Rustic Artisan Bread
With a thick & chewy crust and soft interior, this Artisan Bread is perfect any time you're craving bread!
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Servings: 8 slices
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups lukewarm water
- 2 teaspoons active dried yeast
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
Instructions
Make the bread dough & first rise:
- Begin by adding your lukewarm water and yeast to a large mixing bowl. Let it sit for 3-5 minutes to make sure the yeast is activated. You will be able to tell if it's bubbling and turns frothy. If using instant yeast, you can skip this step and add the yeast directly to the mix with the flour and salt.
- Next, add the olive oil to the mixing bowl and stir to mix.
- Then, add the all-purpose flour and salt and mix until no streaks of flour remain. I prefer using a spatula for this step as it helps to mix this high-hydration & sticky dough, but a wooden spoon also works.
- Once the dough is mixed, form it into a rough ball.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise at room temperature for 2-3 hours or in the fridge for up to 24 hours. (If rising in the fridge, make sure to let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes before shaping.)
Preheat oven & shape the bread:
- Preheat the oven to 450F. Lightly grease a Dutch oven and add it to the oven while it preheats (about 30 minutes).
- While the oven is preheating, shape the dough.
- Use a bench scraper or spatula to scrape the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Then, fold the dough over onto itself a few times to shape into a rough ball. If the dough is too sticky to handle, sprinkle a light amount of flour over your hands as well to handle the dough.
- Remove the hot Dutch oven from the oven and place the dough inside (either as is if your Dutch oven is enameled or on a layer of parchment paper).
Bake the bread:
- Place the lid on the Dutch Oven filled with bread and add it to the oven to bake for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, remove the lid from the Dutch oven and continue baking for another 10-15 minutes until the bread is browned and cooked through.
- Remove the bread from the oven and let it sit in the Dutch oven for about 5 minutes. Then, move it to a wire rack to continue cooling.
- Once the bread has completely cooled, slice and serve to enjoy!
Notes
- Please see the blog post for recipe tips & substitution ideas.
- You can store leftover bread in a loose brown bag for about 4 days at room temperature or in the fridge for up to 5-6 days (though the fridge will dry the bread out over time).
- You can also freeze the bread and store it in the freezer for up to 2 months. If doing this, I recommend slicing it ahead of time and storing it in a freezer-safe bag so it's already pre-sliced!
Nutrition
Serving: 1large slice of bread | Calories: 203kcal | Carbohydrates: 39g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 0.3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 440mg | Potassium: 62mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 0.1g | Vitamin C: 0.003mg | Calcium: 9mg | Iron: 2mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @shortgirltallorder or tag #sgtoeats!