Crusty Artisan Bread
The perfect bakery bread can be made at home, no matter your experience level with yeast doughs!
Servings: 2 loaves
Ingredients
- 3 cups warm water
- 2 packages rapid rise yeast
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 6 ½ - 7 cups unbleached organic all-purpose flour or bread flour
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl place 3 cups warm water, sprinkle yeast evenly on the water and mix in with a wooden spoon. Let set a couple minutes to allow yeast to activate.
- Mix in salt and then flour. Mix well just until ingredients are combined.
- Cover with a dish towel or press and seal and let set in a warm spot in your kitchen until doubled in size and bubbly on top and starts to fall (this timing will vary with the temperature of your kitchen) place in the refrigerator for an hour or until you are ready to bake it. (This isn't required, but this makes it less sticky to work with.)
- Preheat oven to 450.
- Place an empty broiler tray (no glass) for holding water on the rack below where your bread will bake.
- Prepare a cookie sheet by brushing with refined coconut oil or spraying. Pull dough from the refrigerator, run your hands under warm water, and put half of the dough into your hands. Shape dough into a circle by gently stretching the dough around to the bottom on all four sides.
- Place on a cookie sheet and repeat with the other half of the dough.
- Sprinkle a teaspoon of flour on the top of each loaf and with a serrated knife make 3 diagonal scores on the top of the bread.
- Let rise for up to 30 min.
- Put your loaves in the oven and then pour 1 cup hot water in broiler tray. Put your loaves in the oven and then close the oven door quickly to trap the steam.
- Bake for about 30-35 min. Or until medium brown on top and hard to the touch. (when this bread comes out it will feel really hard then soften up as it cools)
- After it cools I store in bread bags on my counter.
Notes
- I recently bought a bread knife, it has made life so much easier when cutting this bread. If you don't have one-get one!
- Buy bread bags I use here
- Both loaves do not have to be baked at once and the dough can be stored for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator. This can also be baked in a loaf pan, used for pizza crust, or baked with a variety of add-ins.
- Buy a bread knife here
- You can add a tablespoon of sugar if you like. It is not necessary for quick rise yeast because there are enough simple sugar in flour for the yeast to rise
