This easy (and we mean EASY!) homemade bread recipe is sure to be a hit! Homemade dutch oven bread that's ready in just a few hours - no overnight rise. Crispy crust on the outside and soft, airy bread on the inside! Vegetarian.
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT THIS BREAD. ⬆⬆⬆ ⬇⬇⬇
What you need to know about this crusty bread:
- It's ready in under three hours. No overnight rise necessary!
- It's ultra-forgiving. Read through ALL of our recipe notes for best results!
- No Dutch oven? You can still make great bread - check out this post for our best tried-and-true alternatives.
- YOU CAN MAKE THIS BREAD ⬇⬇⬇. I PROMISE.
The basic order of operations for this artisan bread:
The instructions may look a little long, but they're all basically just notes on technique - so don't let the number of steps intimidate you!
After a couple of adventures with this bread, you'll be able to throw it together in your sleep.
- Mix the dough (10 minutes) This is a very slack dough (also known as a wet or sticky dough) - it won't form a ball or be immediately elastic like some recipes you might be used to! The dough will be shaggy and somewhat sticky, but it will smooth out as the gluten develops while it rises and again when it's time to shape.
- Let the dough rise (1 hour) Kick back, relax, and let your dough do it's thing!
- Shape the dough (5 minutes) Lightly flour a cutting board, tip the dough out, and gently form it into a round loaf (watch the videos below to see exactly how we do this!)
- Let the dough rise one final time (30 minutes) When your dough is shaped, pop it into a medium-sized bowl or proofing basket to rise for 30 minutes while you preheat the oven.
- Bake (45 minutes) Carefully transfer the bread to your preheated Dutch oven (or use an alternative method!) I like to use a piece of parchment paper to make it easier to lift the bread in and out of the pot. Bake for 30 minutes with the lid on, then remove the lid and bake another 10-15 minutes to help the bread develop more color.
- Let the bread cool, slice, and enjoy!
If you're serious about homemade bread, you may enjoy using a proofing basket (it's one of my favorite kitchen tools!) to help the bread keep its shape while it rises. You also end up with beautiful flour rings on the crust! We like to use an 8- to 9-inch proofing basket for a single loaf of bread.
If you don't have a proofing basket, no worries! Just use a medium-sized (8- or 9-inch diameter) mixing bowl to let the bread do its final rise before you bake it. Flour the bowl well to prevent sticking!
The crackly brown crust here is the result of baking this bread in a Dutch oven. By keeping the lid on while the bread bakes, you create a nice steamy atmosphere inside the pot - and the steam is what gives the bread that crispy, magical crust. (Read more about the importance of steam in bread baking here!)
HOMEMADE BREAD FAQ
This section is LONG - but we wanted to cover the most frequent questions we get! Feel free to skip right to the recipe, but please do utilize this section if you run into questions while you're baking. For additional training videos, tips, and recipes, check out Everyday Artisan Bread!
- My dough feels too wet. This is a very slack (wet) dough - the dough should feel quite shaggy and a bit sticky when mixed. This dough should NOT pull away from the sides of a bowl into a smooth, elastic ball like other recipes you may have used. Don't worry - it will become more elastic as gluten develops while the dough rises! If you are still worried about the consistency of the dough, feel free to mix in more flour ¼ cup at a time - especially if you measured your flour by volume (in cups, which can frequently result in using too much or too little flour) rather than by weight with a kitchen scale.
- Related: Please use a kitchen scale! If you already have a scale, please use it. Just set the scale to grams, place an empty bowl or container on top, set the scale to zero, and add your ingredients until it reaches the right weight. If you don't have a scale, you can still make great bread without it - just make sure to follow the notes in the recipe below - but if you plan to bake bread a lot, a scale is definitely worth the investment!
- Can I use rapid rise or instant yeast for this recipe? Yes - just reduce the amount of yeast to 1 ½ teaspoons (about 25% less than we use with Active Dry Yeast).
