A Simple Bread Recipe
Easiest Thing We Ever Did
Bread always sounds like a great idea and yet feel so fussy to me. The waiting, the kneading, the texture being just right… it is enough to keep me from making it on a regular basis. But when I do - when I make a good bread - it is heaven in my hands and in my mouth. You get a good crust, lots of air holes, and that beautiful aroma wafting to your nostrils and it’s a whole other world. How are we NOT making bread every week?
This recipe is as simple as it gets - four ingredients, a day’s worth of rising (start in the morning: fresh bread before dinner), and zero - zero - kneading? Yeah… I think we’re making bread on the reg now. Let’s get to it!
A Simple Bread Recipe
Slightly modified from It's Always Autumn
460 grams (3 cups) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the board You can make this whole wheat, if you’d like: use 1/2 AP flour + 1/2 whole wheat flour - everything else is the same.
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast (yes, that is correct… only 1/2 a teaspoon)
1 1/2 cups hot water (approximately 110℉)
a pinch of sugar
Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl with a wooden spoon until it comes together in a shaggy dough. Keep mixing until it pulls away from the sides and forms a ball. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and set in a warm place for 6-10 hours (whatever works for you).
Once the dough has risen, remove the towel and plastic wrap and turn out on a heavily-floured cutting board. Flour your hands in order to remove the dough (it will be incredibly sticky). Roll/shape just enough to get it in the shape of a ball, adding additional flour as needed to prevent it from sticking to the board. Do not knead the bread - keep it soft. Cover with a dry kitchen towel and set on the kitchen counter for 30 minutes.
While the dough rests, put a dutch oven (lid set aside for now) in the oven on the middle rack and preheat to 450℉.
Once the dough has rested and the oven is preheated, remove the towel from the dough. Carefully place in the preheated dutch oven and cut a giant X in the middle (or whatever design you want) with a very sharp paring knife.
Bake for 30 minutes, uncovered. After that, cover the baking dish and continue to bake for 10-15 more minutes until golden brown. You’ll know the bread is done when you remove it, knock on the bottom, and hear a hollow sound. Allow to cool on a wire rack (not in the dutch oven, as it will continue to cook your bread) until you can handle it and then slice. Who doesn't love warm bread from the oven?
