This small batch crusty bread recipe has a thin, crispy crust and a soft interior. Ready in just 3 hours (with no kneading required). The perfect size for two or three people!
We've taught thousands of people to bake their first loaf of bread with our best Easy Crusty French Bread recipe. And while we love digging into that giant loaf, we know that sometimes you just don't need that much bread!
Enter: This small batch crusty bread recipe.
(Also: How FREAKING CUTE is this lil' mini baby loaf?! I'm in love).
This is a scaled-down version of our classic no knead artisan bread, and it's perfect for just a few people! It makes a small loaf that fits easily in the palm of your hand - typically about 6 inches in diameter.
I make this small batch loaf with soup or stew for two people; if we're making sandwiches or crostini, it will serve 4. I usually get about 10 half-inch slices of bread with this recipe.
PS - If you've made our original recipe before, you'll notice a few small differences here: we tweaked some things to keep this loaf of bread extra simple, and we adjusted the cook time to account for a smaller size.
How to make this small batch no knead bread
Mix the dough (10 minutes)
Mix active dry yeast and a bit of honey with warm water, then let that mixture sit for a few minutes until the yeast activates and foams. Next, mix in the flour and salt. Stir everything together until no dry flour remains and you have a nice, shaggy dough.
Let it rise (1 hour)
Cover the dough with a clean towel and let it rise for about an hour until it's doubled in size.
Shape your loaf & final rise (30 minutes)
Shape the dough into a boule (see the video below for how to do this!) and let it rise another 30 minutes or so in a small mixing bowl or proofing basket while you heat the oven.
Bake! (30 minutes)
Bake your loaf in a hot Dutch oven (or use one of our other methods!) for 22 minutes with the lid on, then remove the lid and bake another 5-10 minutes to give the crust some more color.
A few tips for successful loaves
- Use a kitchen scale if you have one! Measuring by weight (with a scale) is much more accurate than measuring by volume (with cups). If you have a kitchen scale, please use it! (No kitchen scale? Measure your flour with the scoop and level method for best results!)
- Great bread takes patience and persistence. When you're first learning how to make crusty French bread at home, it might not look exactly like these pictures. THAT'S OKAY! The more you practice, the better your bread will get. Stick with it!
- Use high-quality flour. Trust us: The type of flour you use matters. A LOT. We recommend baking with King Arthur Flour or Bob's Red Mill flour for best results - these flours are the most consistent, and they both have a high protein content (which gives you a stronger, more elastic, less sticky dough!)
- Read through our baking tips in this post or join our Everyday Artisan Bread course for extra help and support!
Small Batch Bread FAQs
Yes! We love using a Dutch oven to create a crispy, crackly crust on our bread, but it's definitely not the only way to bake great bread at home. Check out our post about how to bake bread without a Dutch oven.
Yes! We call for All Purpose Flour in this recipe because most people tend to have it on hand, but you can swap bread flour for some or all of the AP flour here. Bread flour will make your dough a little bit smoother and more elastic, and may give you a slightly taller loaf.
You can replace up to 50% of the All Purpose flour in this recipe with whole wheat flour if you like. We don't recommend using more than 50% whole wheat flour here as it can change the texture of the loaf and result in a denser crumb.
Use water that is "warm to the touch" - you should be able to comfortably hold your hand in it! We typically aim for water between 95° and 110° F.
We recommend mixing this dough by hand in a mixing bowl! Because it's such a small amount of dough, we've found that a stand mixer doesn't work quite as well here. You spend so much time scraping down the sides of the mixer bowl and repositioning the dough that you might as well just mix by hand!
See even more detailed FAQs about bread baking in our Easy Crusty French Bread post, or enroll in our Everyday Artisan Bread course for step-by-step training lessons that take you through every technique, buzzword, and more!
VIDEO: HOW TO SHAPE A LOAF OF BREAD
This video is an excerpt from our Everyday Artisan Bread online course. It demonstrates how to shape a loaf of bread into a round boule. The dough in this video makes a large loaf, but the technique is the same for this small batch recipe!
Small Batch Crusty Bread
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Inactive Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 1 small loaf (2-4 servings) 1x
- Category: Bread
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
This easy small batch crusty bread is perfect as a quick side dish for two or three people!
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon active dry yeast (4 grams)
- 1 teaspoon honey (6 grams)
- ⅔ cups warm water (150 grams)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt (4 grams)
- 1 to 1 ⅔ cups All-Purpose Flour (200 grams), plus extra for dusting (see recipe notes)
Instructions
MIX THE DOUGH AND FIRST RISE (1 HOUR)
- Combine yeast, honey, and warm water in a large mixing bowl.
- Let the yeast proof for about 5 minutes, until the mixture looks nice and foamy.
