By Kelly Bogard
Essential for sandwiches. Crunch for salads. Something to sop up that last bite of stew. Bread is good with any meal. And contrary to popular belief, it is fairly easy to make.
Bread is all about the love you put into it. It is a test in patience and accuracy.
Measurements are exact. Timing is crucial. But the end result? Warm, crusty and satisfying to the soul.
For Artisan Bread, you will need…
3 c. all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. coarse sea salt
1 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. dry active yeast
1 1/2 c. warm water (approx. 110 degrees)
This recipe was shared by our very own Cindy Wennin. She is a graphic designer at Texas Farm Bureau and is all about details. She added her spin on a classic bread recipe and these are the results. She told me sometimes she adds a cup of grated mild cheddar for a little extra flavor.
First pour all the dry ingredients into a large bowl. I find that a glass bowl is best for this part of the process.
Add in the water. Stir until everything is combined. It is important to know the temperature of your water. If it is too hot, it will kill the yeast and it will not rise. I like mine to be at 110 degrees and I use a candy thermometer to test the temp. It is usually about that temperature when it comes out of the hot water faucet.
Once you have the dough good and sticky, cover the bowl with a piece of cling wrap and store in a nice warm place overnight. Cindy suggests simply closing it up in your microwave so the air conditioning doesn’t cool it too much. Let the dough rise for up to 24 hours.
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees, placing your dutch oven in there to get warm while the oven is preheating. While the oven is warming up, pour the dough out onto a floured surface and form into a ball.
Place it in the dutch oven over a piece of parchment that has been laid in the bottom to prevent it from sticking while baking. You can sprinkle a little of the sea salt over the top now for extra flavor before baking.
Cover the pot with a lid and bake the bread for 30 minutes covered. Then remove the lid and bake an additional five minutes to get it nice and golden brown.
This is the perfect bread for sharing with friends or family at a meal. I can’t wait to try it out on my crew. From all of us at Texas Table Top, enjoy!
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Recipe: Artisan Bread
Summary: A perfect complement for every meal
Ingredients
- 3 c. all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp. coarse sea salt
- 1 tbsp. sugar
- 1/2 tsp. dry active yeast
- 1 1/2 c. warm water (approx. 110 degrees)
Instructions
- Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.
- Pour in warm water and mix well to combine.
- Cover with cling wrap and let rise in a warm place for between 10 to 24 hours.
- When you are ready to bake the bread, preheat the oven to 450 degrees with the dutch oven in the oven to warm with it.
- Pour the dough onto a flour surface and form into a ball.
- Place the dough over the parchment-lined dutch oven and cover with lid.
- Bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove the lid and bake for an additional 5 minutes to make it golden brown.
- Serve warm.
Prep time (duration): 24 hour(s), 0 minutes
Baking time (duration): 0 hour(s), 40 minutes
Number of servings (yield): 1 loaf
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After letting the dough rise for 24 hours, it definitely “poured” out onto the floured board. However, it was so loose that it was impossible to form into a ball, as if there was way too much water in the dough. Is 1 and 1/2 cups water the correct measurement?
Hi Vicki! I am sorry the dough turned out so loose for you. I double checked my recipe and 1 and 1/2 Cups warm water is the correct measurement. The dough should have been sticky but once rolled on the flour surface soft and easy to shape. There are a few things that may have caused your dough to be to wet…
1)Humidity can cause rising breads to be too soft. I try not to bake them on days that I know it is going extremely humid or raining.
2)The water has to be at just the right temperature. Too hot and it will kill the yeast. Too cold and it will not activate it.
3)I always buy new yeast when baking bread because sometimes old yeast doesn’t activate even with the right temperature water.
I hope you will try this recipe again as it is truly wonderful just very picky.
I will definitely give it another shot! After reading all the variables, I believe the humidity may have been my problem. Thanks for the great tips!
OK so I gave it another shot and the bread came out perfectly this time! The outside was crusty and the inside soft and chewy. Perfect. So my problem the first time was either the humidity, or I failed the “accuracy” requirement when measuring my ingredients and (somehow) used too much water. (BTW-The measuring cup I used the first time I made this recipe was fired! Ha!) I’ll make this bread often – it was so quick to put together in the morning and bake for supper the same evening. Thanks again.
Wonderful! So glad it turned out for you this time. Bread can be finicky but once you learn it’s tricks it is quite easy.