How To Make The Best Delicious Homemade Bread
This is a delicious and super easy recipe for the best delicious homemade bread that requires no kneading and is baked right in your Dutch oven! With just a few simple ingredients like flour, water, yeast, and salt, you can create a crusty, golden loaf of bread that will surely impress your family and friends. This will be your go-to recipe for Tuscan bread!
Equipment
- 1 Dutch Oven - * If you don't have a Dutch Oven, any oven-proof pot with a lid will work fine.
- 2 Large Bowls - * I find that either glass or metal work the best.
- 1 Bench Scraper
- 1 cup dry measuring cup
- 1 tsp. measuring spoon
- ¼ tsp. measuring spoon
- Parchment paper
- Plastic wrap
- Clean kitchen towel
Ingredients
- 3 cups All-purpose flour (and extra flour while forming dough into ball)
- 1 tsp table salt (not Kosher)
- ¼ tsp rapid rise yeast (also called instant )
- 1 ⅝ cups water
- ¼ cup corn meal (you will spread onto parchment to prevent the dough from sticking )
Instructions
Gather Your Ingredients
- This small step saves a ton of time and allows you to make sure that you have all the necessary ingredients needed to make the recipe.
Mixing
- In a large bowl, add the 3 cups All-purpose flour, 1 tsp table salt (not Kosher) ¼ tsp rapid rise yeast and 1 ⅝ cups water. Stir to combine. * Note: Don't worry if it looks a little shaggy and not well mixed, that's the way it is supposed to be.
- Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and place in a location away from drafts.
Dough Resting Time
- Let dough rest for 18 hours without disturbing it. Overnight is best.
- After 18 hours, it will look very wet and bubbly, and will have a strong yeast smell.
Forming The Dough Ball
- Dust cutting board liberally with flour and turn dough out onto cutting board. It will look very wet and unruly, but I promise this is just the way it is!
- Sprinkle the top of the dough with some flour. Take the bench scraper and sprinkle with flour, and use it to lift dough and fold it a couple times onto itself. Sprinkle dough with a little more flour, and cover loosely with the plastic wrap.
- Let rest 15 minutes
- After 15 minutes, remove the plastic wrap and lightly flour the top of the dough. Give it a pat with your hand to disperse flour, then use the bench scraper and your hands to help shape the dough into a smooth ball.To do this, first flour your scraper and then press it onto the cutting board touching the dough and tuck the scraper under and turn. Repeat the process, helping to shape the dough with scraper and hands until smooth ball forms. You may need to keep adding flour to the scraper to prevent the dough from sticking.
- Once your dough ball is formed, sprinkle ¼ cup corn meal onto a sheet of parchment paper (about 14" long) and place dough on top.
- Grab corners of the parchment together with the dough inside and place in a clean bowl. Cover with kitchen towel and let rest 2 hours.
- Set timer for 90 minutes. When timer sounds, place the covered Dutch oven (or other covered pot) into your oven, and set temperature to 450 °F. Reset timer for 30 minutes.
- When timer sounds, use pot holders (it will be extremely hot) to carefully transfer Dutch oven to a heat proof surface
- Carefully, using the potholder, remove lid and set aside on a heatproof surface. I like to keep a potholder on the handle of the lid to remind myself not to grab it so I don't get burned!!
- Next, grabbing at the corners, transfer dough and parchment to the pot and replace cover. Place into the preheated oven set to 450 °F
- Set timer for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, carefully remove cover with potholder, and continue to bake 15 minutes more. (this will let the top of the bread become golden brown and crusty).
- Finally, after the long wait, carefully remove pot from the oven and set on a heatproof surface. You will hear the bread making amazing crackling sounds, and smell the mouth-watering aroma of the best bread you have ever baked!
- Transfer the loaf to a cooling rack and try to wait at least 30 minutesbefore slicing. To transfer, I use a metal spatula to get under loaf and lift it our. Be careful, it's extremely hot.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- You will want to let the dough rest for 18 hours. If you want the best delicious homemade bread to be ready late morning, start mixing your ingredients late afternoon. See above chart for timing.
- If not eating right away, the crust may get softer - If you want to re-crisp the crust, simply place the loaf on the rack in the oven for 15 min. or so at 350 ℉
- Serve with Extra Virgin Olive Oil seasoned with grated Pecorino Romano or Parmigiana Reggiano cheese, and a mixture of herbs of your choosing. I like to add some garlic salt, a shake of hot pepper flakes, garlic powder, onion powder and Italian seasoning. Experiment with what you like best - the options are limitless! A special thank you goes out to Jim Lahey for the original recipe published many years ago. It has brought much happiness to thousands of people and will continue to for many years to come.
- Use my helpful chart for determining Start & Finish times for your bread.
YOUR OWN NOTES
Nutrition
Serving: 1loafCalories: 1452kcalCarbohydrates: 302gProtein: 42gFat: 5gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 2355mgPotassium: 495mgFiber: 13gSugar: 1gVitamin C: 0.01mgCalcium: 71mgIron: 18mg
Disclosure
The provided nutritional information should only be used as a general guideline rather than an exact representation of the nutritional content of the prepared dish. Individual nutritional needs and dietary preferences may vary, and we encourage our readers to use their discretion and consult with a qualified healthcare professional or nutritionist for personalized dietary advice.
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