- Add flour to bowl. Mix with a sturdy spatula until the dough starts to come together, then add salt and mix well, until no dry flour remains. Dough should be slightly loose, shaggy, and a bit sticky!
- Cover bowl with a clean towel. Let rise 1 hour or until doubled in size.
SHAPE THE DOUGH & FINAL RISE (30 MINUTES)
- When dough has risen, lightly flour a large cutting board.
- Tip dough out onto the board. Don’t punch the dough down - handle it gently to preserve all those air bubbles! If the dough is sticking to the bowl, run your hand under cold water (to prevent sticking) and gently pull the dough onto the cutting board.
- Shape your dough into a round loaf by gently pulling each edge into the center like you’re folding an envelope. Fold the dough in towards the center several times, until the dough stiffens and begins to resist your folds. When that happens, flip the dough over and gently pull it towards you, across the cutting board, so that the loaf tightens a bit.
- Dust a small mixing bowl with flour (I like to line my bowl with a linen napkin to help distribute the flour more evenly) and place your loaf into the bowl seam-side down. Cover with a clean towel and let rise for another 30 minutes while you heat the oven.
HEAT THE OVEN
- While bread proofs, place an empty dutch oven (with the lid on) in your oven and heat to 460° F.
BAKE! (30 MINUTES)
- When the oven is hot, tip your loaf - seam side UP this time - onto a piece of parchment paper.
- Use oven mitts to pull out the hot Dutch oven and remove the lid. Use the parchment paper to carefully lift your loaf into the pot, then use your oven mitts to return the Dutch oven lid and then slide the pot back into your hot oven.
- Cook bread for 22 minutes.
- After 22 minutes, carefully remove the lid from your dutch oven. The bread should be crusty and lightly browned. Continue baking, uncovered, for another 5-10 minutes to deepen the color.
- Transfer bread to a cooling rack and let cool at least 30 minutes (and ideally a few hours) before slicing. Enjoy!
Notes
Equipment. We have tested this recipe in Le Creuset, Staub, Marquette Castings, and Challenger Breadware Dutch ovens. Be sure your Dutch oven is safe at high temperatures, and as always, please check the care instructions on your own equipment before baking.
Ingredients. For best results, use a high-quality flour for this recipe: We recommend King Arthur Flour and Bob's Red Mill flour. This recipe was developed with Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt, which is colloquially known as the "least salty salt." If you need to use table salt or another fine salt and you are measuring by volume with a teaspoon, reduce the amount of salt by ¼ teaspoon (if you're measuring by weight, don't worry about what brand of salt you're using - just follow the gram measurements!) If you don't have honey, use sugar in its place.
Please use a kitchen scale! Measuring flour with cups is notoriously unreliable, so please use a kitchen scale and follow our gram measurements if you can! If you don't have a scale, measure your flour with the scoop-and-level method to be as accurate as possible. (We have a whole write-up about this flour measuring conundrum in our online course!)
This is a slightly sticky dough - it won't pull into a smooth ball as you mix it, and it will be a bit sticky and shaggy. Don't worry - it will smooth out as it rises! If the dough is sticking too much while you're shaping it, add another dusting of flour.
Do I need a proofing basket? If you've made our Easy Crusty French Bread before, you know that we love using a proofing basket to help the bread hold its shape during its final rise! With this small loaf, a 9-inch proofing basket is often too big, so we prefer using a small mixing bowl (about 6 inches across) to help this loaf hold its shape more effectively.
Love this recipe? Check out our Roasted Garlic and Rosemary Bread or our Easy Asiago Bread next! And if you're ready to level up your bread game (and get our best recipes without the ads!) check out our Everyday Artisan Bread course.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 191
- Sugar: 1.6 g
- Sodium: 313.2 mg
- Fat: 0.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 40 g
- Protein: 5.6 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Lisa
I have tried a LOT of crusty bread recipes and just never found "the one." Now I have! This tastes amazing and is so easy. I love that it's small batch too!! Yeah, I can freeze bread, and that's fine for sandwich bread but I absolutely prefer my artisan bread to be super fresh.
I have to follow a very sodium restricted diet, so I did make an adjustment there, but I followed everything else to a T. It turned out perfectly! (I think using bread flour helps the gluten when reducing salt.) I think the short rise also helped tremendously get a very crunchy outside and perfect inside. Mine was gorgeous!
Thanks for the awesome recipe!
Team Life As A Strawberry
WAHOO! We're so happy to hear you loved this bread!
Trish
Hello! I live in a studio apt without an oven, so I use a toaster oven for everything. How big does the Dutch oven need to be for this recipe? Would a 16 oz (about 6.5"x5") Dutch oven do it, or is that too small?
Thank you!!
Team Life As A Strawberry
Hi Trish! We haven't tested this loaf in a Dutch oven that small - you may have the most success with one of our alternate cooking methods like cooking the bread in a small skillet with added steam!