- How do I stop the bottom of my loaf from burning or overbaking? There are a bunch of ways to adjust if the bottom of your bread is burning! 1. use an oven thermometer to check the true temperature of your oven (I've had ovens that are off by as much as 40 degrees in one direction!) 2. Make sure your oven rack is in the center of your oven (or, if burning occurs while baking in the center of your oven, move your rack one notch farther away from your heat source). 3. Try placing a sheet pan directly underneath your Dutch oven when baking to redistribute some of the heat, or 4. preheating your Dutch oven for half the time. 5. Some testers also have good luck placing a baking steel or pizza stone on the rack directly below the Dutch oven, again to redistribute some of the heat. 6. Make sure to use a piece of parchment paper to lift the bread in and out of your Dutch oven. 7. Dust the bottom of your loaf with a thin layer of cornmeal before placing it into the Dutch oven to form a barrier between the dough and the hot surface. 8. Try preheating and baking at a slightly lower temperature (between 425 and 450 degrees F) OR preheating at the suggested temperature of 460 and then turning the oven down to 425 degrees F once you put the bread in. Don't worry if it takes a few tries to find your sweet spot - ovens and equipment can vary wildly when it comes to heat distribution, and a big part of bread baking is figuring out your oven's own unique quirks so you can consistently get the results you want!
- Can I double this recipe? Yes - double everything except the yeast in this recipe for best results*. After the first rise, divide the dough in half and form two loaves (our preference) or form one large loaf. If you bake a large loaf, you will likely need to extend the bake time and it may not cook quite as evenly - just keep an eye on it and use your best judgment! (*the converter in the recipe card below may tell you to double the yeast as well, but you really don't need to. We just can't figure out how to turn the converter off *facepalm*)
- Can I halve this recipe for a smaller loaf? Yes! We have a scaled-down version of this recipe (with adjusted measurements and instructions!) in our Small Batch Crusty Bread post.
- How hot should my water be? A good rule of thumb is "warm to the touch." Too-hot water (typically 130-140 degrees F and above) will kill your yeast, but use too-cold water and your yeast will take too long to activate. We typically use water that's between 95 and 110 degrees Fahrenheit for our Active Dry Yeast. You should be able to comfortably hold your hand under water running at about 100 degrees - it should feel warm, but not hot. Use a kitchen thermometer for a precise measurement if you like!
- A note about salt: Every brand of salt will perform a little differently. If you're measuring by volume, using Morton Kosher Salt, 1 ¼ teaspoons is usually plenty. If you're using Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt, you may want to use 1 ½ teaspoons since it's significantly lighter/less salty than other brands. If you're using table salt, you'll typically be fine sticking to 1 ¼ teaspoons, but if you prefer less salt in your food, you can dial it back to 1 teaspoon. We recommend measuring your salt by weight to keep things simple!
- What kind of Dutch oven should I use? We recommend using a 4- to 6-Quart Dutch oven. We have tested our artisan crusty bread recipes in Le Creuset, Lodge, Staub, and Marquette Castings Dutch ovens. All work well! Le Creuset and Staub are generally our favorite brands - they do a great job of controlling and evenly distributing heat, and are especially easy to clean. Lodge and Marquette Castings also work well (though if you're used to a Le Creuset, you may notice some differences) and are perfect if you're looking for a budget-friendly option.
- Can I bake this bread without a Dutch oven? Definitely! Read this post for our favorite Dutch oven alternatives (you likely have most of them in your kitchen already!)
- What kind of flour should I use? After extensive testing, we recommend King Arthur All Purpose Flour or Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Flour. If you have bread flour and would like to use it, you certainly can! But it's not necessary. If you don't have Bob's or King Arthur, use whatever All Purpose Flour you have on hand (but add one of those brands to your list for next time - you'll notice a difference!) The only flour we do NOT recommend is Pillsbury - it was consistently the toughest flour to work with in our testing and always created a dough that tore rather than stretched (which we don't want here!)
- How should I store this bread? Store half-loaves cut-side down on a cutting board on the counter for up to 24 hours (no need to cover!) to keep the crust crispy and the interior moist. Store sliced bread in an airtight container in the freezer for 3-4 months (toast it up as needed!) or in an airtight container on the counter for 3-4 days. Freeze a full loaf by wrapping the bread in plastic wrap and popping into the freezer for 3-4 months, then defrost on the counter for a few hours when you're ready to eat (we prefer to avoid plastic, but haven't found a better alternative for this yet - bee's wrap just doesn't do as good of a job here!)
- Can I make this bread with whole wheat flour? Yes! Check out our whole wheat crusty bread recipe.
