Easy Artisan Bread

Fool proof, delicious, & easy artisan bread loaf recipe that will make you look like a master bread baker.

Ingredients
450 grams (3 cups) bread flour
1 tablespoon white granulated sugar
2 teaspoons instant dried yeast
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 ½ cups warm water

Tools
Dutch oven with lid (or fashion a lid with tin foil)
Parchment paper

Timing
Prep time: 10 minutes
Total rising time: 3-4 hours
Baking time: 45 minutes
Cooling time: 30 minutes

Directions
1. In a mixing bowl, combine bread flour (450 g), sugar ( 1 tbs), yeast (2 tsp), and salt (2 tsp). Mix dry ingredients and then add olive oil (2 tbs) and warm water (1 ½ cups) to the mixture. Mix dough by hand until just combined. Dough should be sticky and moist.

Cover dough and leave to rise for 2-3 hours (usually ends up being 3 hours for me) until dough has roughly doubled in size and small bubbles are visible.

2. Once risen, pour dough onto a floured surface and gently knead a few times until dough isn’t as sticky and a smooth dough ball forms. Add more flour as needed.

3. Carefully transfer the dough to parchment paper (important) and let rise for 30 more minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 450°F with your dutch oven inside and let pre-heat for the 30 minutes your dough is rising.

4. After 30 minutes, score the dough and sprinkle some flour on top. Remove dutch oven from the oven and transfer dough into the hot dutch oven using the parchment paper. The parchment paper can remain inside the dutch oven while you bake the bread. Put the lid on the dutch oven and return to the hot oven.

Bake the dough for 30 minutes with the dutch oven lid on.
Then, finish baking the bread for 12-15 minutes with the lid off.

5. Remove your bread from the oven and dutch oven and allow to cool for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Tips
– I’ve found this bread will last about 3-4 days on the counter. If you don’t plan on eating all of it, I’d slice the bread and freeze half to eat another time. The slices reheat well in a toaster or toaster oven. Though, if you put this bread our at a party, it likely won’t last!

– If your dough isn’t rising or you need to speed up the process, try to move it to a warm place. You can also turn on the oven and leave the dough to rise next to it. Or place bowl of dough within a larger bowl or container filled with warm water. The warmth should help speed up the rising process.

-It’s important to use bread flour to get the right texture and consistency but all purpose flour can be used in a pinch.

– The dutch oven will be VERY hot so handle with care and use your thickest oven mitts.

Recipe shorthand
Combine bread flour, yeast, salt, sugar, warm water, & olive oil. Mix well and let rise for up to 3 hours. Knead 2-3 times until dough ball takes rough form. Let rise for additional 30 minutes while your dutch oven is preheating in the 450°F oven. Score dough and sprinkle flour.

Bake at 450°F for 30 minutes with the dutch oven lid on and an additional 12 minutes with the lid off for a combined 42 minutes of baking time.