Artisan Bread

Ok, so I am seriously bread challenged. Or at least I used to be. Now I'm just moderately challenged when it comes to baking bread. I do not have a natural knack for kneading dough, I just never seem to know how long to knead, what it should really feel like, etc. Challenged. Not rocket science I know, but there you have it. So when my friend said she had a super easy, fool proof (aka, jo-proof) recipe for artisan bread I scoffed. Took me a while to even attempt it but I finally did, and holy moly this recipe made me look like a bread making rock star. It is AMAZING-ly easy and crusty bread delicious.

So here ya go friends. Enjoy! Oh, and don't let the need for a pizza stone and pizza peel scare you off. If you don't have them, it may not be quite as crusty, no biggie. But if you can afford them, they are WELL worth it.

1 1/2 T. Yeast
1 1/2 T. Salt
3 C. Warm water
6 1/2 C. Bread flour

Add all ingredients into a large bowl in the order listed. Mix well until dough comes together.

DO NOT KNEAD! (Yippeee!)

Cover dough in bowl with plastic wrap and allow dough to rise for 2 hours or until dough falls.

Cut dough into desired size (I quarter the dough) with a serrated knife. At this point the dough can be refrigerated and used anytime within two weeks.

Sprinkle with flour and shape into loaf by tucking the ends under. I like long skinny loaves for baguettes. Dust pizza peel with corn meal and allow loaf (loaves) to rest for 40 minutes.


Preheat oven to 450 with pizza stone on middle rack and an empty broiler pan on the bottom rack.

Right before baking, dust with flour and slash top of loaf 3-4 times with knife.

Slide dough from pizza peel with a quick jerking motion onto pizza stone in oven. Quickly pour one cup of water into broiler pan and immediately close oven to capture the steam. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

I'm told you can add sesame seeds or seasoning, but I love it all by itself. Makes fantastic toast for bruschetta. That is tomorrows recipe!