1 February, 2021
Crazy Easy Artisan Bread
This specific recipe calls for a Dutch Oven. If you don’t know it’s a large heavy ceramic pot that absorbs the heat and continues cooking when taken off the heat source. Also makes for even heat distribution on the food.
Ingredients
3 cups flower
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
2 1/4 packages Rapid Rise Yeast
1 1/2 cup warm water
Tips
Any flower will do, I just use normal bleached flower. I understand bread flower can be tasty but I keep the pantry with multipurpose ingredients.
For yeast you can do most anything in the market. This recipe is fast and easy. The rapid rise option only requires one rise of the dough cutting 2 plus hours off your total cook time.
The original recipe I learn from that is linked below that the end called for three of those packets of the rapid rise yeast. The first time I made this recipe I made a mistake. I only used one packet and it was still very tasty. Then I used two and I really like this result. So that’s why I suggest only two of the three packets. I refilled my rapid rise pantry stock today and it was buy one get one free. So instead of only having 2 bread making opportunities I now have three and I love that.
Directions
Add flour, salt, sugar to your mixing bowl. I have a mixing stand with a bread hook which is easy however doing by hand is not difficult. Heat up your water so it is between 100 and 110 degrees Fahrenheit. If it’s too cold it won’t activate the yeast. If it’s too hot it’ll kill the yeast. Mix yeast in water and then add to dry ingredients. You do not have to wait for activation and bumbling with rapid rise yeast.
Mix until all of the dry is incorporated. Mix on lower setting in automatic mixers. The dough will be quite sticky. You do not want to over mix. Easy way to tell I need to stop with a stand mixer and bread hook. The dough sticks together and rolls around roughly as one solid object.
Place into another bowl or leave in what you mixed in. Place plastic wrap loosely over top and also place a dish towel on top of bowl. In a warm place of the room let rise for 2 hours. It will double in size and you will see bubbles in the dough when it is done if all is working right. Plus it will smell so great!
While rising with maybe 20 minutes till next step, preheat your oven to 450 degrees. 10 minutes out place the Dutch oven into the oven empty to heat. This makes for fast and effective baking.
Prepare clean counter space with light powdering of flour. Do it light as the more flower the more it’ll affect your bread end product. Get some flower on your fingers and gently place the dough on to counter. Using a spatula or if you have a bread scraper lift up the sides to make the sides of your ball shape. You are making the sides elastic pull up and smooth on sides but no need for smooth on top as that will be bottom of the bread loaf. It’s really just going around kind of putty scraping the sides up and around. Lay out some parchment paper and with flower covered fingers flip dough over with your hands onto paper. Make light cuts on top of dough to plan the crack that will happen.
Take dutch oven out of oven with potholders and place dough in hot container. Trim paper so it won’t interfere with top fitting on base as you are leveraging the pot to keep the moisture in so it has crispy crust. Put top on base and place in oven for 30 minutes. Remove top and bake for another 10 minutes so the bread gets crispy. Remove and leave in pot or you can take out on counter after a few but let it rest. You have to let the bread rest at least 10 to 15 minutes so the inside is cooked all the way through. Otherwise it will be doughy. Enjoy as it’s so very tasty.
Other tips
You can prepare the dough, let it rise and then wrap it in plastic and put into the fridge for 8 to 12 hours. That apparently makes for a much tastier end product.