This is the EASIEST Artisan Bread. It actually is so easy and tastes so delicious that I haven’t even bothered to try another recipe or switch things up at all. It tastes delicious warm with some olive oil and balsamic vinegar to dip in. I like to “soften” the crust a little bit (see below) and make a fancy sandwich. It’s also yummy to make seasoned croutons with it after a couple days (if it even lasts that long).
All you need is a medium mixing bowl (I use this glass one from Pampered Chef with a silicone lid), a mix n scrape spatula from Pampered Chef, some bread flour, active dry yeast, salt, and cool water. Seriously. That’s it. I’ve tried making this in the kitchen aid and kneading it in there… it works, but apparently there is such thing as “over-kneading” your dough, so I didn’t love it and I like less dishes! So I literally just put in dry ingredients, mix a little, add the water, mix and “knead” (not really, just kind of push down as I mix with my mix n scrape) in the glass bowl. Then I put the silicone lid on top and let it rise 2-3 hours on the counter, and I either bake it right away or put it in the fridge to bake up to 3 days later. Easy peasy! Try it out, it make even be good with gluten free flour or whole wheat flour 🤷♀️. I just haven’t tried that yet! Leave a comment on how it turns out for you! 😊
Recipe:
3 1/4 cups Bread Flour
2 teaspoons Salt
2 teaspoons Active Dry Yeast
1 1/2 cups cool water
Mix dry ingredients, then add water and mix well. No need to “knead” 😂🙃. Just mix really well, and then cover and let it rise 2-3 hours on the counter (I set mine on my wood-top island because granite can tend to keep dough cool rather than let it warm up and rise, interesting right?). After rising, I either bake it immediately, or I keep it in the fridge until I’m ready to bake it.
To bake, sprinkle bread flour on top of the dough in the glass bowl, then pull it out and form the dough into a loaf without manipulating it too much (just a quick pull-the-edges-under kind of loaf). Place the loaf onto a lightly floured Pampered Chef personal pizza stone (some people use a Dutch oven, but the pizza stone works great for me). Once the dough is formed and resting on the stoneware, preheat the oven to 475 degrees (should take about 45 minutes so the dough can rest 45 minutes). Bake for 25-28 minutes (the recipe I read said 25, but 28 works better for my oven, so this may take some trial and error). Let rest 5 minutes before enjoying.
Now here’s my trick (I’m sure there are plenty who do this as well😂). After you let it rest 5 minutes, either slice and serve immediately, OR I love to wrap my lightly in foil, leaving the ends unrolled… if that makes sense… pics to come 😅… and let it sit for a while. This will soften the crust enough to be able to make yummy sandwiches that don’t break your gums open when you bite down. (Can you tell I’m not a fan of hard crust?😂 If you are, by all means, store your bread differently… this just works for me, which is the point in writing this blog, right? To write down what works for me and my family so that you can take what you like and do your own thing!)
Anyways, enjoy!! This is so simple, and it’s a simple, delicious way to win my husband’s heart a little more when I take the time to make it ❤️
