A bread that takes 10 minutes of effort but 24 hours to make. Confused? Don't be! It's all in the fermentation. This bread is so easy to make that it may change your life! A divine way to introduce yourself to bread making. Versatile and can be boosted with spices.
This bread goes well as toast with butter or as part of a sandwich (plain, grilled, or fried). Also makes excellent It has an English muffin-like flavor and texture. It has a lot of holes but it is a good and strong bread.
Here is the recipe and below are pictures of the process of making it. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour or bread flour (450 g) (I like 300 white, 150 whole wheat)
1 ½ cups warm water (330 g)
¼ tsp. active dry yeast
1 ½ tsp table salt (8 g)
Optional: cornmeal
Optional: seasonings and herbs to taste
Directions:
Note: I like 2 cups (300 g) white flour to 1 cup (150 g) whole wheat. If using whole wheat, use 1/2 tsp. yeast.
Mix dry ingredients and seasonings (optional) until combined. Add warm water and mix until flour mixture is absorbed by water. Dough will be wet and sticky. Cover with plastic wrap and store in a warm place for 12-24 hours. It will double or triple in size and be bubbly (picture below).
Two hours before you're ready to bake, gently use a spatula to pour dough out of bowl onto a floured surface.
Fold the dough gently into thirds (like a letter) and then gently fold in half into a ball. Shape into a ball with a tight surface area on top (a tight ball), using as little flour as possible.
Place dough on top of cornmeal/flour covered parchment paper and cover with a clean, floured kitchen towel for 2 hours in a warm place. Once risen, slice if desired.
Preheat your oven and empty Dutch oven/oven-safe pot to 450°F or 230°C. The oven should heat for at least 1 hour before baking. Then grab the sides of the parchment paper and transfer the dough into the Dutch oven, cover and bake for 30 minutes with the lid on. Remove lid and bake an additional 5-15 minutes, or until well browned.
Immediately remove bread from the hot Dutch oven and let cool on a wire-rack for at least an hour before cutting.
Note:
Different flours absorb water differently. And although this dough is a wet dough, if your dough is unreasonably wet, add more flour. If there are lots of dried flour pockets, add a little more water. May need to add up to 2 Tbsp. more water if using bread flour or whole wheat.
Stir together the flour, yeast, and salt.
After adding the water and before mixing in.
After mixing in the water. Now it is time to rest!
Cover and rest 16-24 hours.
The dough after resting for 16-24 hours. Should be bubbly and about double/tripled in size.
Dump the dough onto a floured surface.
Fold like a letter.
And then fold in half (top to bottom) before shaping into a ball.
Shape the dough into a tight ball. Placed on cornmeal (optional) and parchment for the second rise (2 hours).
The bread dough after the second rise (ready to bake!)
All tucked up in the very hot dutch oven and ready to bake! I tried to cut it but my knife was not sharp enough.
Some more pictures of the finished product!
This recipe is adopted from a recipe on the YouTube channel "carnaldish" The link to her tutorial is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eFhk9EVnlY&t=411s
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