selected kitchen towel. It is gently deflated onto a flour-dusted surface, rolled into a rectangle, then rolled tightly from the long side into a log with the seam and ends pinched closed.

The log is placed seam-side down in a greased loaf pan, covered and rested for its second rise. It bakes to a pale golden colour; a loose foil tent is optional if it browns too quickly. The loaf is removed from the pan to a wire rack and brushed with the remaining unsalted butter while hot.

The bread cools completely before slicing so its dense crumb can set. Tanya also recommends butter as an optional accompaniment to a thick slice; that serving butter is separate from the specified unsalted butter already used in the dough and crust finish.