Easy Artisan Bread Recipe
Make the easiest artisan bread with an amazing crust in an enamel Dutch oven - you'll never go back to store-bought!
Servings: 2 loaves
Calories: 76kcal
Equipment
- stand mixer optional
- Dutch oven
Ingredients
- 3 cups warm water
- 1 tablespoon yeast, both instant or active dry work
- 2½ teaspoon salt
- 3½ cups whole wheat flour* whole wheat white flour works great, too
- 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour*
Instructions
- Put the yeast and salt in a bowl and add the water.
- Add all the flour and mix until combined. Then mix at a higher speed 30 seconds to 1 minute as a quick knead (or by hand a minute, or you can choose to do a series of stretches and folds while it's rising).
- Put in a LARGE bowl and cover with plastic or other non-porous cover (not airtight). Let set at room temperature for about 1½ hours - it should double or more.
- Put in the refrigerator for up to a week or week-and-a-half, OR bake right away - cut off what you need, shape, and let sit while the Dutch oven heats.
- When ready to bake, place an enameled dutch oven, with lid, in a 450 degree oven.
- Dust the dough with flour, grab half the dough and cut it off with a serrated knife. Using well-floured hands, shape gently into a ball and place on a piece of parchment paper resting on a cookie sheet or in a small round skillet to help shape. Dust the top with more flour.
- Let sit on the counter 30 minutes if baking the day of making, 1 hour if the dough was refrigerated. Then slash the top of the loaf with a serrated knife.
- Transfer the loaf to the hot dutch oven using the edges of the parchment, replace the lid, and cook for 15 to 17 minutes.
- Remove lid and continue to cook for another 15 to 17 minutes, or until loaf is a golden brown.
- Remove to a cooling rack for 30 to 60 minutes before cutting.
Notes
*Play around with the WW flour ratio to find what you like - if you want to use less whole wheat flour because the texture was affected too much, try just 2 cups of whole wheat to 4 1/2 cups of unbleached flour. More whole wheat = more dense interior crumb.
Storage:
- Room Temperature: The bread, sliced or whole, will store 2-3 days at room temperature without drying too much. I've been loving beeswax-lined linen bread bags which seems to keep it better than a plain linen bag (bonus: you can freeze the bread in the beeswax-lined bags, too!).
- Refrigerate: This isn't the most recommended method for storing bread as it tends to make it go stale faster, but in a household that doesn't eat bread as much, we often store a few slices in the fridge for a day or two in silicone bags.
- Freeze: This bread freezes so well! To make it easiest to use, slice the bread first and freeze in silicone baggies in the amounts you'll need. You can also freeze the loaves whole.
- Cranberry Walnut: 1/2 cup dried cranberries and 1/2 cup chopped walnuts.
- Garlic Herb: 2-3 tablespoons minced garlic and 1/4 cup chopped fresh herbs or 2 tablespoons dried herbs. Optional: add 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese.
- Cheesy Jalapeño: 1/2 cup shredded cheese (cheddar, jack, Mexican blend) and 1 diced jalapeño (or chop up 1/4 cup of pickled jalapeños or candied jalapeños).
- Seeded: 1/4 cup sunflower seeds, 1/4 cup sesame seeds, and 1/4 cup flax seeds (or seeds of your choice).
- Bagel: Shape the loaf using Everything But The Bagel Seasoning in step 6 instead of flour, pressing to help the seasoning adhere.
Nutrition
Serving: 1slice | Calories: 76kcal | Carbohydrates: 16.1g | Protein: 2.8g | Fat: 0.4g | Sodium: 245mg | Fiber: 1g
