Ingredients:

• 4 cups unbleached flour (Bread flour, all-purpose or a combination of 3 cups white and 1 of whole-wheat)
• ½ tsp. yeast
• 2 tsp. salt
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• 2 cups (approx. warm water)

Directions:

• Put dry ingredients in large bowl and stir together.
• Add warm water, syrup combination and stir to make a very sticky dough.
• Cover with plastic wrap and a towel and put it in aside for 14-24 hours.
• Uncover and stir the mixture down.
• Replace cover and leave it for another couple of hours.
• After mixture has rested for 1 hour, heat oven to 425 degrees.
• Place pot in oven to heat for about an hour. (I use cast iron, but any good, heavy oven-proof pot with a lid will do.)
• Carefully remove pot from oven . You may brush it with just a bit of oil (peanut or grapeseed oil)
• Scrape the bread mixture into the pot and put the lid on.
• Bake for 30 minutes covered. Remove lid and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes.
• Allow to  cool before slicing.
• This mixture can be baked in a regular oiled bread pan. The loaf pan doesn’t need to be pre-heated.Notes:

  This recipe is very flexible. If I want a very tall loaf,  I sometimes use 1 extra cup of flour and a little more water. The consistency should be gooey, but not runny.
  If you want a more interesting texture, add 1 cup of seven-grain cereal or rolled oats instead of the whole wheat.
  I happen to like bread a little on the sweet side, so adjust the amount of sweetener to suit your own taste.