The sparse and lonely crumbs left on the cutting board would have to agree with my husband who says, “this is the best bread you’ve ever made”. I agree with him too. They devoured it. It took me twenty-four hours of waiting and it was gone within an hour once it was ready. I can’t blame them though. This is the best homemade bread I’ve ever made. I knew it was special when I could hear it cooling on the rack, crackling away.
I started making bread about three years ago, just on a whim. I thought I’d give it a try after reading a “no-knead” bread recipe. It sounded appealing, since the only real “work” is waiting to eat delicious bread. Granted, I don’t enjoy waiting for bread, but this bread is definitely worth the wait.
I’ve tried several different recipes, all of which were very similar. For whatever reason, this one is flat out amazing and miles above the rest. I’m making it again now (as it sits on the counter for tomorrow).
They can’t get their fill fast enough!
INGREDIENTS
- 3 cups/375 g all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
- 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
- 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
- Cornmeal, wheat bran or extra flour, as needed
DIRECTIONS
- Whisk together flour, salt and yeast in a bowl. Stir in 1 1/2 cups/375 ml water. After stirring it should be wet, shaggy and sticky. Cover the bowl with a clean, dry kitchen towel or a loose fitting lid (that allows for air to flow). Set it aside to rest on the kitchen counter top for 24 hours, no less than 12 hours. It’s ready for the next step when the surface is dotted with bubbles. Flour a work surface and dump the dough out onto it. Sprinkle over a little more flour and fold it once or twice. Cover again with the towel and let rest 15 minutes.
- Using only enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to your fingers, shape the dough into a ball. Coat a cotton towel with cornmeal, wheat bran or flour and lay the dough on it, seam-side down. Dust with more cornmeal, wheat bran or flour. (You need quite a lot because you want to be sure the dough doesn’t stick to the towel). Cover and let rise for about 2 hours. When ready, the dough will be more than double in size.
- A half an hour before the dough is ready, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F/230 degrees C. Put a 2-liter cast-iron pot or Dutch oven inside to heat.
- When the dough is ready, remove the pot from the oven and turn the dough into it, seam-side up. (It will look messy, but this is OK.) Shake the pot to settle the bread evenly. Cover with the lid and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake until the loaf is nicely browned, another 15 to 30 minutes. Cool on a rack.
Source: Laura Calder: French Food at Home. Episode, “The Bread Show”
Hi, I have one rising on my counter top now waiting to be baked in two hrs time. But I have a problem. The dough is too sticky for me to handle. I couldn’t really fold it with hands, albeit shaping it into a ball. I used a large scrap to “fold” instead. However the dough keeps ” spreading”. I couldn’t really shape it into a ball. What is wrong with my dough? Thanks.
If the dough is sticking to your hands while attempting to shape it, you need to add a bit of flour.
Just checking…..2 liter Dutch oven? Not sure I want to spend over $100 for a small Dutch oven.
I’ve made this bread in a lot of different cooking vessels and they’ve all been satisfactory, including a 4 quart steel pot with a tight fitting lid. As long as the dough fits into the vessel and isn’t much larger than 4 or 5 quarts (I haven’t tried it with anything larger than that, so I’m not sure of the results) and leaves enough room for it to rise while baking, whatever you have is fine. I wouldn’t go and buy any special equipment if you have a different size already.
I’ve made this several times since I saw this. I only have one question. When I dump the dough into my preheated cast iron dutch oven it seems to deflate a bit. Do you think it would still work if I just let the dough rise in the dutch oven then bake it in a pre heated oven? I know I’d have to skip the “pre heating” of the dutch oven part.
The bread is delish! And I will continue to make it. Just wonder if I could get a better rise.
I saw your comment and tried the recipe without preheating so I could report back with some personal experience. The results weren’t drastic and I can’t discern which was better, as far as rise, honestly, though that could have just been the dutch oven that I used (plus the humidity level in the kitchen that day).
I personally prefer the preheated method because it gives (in my opinion) the best crust. But as far as rise, I didn’t really have a preference.
However, surely all kitchens, cooks and dutch ovens are different on various days. If you want to try it, it certainly wasn’t a total loss (came out just fine!). The bread came out tasting delicious as always, preheated or not.
Looks amazing! do you think this would work with sprouted wheat flour? any tips on how to adjust recipe for a sprouted whole wheat flour?
thanks!
carmelisa
I suppose it would just be a matter of replacing the flour completely and seeing if that works out or not. They say it’s a 1 to 1 swap, though I know that occasionally some recipes end up quite doughy in the middle. If that happens, maybe smaller loaves might work better. I haven’t made it with Sprouted wheat flour, personally, but I’d be curious to hear how it turns out.
Ok, thank you very much. I’ve never Put one of those in the oven before.
This is going to sound silly, but what exactly is a dutch oven that you can put into the oven? Could you show a pic of exactly what you mean? I definitely want to try this, it looks & sounds fabulous.
It’s a large pot with a lid, noted for the ability to heat evenly and retain heat, which is particularly great for slow cooking. The steam gets trapped inside as the bread bakes, causing unique artisan results.
This the one that I use. http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/le-creuset-signature-round-dutch-oven/.
I love the airy texture of the crumb and I’m so impressed with the ultra-short ingredient list! I love baking bread, but I’ve never achieved results this beautiful… I’m featuring this post in today’s Food Fetish Friday (with a link-back and attribution). I hope you have no objections and I love the inspiration I get from your food…
OMG… you totally convinced me to try this recipe – and I’m not known as a baker too. I can’t wait to try this. I am very picky about bread (even though I don’t bake bread myself) and this bread has nice hole and looks just fantastic. If I can make this bread, just like how you do it… I think I’ll be surprised myself. Thank you for the recipe! I will try my best!
Thanks Nami! I’d love for you to try it. You’ll be hooked, for sure. This recipe is very approachable for a first-timer on the bread front.
This is looking really good, and I am sure it’s amazing. But I think you would love homemade sourdough bread even more if you would try.
I’ve made some sourdough breads. They were pretty good. I have yet to find an amazing recipe that balances quality and ease, though. Thanks for the reminder to remain diligent in my search efforts.
I make the SAME bread! Found it in the NY Times a while back. So far, its the only loaf of bread I’ll make. It just turns out SO darn good! I made it for a true Italian Chef once, and he was absolutely appalled that I made that bread. He said it tasted as good as any bread he would make or find in Italy.
An amazing loaf! I have a similar recipe that includes beer as part of the liquid ingredients, imparting a taste similar to a sourdough. The bread dough is cradled in parchment for the second rise. Then the parchement is used to lift the dough into the hot Dutch oven. I will be trying your recipe soon, as your loaf has exceptional texture. All I need now is a bit of balsamic vinegar and oil oil for dipping!
Oh, gosh, I’m a sucker for homemade bread…and your loaf looks magnificent!
Thanks, Liz!
I absolutely love this recipe. yours looks gorgeous, too. Beautiful photos and excellent recipe.
I made this one last night after waiting the twenty four hours. It came out just perfect! Thanks!
I absolutely love to make homemade bread…it tastes so much better than store bought! Looks great!
Hi Kate,
this is gorgeous! Love it!
What a gorgeous loaf, Kate! Homemade bread wins hands down!
Your bread beats all store bought loafs no doubt! This looks gorgeous!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
this looks awesome! Will have to try this one!