There’s a particular morning every year when the air changes. You step outside, and it just smells different, a little sharper, a little smokier around the edges, and you know summer has quietly packed up and left. For me, that’s the best morning of the year. It means it’s finally time to dig out the sweaters, the ones that have spent months folded in the back of a drawer, and let them come back into rotation.
Fall is my favourite season, and if I’m being honest, a good chunk of that is the sweaters. There’s something about pulling on something soft and a little oversized, wrapping your hands around a warm mug, and feeling like the whole pace of life just slows down a notch. Everything about the season invites you to get a little cozier, a little more patient, and nothing captures that mood in the kitchen quite like baking bread.
This fig and black pepper loaf is exactly that kind of fall baking project. It’s not fussy, but it does ask you to slow down: an hour for the dough to rise, a slower knead to work the figs in, a low, steady bake that fills the house with the smell of warm bread and toasted spice. The figs bring a deep, jammy sweetness, and the black pepper cuts right through it with just enough bite to keep every slice interesting. Sweet, warm, a little sharp, it’s basically the flavour version of a chunky knit sweater.
Why Figs and Pepper Work So Well Together
Figs alone can be almost too sweet, especially if you’re using dried ones that concentrate all that sugar. Black pepper fixes that instantly. A generous two teaspoons, coarsely cracked, gives the bread a warm, earthy heat that plays off the figs instead of fighting them. It’s the kind of pairing that seems unlikely until you taste it, and then it seems obvious — sweet and spice were always going to work together, the same way cinnamon and nutmeg do in everything else we bake this time of year.
Whether you use fresh figs or dried ones, both work here; just be ready for a slightly different experience. Fresh figs are juicy and will make the fig-incorporating step a little messy, but they bake down into soft, jammy pockets throughout the loaf. Dried figs are tidier to work with and give you a denser, chewier bite of fig in every slice. There’s no wrong choice, just use whichever you have on hand.
Fig & Black Pepper Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 2 1/2 cups white flour plus more for handling
- 1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped figs fresh or dried whichever you have on hand.
- 2 tsp coarse black pepper
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil plus more for oiling a bowl
- 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast (1package)
- 1 1/2 cup warm water
Instructions
- Whisk the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, salt, pepper, and yeast in a bowl fitted into your stand mixer, fitted with the dough hook.
- Combine olive oil and warm water in a pitcher, then pour into the flour mixture. Turn on the mixer and let the dough hook knead for 5 minutes until the dough has formed a tight ball around the hook.
- While the dough is kneading, pour about 1 tbsp olive oil into a large bowl and lightly spread it around the interior with a paper towel. You'll want the entire bowl oiled.
- Lightly wet a kitchen hand towel, wringing out all excess water until the towel is damp.
- When the five minutes is up, turn off the mixer and remove the dough from the hook. The dough will be smooth, not sticky, and slightly warm to the touch.
- Place the dough into the oiled bowl, then cover with the damp towel. Place the bowl in a warm place and let rise for about an hour until the dough is doubled in size.
- While you're waiting for the dough to rise, chop your figs and set them aside.
- Place about 1/4 cup of all-purpose flour in a small bowl and set aside.
- Once the hour has passed, remove the dough from the bowl and place it in your workspace. Lightly flour your hands with the flour you set aside (while keeping some in reserve), then gently knead the chopped figs into the dough. Be sure to incorporate the figs evenly throughout the dough to make sure they don't all end up on the crust. If you are using fresh figs this is a messy process, fresh figs are juicy. Re-flour your hands as necessary.
- Once figs are incorporated, place dough on an ungreased baking sheet and shape it into an oval. Using a sharp knife, slice three shallow lines along the top of the dough, then sprinkle all over with flour.
- Let the dough rise, uncovered, on the baking sheet for another 10-15 minutes until it's swelled up a little more. It might take a bit longer if your kitchen isn't warm.
- Preheat your oven to 350° F.
- Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake the dough for 40-45 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and crispy. The figs will be slightly browned but should not start to burn.
- Remove from the oven and let the loaf cool on a baking sheet for 30 minutes, then remove the loaf to finish cooling on a wire rack.
How to Enjoy It
This bread is best warm, torn rather than sliced if you can manage the patience, with a smear of good butter that melts almost instantly into the crumb. It also holds its own next to a soft cheese, or alongside a bowl of soup on one of those first properly chilly evenings. However you serve it, save a slice for yourself with your afternoon coffee, sweater on, window cracked just enough to let in some of that fall air.