- My bread didn't rise, or it doesn't have enough big air pockets. Because this is a quick bread recipe with a short rise time, it will typically be a shorter loaf with a tighter crumb (fewer air pockets) than a sourdough recipe or a yeast bread that rises for 8+ hours. If you'd like bigger air pockets and/or a taller loaf of bread, give the gluten in the dough more time to develop by mixing the dough, covering with plastic wrap or a reusable bowl cover, and letting it rise in the fridge overnight. The next day, bring dough to room temperature on the counter, shape and bake as directed! PS - We have a ton of different baking timelines and tips like this in our course!
- Can I add fruits, flavors, or other mix-ins to this bread? Yes! Check out our Roasted Garlic & Rosemary Crusty Bread or our Easy Crusty Asiago Bread for a few of our favorite flavors. Add fresh or dried herbs, spices, roasted garlic, nuts, or dried fruit to the dough right when you mix it. For anything that may release more moisture - fresh fruit, olives, etc. - we recommend folding it in as you shape the bread. Pull the dough into a large circle, spread an even layer of mix-ins across it, then fold dough into the center as directed and repeat until you've added all of the mix-ins.
- Why did my loaf flatten or not hold its shape? Typically, this happens when we haven't built enough strength into the dough before baking. Because this is a relatively quick bread recipe, we lose out on the strength that builds while gluten networks develop over a long rise - so we build strength into the dough by folding it over on itself many times during shaping. If your loaf isn't as tall as you'd like, first be sure to thoroughly mix the dough so that no dry bits of flour remain. You may also want to knead the dough a few times by hand (you can do this right in the mixing bowl) or let your mixer run an extra minute or two with the dough hook attachment. Next, while the dough does its first rise, you can perform one set of "stretch and folds" at the half hour mark to increase strength. Finally, when shaping the dough, be sure to fold the dough over on itself several times until the dough feels tight and begins to resist your folding. Keep in mind that because this bread is made on a quick timeline, it won't typically rise as high as a hearty sourdough loaf or other bread that has had hours or even days to proof. We cover a ton of techniques to bake taller, more open bread in our online course.
- Why don't you transfer the dough to an oiled bowl during the first rise? We don't find it's necessary to add this extra step with this quick recipe, and we wanted to keep it as simple as possible. We just let the dough rise right in the mixing bowl and then run our hands under cold water to coax the dough out without sticking when it's time to tip the dough onto the cutting board. You can absolutely transfer the mixed dough to a lightly oiled bowl for its first rise if you like! A previous version of this recipe had you add a dusting of flour during this first rise; we omitted this step in later revisions to simplify the instructions.
- What is the hydration of this loaf? If you're familiar with baker's percentages, this bread is about 75% hydration by weight as written.
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VIDEO 1: HOW TO MAKE CRUSTY BREAD WITH A STAND MIXER (NO PROOFING BASKET)
VIDEO 2: HOW TO MAKE ARTISAN BREAD BY HAND (WITH PROOFING BASKET)
VIDEO 3: HOW TO SHAPE A LOAF OF BREAD (TUTORIAL)
This video tutorial is an excerpt from our online course, Everyday Artisan Bread!
📖 Recipe
Easy Crusty French Bread
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Inactive Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: 1 loaf (about 6-8 servings) 1x
- Category: Bread
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Easy dutch oven bread ready in just a few hours - no overnight rise needed.
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast (9 grams)
- 1 teaspoon sugar (4 grams) (use honey if you prefer)
- 1 ¼ cups warm water (300 grams)
- 1 ¼ teaspoons (8 grams) kosher salt
- 2 ½ to 3 ½ cups All-Purpose Flour (400 grams) plus extra for dusting (see recipe notes)
Instructions
MIX THE DOUGH & FIRST RISE (1 HOUR):
- Combine yeast, sugar, and warm water in a large mixing bowl (you can also use a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook).
- Let the yeast proof for about 5 minutes, until the mixture is foamy.
- Add flour to bowl. Mix with a sturdy spatula until the dough starts to come together, then add salt and mix until all ingredients are incorporated. For best results, mix until no dry bits of flour remain. Note: This is a relatively slack (wet) dough, so it may seem a bit shaggy and sticky at this point. Don't worry - it will become more smooth and elastic as we go!
- Cover bowl with a clean tea towel and let rise on the counter for about 1 hour, until dough has doubled in size.
SHAPE THE DOUGH & FINAL RISE (30 MIN):
- When dough has risen, lightly flour a large cutting board.
