This recipe produces a loaf of bread with a crisp crust and tender inside. It’s perfect for dipping in soups and stews or slathering with butter.
What Makes This Artisan Bread So Easy
While a bread recipe doesn’t have specific requirements to be called ‘artisan bread’ they generally tend to have few ingredients and be handmade.
4 ingredients. This means little prep and little measuring. No kneading so most of the time is hands-off. Can be doubled and rest in the fridge up to a week to bake fresh another day. Makes a single loaf, perfect for one meal. No special tools or pan are needed.
Ingredients for Homemade Bread
Flour – I use all-purpose flour in this loaf to keep things simple since I always have it on hand already.
Yeast – This recipe uses active dry yeast which is mixed into the flour. Active Dry Yeast can be substituted for instant yeast (or rapid rise yeast). It will likely have a bit of a faster rise time so keep an eye on it.
Water – Warm water helps activate the yeast. Since the yeast is mixed into the flour, the water is a bit warmer (about 125°F) than it would be if you were blooming the yeast.
Salt – This recipe uses table salt, don’t skip or decrease the salt as it flavors the bread.
Cornmeal – Cornmeal is optional but adds a nice texture to the bottom of the loaf and helps keep it from sticking. You can put the parchment paper directly in the pan and skip the cornmeal.
How to Make Bread
Tips for a Great Loaf
Shredded cheese or herbs can be added to the dry ingredients in this bread. This bread can rise for as little as 30 minutes during the second rise and will bake beautifully. It can also rise up to 90 minutes if time allows (I’ve labelled to two sliced loaves with rise time in this post). The longer rise time will produce a more flavorful bread with a slightly chewier texture. Handle the dough carefully after it has risen, you want to keep all of the air pockets in the dough intact. This easy bread recipe can be doubled and half of the dough can be stored in the fridge for up to 1 week after the first rise. If the dough is chilled, it will need at least 60 minutes for the second rise. The dough will be very sticky so be sure to flour the outside of the dough before handling it. Adding water to a pan below the bread adds steam to the oven, making a better crust.
Recipe Adapted BHG, 17th Edition New Cookbook. “Everyday Artisan Bread”. Recipe. Des Moines, IA, 2018. 490. Print. © SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
