I'm not even kidding when I say that this is THE easiest bread you will ever make. You can't mess it up, promise. And it's also amazingly delicious. Super crispy crunchy on the outside, perfectly soft and moist on the inside. A dream come true, really. Here's how:
First - grab a bowl and the recipe (printable recipe is at the bottom of this post). Dump in your flour - I love King Arthur Bread Flour. Try to use unbleached if you can, but any flour will do!
Pour in your salt... I'm totally out so I had to shake my salt shaker for an annoyingly long amount of time to gather approx. 3/4 teaspoon... Whoops!
Then pour in your yeast. This is my favorite brand. Just make sure it's Instant!
We're looking good here. Give all the dry ingredients a quick mix-a-roo.
Now for the water. The temperature doesn't matter. Just throw it in there. I told you this was easy!!
Now mix until it looks "shaggy" (this word was in the actual recipe - I thought it was strange until I made it the first time because does this dough not look shaggy to you? Thought so.)
Grab some plastic wrap and cover it up!
Every time I put plastic wrap over a bowl I spend way longer than I should making sure it's juuuuuuuuuuuuust right. No bumps, no wrinkles... I know, I have a problem. But really though, you almost didn't know this bowl was covered in plastic wrap, did you? I'm THAT good.
Leave the bowl sitting for 12-18 hours. So for me, the perfect time to whip up the dough is right before I go to bed. Then it sits over night and though the day and is ready for dinner the next day!
Good morning! Shaggy dough, no more.
Do keep in mind that I doubled my recipe, so yours won't rise quite as much.
I'd like to introduce you to my bestest friend. Dutch. Oven that is. I love her.
Totally not mandatory, put I put a light spray of oil on the bottom. I'm obsessed with avocado oil right now.
Turn the oven to 450 and throw the dutch oven in, lid and all. I actually took a picture of the dutch oven inside my oven, but was so embarrassed by how gross the inside of my oven looked that I decided it would be best for everyone to just leave it up to your imagination and call it good. Scary stuff guys.
Now, while that's warming up (leave it in for 30 minutes), throw some flour on your counter...
And dump out the dough, shaping it into a ball. (Don't mind that I had two - I doubled the recipe this time, remember?).
This is a good time to keep an eye on the dough because apparently toddlers think it's fun to punch it and then it doesn't look quite as pretty or round...
Put your plastic wrap over the top of the dough and let is rest while your dutch oven heats up.
The plastic makes the dough even more appealing to dough-punching toddlers. You've been warned.
Once your dutch oven has heated up for 30 minutes, pull it out and take the lid off. I don't know if you can see it, but it was steaming like crazy. The kids thought it was awesome.
Just throw the ball of dough into the hot dutch oven - you should hear a sizzle which also sounds awesome.
Plop the hot lid back on and put it back in the 450 oven for about 30 minutes or until golden brown...
And boom! You successfully made the yummiest, prettiest and secretly easiest bread ever. Give yourself a pat on the back.
And a generous slice (or three) of this beauty... and enjoy every bite because you deserve it. Making bread is hard work.
I found this recipe on Pinterest of course (check out my Pinterest Page for tons more amazing recipes HERE) and HERE is the original recipe, which includes a video that might be helpful. Hope you love it! <3