- Tip the dough out of the bowl and onto the cutting board. DO NOT PUNCH THE DOUGH DOWN - you want to keep all those nice air bubbles intact so you have an airy, delicious loaf of bread. (Note: If the dough is sticking to the bowl a little bit, wet your hand with a bit of cold water and gently separate the dough from the bowl to get it all out).
- Shape the dough into a round loaf: Pull each corner of the dough in towards the center (like you're folding an envelope) and repeat until the dough feels tight and begins to resist your folds. Flip the dough over and pull it into a round loaf. Watch the video(s) above to see exactly how we do this!
- Flour a proofing basket or a medium bowl and place your loaf into it seam-side down. Cover with a tea towel and let rise another 30 minutes or so while you preheat the oven. Note: I like to line my proofing basket or mixing bowl with a clean linen napkin to distribute the flour more evenly and help with cleanup.
HEAT THE OVEN :
- While bread is rising, place an empty dutch oven (with the lid on) in your oven and heat to 460 degrees Fahrenheit.
BAKE!
- When the oven is hot, you're ready to go! Use oven mitts to pull the dutch oven out and remove the lid.
- Lay a piece of parchment paper down on your counter or cutting board (optional - it makes transferring the bread easier!)
- Tip your bread dough gently out of the proofing basket onto the parchment paper. Make sure the seam side is up this time - this is what will create those beautiful cracks on top of the bread!
- VERY CAREFULLY (without burning yourself!) use the sides of the parchment to lift the bread up and place it into the hot Dutch oven.
- Put your oven mitts back on, place the dutch oven lid back on the pot, and slide the whole thing back into your hot oven.
- Cook bread for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, remove the lid from your dutch oven. The bread should be taller, crusty, and very lightly browned. Continue cooking the bread, uncovered, for 10-15 minutes more until the bread has deepened in color and you have a beautiful brown crust.
- When bread is done, use oven mitts to pull the pot out of your oven.
- Use a long spatula or the corners of your parchment paper to lift the bread out of the dutch oven and onto a cooling rack. Let cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting into it.
- Slice, slather with butter, and enjoy!
Notes
How to measure flour: If you have a kitchen scale, please use it! Measuring by weight is MUCH more accurate than measuring by volume (with cups) and will give you more consistent bread. That being said, you can certainly make great bread without a kitchen scale! To measure flour in cups: If you measure flour by dipping your cup straight into the bag or bin and shaking off the excess, plan to use about 2 ½ cups of flour. If you measure by stirring the flour with a spoon or scoop before scooping it into a measuring cup and leveling it off, plan to use about 3 cups of flour. You can always add more flour if you need to - just be aware that this is a relatively slack (wet) dough, so it will be a bit shaggy and sticky at first (but it will smooth out and become more elastic as it rises and again as you shape it!)
Equipment. We recommend a 4- to 6-quart Dutch oven for best results. Le Creuset and Staub are our favorites, but Marquette Castings and Lodge also make solid options that are more budget-friendly. If you don't have a Dutch oven, see this post for alternative baking methods (you can still make great bread without fancy equipment!) Please make sure that your Dutch oven is fitted with a metal (rather than plastic) knob on its lid for best results, and please check the care instructions on your individual equipment before baking. We use this 8.5-inch proofing basket, but an 8- or 9-inch banneton or medium-sized mixing bowl also work well for the final rise.
PLEASE READ THE POST ABOVE FOR OUR COMPLETE FAQs, TIPS, AND ADVICE. We've gotten so many amazing questions from you - we wanted to be sure to answer as many as we can as thoroughly as we can, but if we put our answers here in the recipe it would make it very annoying to print. Please check the FAQ section in the post above if you have a question or run into a problem!
Love this recipe? We'd love to see you in our online course, Everyday Artisan Bread, where we share exclusive training videos, worksheets, and ad-free recipes!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: ⅙ of a loaf
- Calories: 250
- Sugar: 0.9 g
- Sodium: 585.5 mg
- Fat: 0.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 52.2 g
- Protein: 7.5 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
HUNGRY FOR MORE? OUR FAVORITE BREAD RECIPES AND RESOURCES:
How to Bake Crusty Bread Without a Dutch Oven
Roasted Garlic and Rosemary Bread
Easy Crusty Asiago Bread
Small Batch Crusty Bread (Perfect for Two!)
