FRESH ARTISAN BREAD (NO KNEAD)
If there was only one thing you could eat for the rest of your life… what would it be?
Mine would be bread & butter.
Jump to Recipe
More specifically; this FRESH ARTISAN BREAD with salted butter.
I could eat it every day, every single day of the rest of my life. It is that amazing!
Isn’t most fresh bread, though?!
That’s why homemade bread, not Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Bread or Zucchini Bread, has always had this uneasy feeling of complication to me. Always seeming like it would take me forever, be way too much work, and not be worth the time. Because of that, I RARELY (maybe once: HONEY BEER BREAD, made bread at home).
BUT I WAS OH SO WRONG!
Enter this bread right here that is no knead (hallelujah!) and only 6 ingredients. That’s it. So easy and simple and fast and quick. It requires no rolling pin or dough ball making at all, you just need a bowl, a dutch oven, and some instant yeast.
It strikes through all my previous notions about making a bread in my kitchen, and like I mentioned we’re talking bread bread. Fresh Artisan bread you get baked in a bakery that is luxuriously soft on the inside.
And it blows every pre-made grocery store bread out of the water.
It’s crispy and crunchy on top like a fresh bakery baguette but so soft and light on the inside with lots of airy holes. Absolute perfection. Everyone will just love it, trust me.
I first heard about this bread from my Mother in Law and it kinda feels like I’ll never make another bread recipe again.
Once softened salted butter (Irish butter is THE best) is slathered on top of a sliced piece, this bread is ready for anything. *Make sure the butter is softened, it spreads wonderfully and it gets into all the little nooks & holes in the bread!
And do it while the bread is slightly warm so it melts a little! See melted buttery piece above.
SO. GOOD.
Eat it sliced as is, use it for a fresh sandwich, top it with a poached runny egg & sea salt or make it into the perfect grilled cheese. The slices toast well for a few days after or you can freeze it sliced and defrost then toast it. One loaf is the perfect size for a family meal.
FRESH ARTISAN BREAD
Ingredients
- 3 CUPS ALL PURPOSE FLOUR 455 GRAMS
- 2 1/4 TEASPOONS DRIED INSTANT YEAST ONE PACKET OF YEAST!
- 1.5 TEASPOONS SALT
- 1 TABLESPOON WHITE GRANULATED SUGAR
- 1 TABLESPOON OLIVE OIL
- 1.5 CUPS WARM WATER
Instructions
- ADD INSTANT YEAST, FLOUR, SALT, AND SUGAR TO A LARGE BOWL, MIX UNTIL INCORPORATED
- POUR IN OLIVE OIL AND WARM WATER (MICROWAVE WATER IN A JAR FOR 30 SECONDS), MIXING TOGETHER WITH A WOODEN SPOON. DOUGH WILL LOOK WET AND NOT SMOOTH AT ALL. IT SHOULD BE "SHAGGY AND STICKY".
- SPRAY THE TOP OF THE DOUGH WITH COOKING SPRAY OR DRIZZLE WITH OLIVE OIL AND COVER BOWL / DOUGH WITH PLASTIC WRAP TO RISE. PLACE IN A DARK WARM SPOT FOR 3 HOURS, OVERNIGHT, OR UP TO 18 HOURS UNTIL THE DOUGH HAS DOUBLED IN SIZE. IT SHOULD HAVE SOME HOLES IN IT. IF YOU CAN LEAVE IT OVERNIGHT, DO IT!
- PREHEAT THE OVEN FOR 30 MINUTES BEFORE BAKING YOUR BREAD, PLACE DUTCH OVEN WITH LID INSIDE WHILE PREHEATING TO 450 F DEGREES.
- WHILE OVEN IS PREHEATING, LIGHTLY FLOUR A SURFACE, THE TOP OF THE DOUGH, AND A SPATULA. PULL OUT DOUGH WITH SPATULA ONTO THE SURFACE. PLACE ANOTHER PINCH OF FLOUR ON TOP OF THE DOUGH AND USING THE SPATULA, FOLD EACH EDGE IN TOWARDS THE MIDDLE (ABOUT 5-6 TIMES AROUND THE DOUGH). THIS WILL CREATE A SORT OF ROUND BALL. FLIP BALL CAREFULLY AND WORKING QUICLKY TAKING AS MUCH OF THE DOUGH TOGETHER AND FLIP ONTO A PIECE OF PARCHMENT PAPER. COVER THE DOUGH BALL WITH THE PLASTIC WRAP WHILE THE OVEN CONTINUES TO PREHEAT.
- ONCE PREHEATED, USE OVEN MITTS TO REMOVE THE DUTCH OVEN. QUICKLY LIFT THE PARCHMENT PAPER DOUGH BALL INTO THE DUTCH OVEN.
- USING A SHARP KNIFE, CUT A SMALL "X" RIGHT IN THE CENTER OF THE DOUGH AND DRIZZLE WITH A LITTLE OLIVE OIL.
- BAKE WITH LID ON FOR 30 MINUTES, REMOVE LID AND BAKE FOR 12-15 MINUTES. IF DOUGH IS NOT GOLDEN BROWN BY THIS POINT, ADD ABOUT 5 MINUTES TO BAKE WITHOUT LID ON.
- REMOVE FROM OVEN, AND COOL OUT OF DUTCH OVEN FOR ABOUT 10 MINUTES BEFORE SLICING IT. SLICE THE BREAD IN HALF FIRST. FLIP IT CUT SIDE DOWN ON THE BOARD, THEN SLICE INTO PIECES ACROSS THE LOAF (THIS WILL HELP NOT TO SQUISH THE BREAD!).
- SLATHER WITH SALTED IRISH BUTTER AND BE HAPPY WITH YOUR WARM BUTTERED BREAD :)
Notes
I’ll be making this GREEK YOGURT BANANA BREAD this weekend for Ollie and I to enjoy all next week.
Much love,
P.S OLD PICTURES:
HONEY BUTTER YEAST ROLLS – AMBS LOVES FOOD
[…] professed my love for bread and butter here before and can I just say that I can’t be the only one who feels like […]