Bread. Homemade bread. These are words than can strike terror into the hearts of the best cook or homesteader. I know because I was one of them. Oh sure, I wanted to make toasty, crusty homemade loaves of goodness but I seemed to be wearing cement shoes when it came to actually doing it! Rising yeast. Punching dough. It sounded so violent.
Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour and water, usually by baking. ~wikipedia
Then, one day as I was surfing Pinterest for an easier way to make cement shoes, I came across a recipe for Easy Dutch Oven Artisan Bread. Huh. Easy? I took a peek. Me being me, I took about another 4.5 hours “peeking” at as many of these recipes as I could find. And reading the comments. All of them agreed: EASY. I dumped the cement shoe search and set my cap to bread making.
- Flour
- Water
- Salt
- Yeast
These are the ingredients that scared me. Funny now. So let me save you from dragging your feet. Stop your search for the perfect cement shoes. Let’s laugh the knowing laugh of bread makers together. Give this SUPER simple artisan bread recipe a try and you’ll be slapping your knee in no time! You’ll also be slapping butter, jam, salami or whatever else you can find onto this amazing bread.
Want even better news? You can add all kinds things to this recipe. I like to chop up garlic really fine (about a half tablespoon) and add about 2 tablespoons of parmesan cheese.. I add it after the dough has risen. You could add cheddar cheese or green onions, heck – I’ve even added blue cheese *dreamy*. So have fun and let me know what you added to your loaf!
The simplest most delicious bread I’ve ever had the pleasure of making. A few simple ingredients produce a crusty loaf of goodness that your friends and family will rave about.
- 3 cups all-purpose flour •bread flour is fine too
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp rapid rise yeast
- 1.5 cups warm water between 100°-108°
- sprinkle of cornmeal
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Mix the ingredients together and cover with a towel, lid or the dreaded plastic wrap (I’m not a fan but won’t hold it against you) and let the dough rest at room temperature for 12-18 hours.
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Now it’s time to form your artisan bread but first put your cast iron pot with lid on it in the oven and preheat it to 450°. Let the pot heat up in the oven for 30 minutes before taking it out. Don’t skip this step!
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While the pot is in the oven, shape the dough on a lightly floured surface just until it forms a sticky ball. Don’t overwork it, this is a simple bread. Let is rest in the bowl it was in or on the counter until the cast iron pot has been in the oven for 30 minutes.
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After the 30 minutes is up grab your potholders, remove the pot from the oven, sprinkle a bit of cornmeal into the bottom of the cast iron pot, place dough in it and put the lid back on.
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Bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake for an additional 15 or so minutes. Really, until it’s your favorite shade of golden brown. Remove bread from the cast iron and try your best to let it cool on a wire rack before digging in!
Have you made bread before? What’s your favorite?
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Mmmmm! Thank you for breaking this down, Niki! Seems….dare I say, simple?? Can’t wait to try it with my Mister! ❤️
Please let us know how it went. And yes…. dare away!