Jalapeño cheddar loaf
Evelyn
Have made this 3 times now. Novice baker and it is delicious and instructions were excellent. This is my French Bread go to every time
Evelyn again
Can I double the recipe for a larger loaf, or is there other concessions that I need to take.
Jessie
I'm so glad you like it, Evelyn! Thanks for letting me know! You can certainly double the recipe, but you may need to make adjustments as you go (like extending the bake time or dividing the bread into two separate loaves).
Stacie
This bread was good and crusty when I made it. Stored it in Tupperware over night and now it's dense and moist. What do I need to do to keep it's crustiness
Jessie
I like to stick it back in the oven for a few minutes to crisp up again! Usually 5-10 minutes at 375 degrees F will do it. It's also great as toast the next day. Hope that helps!
Cathy Gumina Odom
Thank you jessie! Made this bread, great color, hardness and taste! But I think I made a mistake somewhere, it didn't seem to rise that much. I used fresh yeast and ingredients. Going to try again this week. Ordered a proofing basket and it's here already from Amazon so will try that out. Thank you!
Jessie
I'm so glad you liked it, Cathy! Depending on the temperature and humidity in your kitchen, I find it's sometimes necessary to adjust the proofing time - don't be afraid to let it sit and rise a little longer if it hasn't grown enough! You can also put it in a slightly warm area (like a recently used microwave) to help speed things along if it's taking its time. I hope you love the proofing basket - it's one of my favorite kitchen gadgets!
Cathy Odom
Sooo delicious! Been eyeing this for a week to make. Mine didn't come out as pretty as yours- used new yeast and a cast iron Dutch oven with lid and right temp. Ca,w out super perfect crusty and color! It just didn't rise as much the second time, I will definitely try this again. Ordered new Creuset and thiamine proofing basket. Used King all purpose flour. Have you tried with bread flour?
Jessie
I haven't tried it with bread flour but I bet it would be great! Feel free to give it a few extra minutes to rise if it hasn't risen enough - I find I often have to adjust my proofing times depending on how hot or cold my kitchen is. Happy baking!
Zak Winkler
Love this recipe, I make this all the time. Have you ever made this dough as a double batch to make a bigger loaf? Would the consistencies stay the same and bake time as well?
Jessie
I'm so glad you like the recipe, Zak! I've made double batches of this dough, but I find I prefer to divide a double batch into two loaves. It doesn't bake as quickly or as evenly with a double batch in one loaf, and when I tried it the big loaf was so big my knife didn't even reach all the way through it. You can definitely do a double batch of dough and shape it into two loaves, though!
ZAK
Thanks for the response here. I doubled it and put the entire loaf in my Dutch oven. It made quite a large loaf and I had to keep it in the oven an extra 40 until the top started to brown then I took the lid off. Tasted just like the single batch. Thanks again for the recipe. Only one I use for bread.
Jessie
Wahoo! Thanks for letting me know how the double batch went - so glad you liked it!
Clare Venditti
This is the most delicious and easiest bread I have ever made! Thank you so much for sharing! I will be making this at least once a week!
Jessie
I'm so, so happy you liked it, Clare! Thanks for letting me know!
Lori
Hi...I made this today using fast acting yeast and bread flour and followed your instructions to a t. Delicious! Husband said it was the best!! Tasted almost like a sourdough with a nice chewy crust! Thanks for sharing!
Jessie
I'm so happy you liked it, Lori! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out!
Dave H
I needed a crusty loaf for my leftover Boeuf Bourgignon that I made yesterday, and google led me to this page.
Oh. My. God. This loaf is amazing. Dead simple, quick, and delicious, with a super-crunchy crust. I only altered on thing: When I took it out of the oven, I followed the King Arthur Flour tip for crunchy crust: Turn off the oven, and place the loaf in the oven on the middle rack with the door open. It keeps the crust from getting moist as it cools.
Total 3 hours from finding the website to taking the bread from the oven. This has just become my regular bread!
Jessie
Wahoo! I'm so happy you liked it, Dave - thank you so much for letting me know how it turned out!
Audrey
Just made it and can't wait to try it. How do you store it if not cut yet ?
Jessie
Wahoo! You can store uncut loaves by letting them cool completely and storing them in an airtight bag/container (or wrap them in plastic wrap or reusable beeswax kitchen wrap!) Hope you love the bread!
Ally
Hi, in the written recipe, you put the doing directly into the heated Dutch oven, but in the video recipe, you bake it in parchment paper inside the Dutch oven. Which method do you most recommend? Thank you, can't wait to try it!
