Fig and Anise Bread (Overnight Method) Recipe

FIG AND ANISE BREAD

Baking yeasted bread is easy, but it can be one of the most intimidating things to tackle if you’ve never done it. My first time, I almost convinced myself I couldn’t do it at all.

I was in culinary school, in my early 50’s, struggling to keep up with all the much younger students in my class. I shoved baggy sleeves of an ill-fitting chef’s jacket up past my elbows, only to have them immediately slump back down over my knuckles, as I re-read for what felt like the 11th time, the damn whole-wheat bread recipe I’d been assigned by Chef.

Meanwhile, in a parallel universe, little blonde and brunette pony-tailed whirlwinds rushed around me to pull out the last of the scales, bowls, and measuring cups,…