Homemade Bread Recipe
The aroma of fresh-baked bread brings feelings of comfort and a sense of home. But the idea of baking bread can bring out your best avoidance strategies and some impressive self-doubt!
Nevertheless, this homemade bread recipe managed to take me from a state of complete intimidation by bread baking, to one of those “I haven’t bought bread in years” bread snobs. With only four ingredients, it’s got some of the benefits of a sourdough in terms of digestibility, but none of the keeping starter alive dramas.
I’ve seen it called “Overnight bread”, “Five-minute Bread” and a “Dutch Oven Loaf”. We just call it Bread… And the best part? It’s so easy, it feels like cheating!
– posted by Samantha C
Homemade bread tips
- This recipe calls for a cast-iron pot (Dutch Oven) with lid. The cast iron gets nice and hot and distributes the heat really well. The lid provides a nice steamy cooking environment.
- Technically you can use any flour, and I highly recommend experimenting to see what suits you – plain, whole meal, rye, spelt, etc. For me, the best loaves turn out with good quality bread flour (baker’s flour); certified organic and stoneground if you can get it.
- Keep it plain or add some grain! Start with just a tablespoon of something like chia seeds and go from there. I add almost a cup of mixed seeds and grains to our loaves and it makes it super tasty, healthy and filling. But beware, too much will weigh it down so start small.
- This dough has a long proving time – i.e. it needs a good long nap (12 hours is good, but so is 10, and so is 14). I generally “set” the dough at night to bake the next morning, but you can also set in the morning to bake at night. Whatever works for your world.
- Bread Recipe Prep Time: approx. 10 minutes hands-on plus approx. 10-14 hours proof
- Bread Recipe Cook Time: 50 minutes
- bread Recipe Serves: Mid-size or large round loaf
Ingredients
Mid-size loaf:
- 3 cups flour (see tip above) plus extra for dusting
- 1 tsp salt
- grains and seeds (optional – see tip above)
- ¼ tsp dry yeast
- 1 ½ cups warm wate
Large size loaf:
- 5 cups flour (see tip above) plus extra for dusting
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- grains and seeds (optional – see tip above)
- ½ tsp dry yeast
- 2 ½ cups warm water
Directions
To bake in the morning, start the night before… this bread recipe takes about 5 minutes.
- In a large bowl, lightly mix together the flour, salt and grain/seeds (if using).
- Sprinkle the yeast on top.
- Add the warm water (just warm, not hot).
- Stir to mix well.
- You can use a wooden spoon, stand mixer, or even your hands (kids love this, but it takes longer).
- Note, this is not ‘kneading’, just combining. Your dough will start off gluggy, then it will go shaggy, eventually forming a somewhat moist and sticky blob.
- If it seems too dry, i.e. you can’t get it past shaggy or can’t incorporate all the flour in 5 minutes, add extra water 1 tablespoon at a time until you find the blob consistency. Don’t worry if you think it’s too wet.
- Cover the bowel with a beeswax wrap/silicone sheet/upturned plate/plastic wrap and set aside for the night, ideally somewhere without a draught.
Next morning… another five minutes.
- Uncover your bowl and discover that your sticky blob has grown into a bowl of doughy lava!
- Flour your bench top (or large cutting board) and tip out your dough, letting it stretch as it falls. Use a soft spatula or your fingers to scrape out any doughy dregs left in the bowl.
- Knead or fold… or just play with it!
- You can ‘fold’ your dough by stretching it out to roughly A4 or A3 size, and then fold it in thirds one way, then thirds the other way, flip it over and cup to make round.
- Or you can knead – don’t be intimidated if you’ve never kneaded. Just move the dough around, thinking “lift, fold, press, turn” and you’re probably doing great.
- Form your dough into a tight, smooth ball with any folds underneath, and place onto a piece of baking paper or silicone baking sheet. Sprinkle some flour on top.
- Lift the sheet by the corners and place back in the large bowl, cover and set aside for 30-60
minutes. - The time for this proof is a little dependent on how warm it is when you’re baking – warmer equals quicker.
- Take a peek at your dough at 30 minutes – if it has already nearly doubled in size or the flour on top is cracking, go the next step now. If not, look again in 15 – 30 minutes.
30 – 60 minutes later…
- Once your dough has risen by at least half and/or the flour on top has cracks in it, put your
cast-iron pot (with lid on but slightly ajar) in the oven, set to 250` (or as high as it will go). Leave your dough to keep rising. When your oven has reached 250`… - Get some scissors or a knife and make a few cuts in the top of your dough – be brave, deeper is better here as it helps the bread rise.
- Then get your oven mitts on! Take the lid off the pot and lift your dough (by the corners of its baking sheet) into the cast-iron pot. Put the lid back on, close the oven and set a timer for 30 minutes.
30 minutes later…
- Turn the oven down to 200` and remove the lid from the cast-iron pot (and be amazed to see bread in there!). Bake without the lid for a further 15-20 minutes.
- When done, your bread should look and smell like bread. Don’t be afraid to leave it in for 5 minutes or 10 minutes longer if you feel like you want to brown the crust a bit more.
- Remove from the pot and cool on a wire rack… and do your very best to not cut into it for at least 45 minutes (!), as this is when the crust and crumb are doing their thing… Enjoy!
For more information on buying the right Bread Making Machine for you, we recommend you review the following;
Bread Maker Reviews
To find out more about bread recipes, you can read BellyBelly’s article :