Jessie
Either way is fine - the parchment paper just makes it easier to lift the bread out if you don't have a large spatula! It doesn't affect the outcome.
Kim
Love this recipe .. But I worry that I'm doing something wrong .. each time I've made it (3x's) , I've had to add quite a bit more flour .. Is it suppose to be wet and sticking ? It has always tasted good although slightly bland- which im sure i can fix - but could i be mak8ng some mistake ... any thoughts appreciated !! It always has the best crust to it !!
Jessie
This is a pretty slack (wet) dough - if you're used to working with heavier doughs, it can definitely be a bit of an adjustment, but you can certainly add more flour if the dough needs it! Things like room temp. or humidity can also affect the dough, so I find I sometimes have to adjust the amount of flour depending on the season. The issue with having the recipe in cups (rather than weight, which is what most bakers - myself included - prefer) is that everyone measures flour differently, so your 1 cup of flour might be lighter or heavier than my 1 cup of flour, which can make it feel like you're adding a lot more or less than the recipe calls for (even though you might be adding the same amount by weight!) It's easier for a lot of people to measure in cups, though, which is why the recipe is written like it is. The important thing is to practice enough so that you know what the dough should look and feel like, and then you can adjust as you go! If you add more flour, I'd recommend also adding more salt (that'll fix the blandness!) Hope that helps - happy baking!
kimberlee
It's in the oven as we speak . I left it wetter this time. Cross fingers and thanks for all the advice !! Obviously I think it's goid or I wouldn't have spent time trying to perfect it ..thank you again for sharing as well as your help !!
Jessie
I hope it tasted great! Thanks, Kimberlee!
Susan C
Such an easy recipe and delicious results. One question. I used the parchment paper which eased adding the dough to the pot, but my dough started to burn a bit (nothing drastic). I made the recipe twice and same thing happened both times. I checked my oven temp for accuracy and each time the bread was cooked within a half hour, nicely browned. Just wanted to make sure that the intent is to cook at a full 460 degrees. Thanks
Susan
Jessie
So glad you liked the recipe! Yes, the high temperature helps us get that nice crispy crust, but of course every oven is different! You could try decreasing the oven temperature a bit (you may just need to extend the baking time) although when things are cooking unevenly I find it's usually easier to just move my oven racks around and put the food a bit farther from the heat source. Hope that helps!
Ana Covarrubias
Can you make this without the Dutch oven?
Jessie
The Dutch oven is important because it lets the bread start cooking immediately on a nice hot surface and holds the steam as the bread cooks (which is what produces that nice, crispy crust). I definitely recommend using a Dutch oven over other methods, but you could also use a heavy, oven-safe pot (cast iron is good) instead of an enameled Dutch oven. I've also baked this bread on a pizza stone and inverted pre-heated baking sheet, and it does okay (although it still gets crispier in the Dutch oven!)
Michael G
So....This is was my first attempt at bread baking. Super simple, used a heavy pot with lid, and it came out delicious!
Thank you for this recipe, I made bread today.
Jessie
Wahoo! I'm so happy you liked it, Michael!
sandra hasan
Thank you. A tempting recipe i would like to try.
I dont have le creuset . I have a covered clay pot. May bake it in that or a covered rosster
Jessie
Any large, heavy (I like cast iron), oven-safe pot with a lid should do the trick!
Shannon
Made this tonight. Didn't require kneading, didn't absolutely require a mixer with a dough hook, and I didn't have the 4+ hours required for the bread machine. Due to only having Rapid Rise bread machine yeast, I wasn't certain how well it would turn out, and since I didn't want leftovers (there's only 2 of us), I cut the recipe in half. It was stickier than I expected, but I soldiered on and gave it a shot. Stuck it in my smallest cast iron dutch oven, and crossed my fingers.
We ate it all, and my husband very much still wanted more, and can't quit commenting on how good it was. I imagine it would have been prettier and better if I'd made a full sized loaf with Active Dry yeast, and I look forward to testing that hypothesis. This was GOOD. Slathered with some good Amish butter, oh so yummy. I will be making it again, very soon. Maybe even before I get to the store to buy the 'proper' yeast.
Thank you for the delicious, insanely easy recipe, Jessie!
Jessie
Wahoo! I'm so glad you liked it, Shannon!