Trish
Sorry, reread and caught the 6" loaf mention - so that would be a no, haha! Would it work to form the dough, separate it into two parts, and bake one at a time? Would an extra mini loaf react the same whilst baking?
Team Life As A Strawberry
We haven't tested a crusty loaf smaller than this one, but reducing the baking timing to 15 minutes lid on/5 minutes lid off sounds like the right place to start! It may take a few times to get the timing *just* right! We also have recipes for smaller bread items like wheat bread bowls and salted dinner rolls that you may enjoy!
Trish
Most excellent! Thank you so much. 🙂 Have a lovely day!
Rise
Since all ovens are different do u know what the inside temp should be of the bread when its done
Thx
Team Life As A Strawberry
You're absolutely right that all ovens are different! We recommend using a small, inexpensive 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!) We don't typically take the internal temperature of bread, but once a loaf reaches an internal temperature of 190° F it will be perfectly cooked.
Toreg
I make this all the time! So good. So easy. And so quick!
Team Life As A Strawberry
YAY! We love that this recipe has become a favorite!
Denise
So yummy! My family loves it. I only had a little flour left and this recipe was perfect. I will definitely be making it again and again.....
Team Life As A Strawberry
We're SO glad this recipe was the perfect fit for the flour you had ready to use!
Fred Prager
Active dry yeast is unavailable in Thailand. Can we substitute instant yeast?
Team Life As A Strawberry
Yes - just reduce the amount of yeast to 3/4 teaspoon (about 25% less than we use with Active Dry Yeast)!
Alexys
just made this tonight-loved it! whole family smashed the loaf in minutes. will be making this regularly. Thanks you!
Team Life As A Strawberry
We're SO happy your family loved it! We have a larger version of this recipe if you find you want more!
Abbie
Hi, thanks for sharing the recipe. Can I put the dough into the fridge after the first proof and what’s the max hours? Can I follow the same time for a fan oven, or what’s the correct timing.?
Team Life As A Strawberry
To add a rise in the fridge, mix the dough and cover with plastic wrap or a reusable bowl cover, and let it rise in the fridge overnight. The next day, bring the 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!
Diane
Thank you for this recipe! I have tried numerous online bread recipes and this is the only one that was edible (yes the others were that bad) and delicious. As a novice not knowing where the others went wrong, this recipe was crispy outside, fluffy with lots of air inside and forgiving even when I didn’t follow instructions exactly. I had to store it in the fridge after the first proof until I had time to bake it and although it looked flat after coming up to room temp, I think the Dutch oven steamed it right back up. Only concern is I might start eating bread with everything. 😁
Team Life As A Strawberry
We love to hear that this recipe was a success! Happy bread baking!
Pam
This bread turned out beautiful lovely taste and good crumb. I was well impressed really glad I came across your site. Will definitely be using this recipe again.
Thanks a lot
Pam
Team Life As A Strawberry
YAY! Happy bread baking!
Mollie
This is my go to bread! I love it so much.
Team Life As A Strawberry
YAY! We're so happy you found your favorite recipe!
Edna
Could I make this bread without honey? Also, could I half the portion of ingredients to make a smaller loaf? Or would that be too small of a portion
Team Life As A Strawberry
Yes! You can swap the honey for sugar, or this bread is also great without any sweetener! Your dough may take a little bit longer to rise (yeast feeds on sugar!) but as long as you're using active yeast it will still work great.
Mary
Can I bake this bread without a Dutch oven
Team Life As A Strawberry
YES! We have a whole post about the best ways to cook crusty bread without a Dutch oven!
Gene Ecker
I'd like to try this recipe with sourdough starter. Can you use sourdough starter instead of active dry yeast? If so, how much for the Small Batch Crusty Bread loaf?
Team Life As A Strawberry
Hi Gene! Sourdough breads have a different process, so you’d be best to stick with a sourdough-specific recipe. We have sourdough recipes and tons of lessons on how to build, maintain, and bake with a sourdough starter in our Everyday Artisan Bread course!
Sam M
This bread is delish, always turns out perfect! I've been wondering, if I were to split this into a smaller batch (say, splitting the dough in half for 2 large buns), how long should I cook it? About 15 mins lid on and 5 with the lid off? Thank you!
Team Life As A Strawberry
We're SO happy you love this recipe! We haven't tested a crusty loaf smaller than this one, but your timing of 15 minutes lid on/5 minutes lid off sounds like the right place to start! It may take a few times to get the timing *just* right! We also have recipes for smaller bread items like wheat bread bowls and salted dinner rolls that you may enjoy!
Susan
I have King Arthur bread flour. Can I use that in this recipe?
Team Life As A Strawberry
Absolutely! Bread flour works great for this recipe! Happy baking!