Crusty Homemade Artisan Bread

This recipe is super simple and a great way to get into bread making if you've never done it before or have trepidations about kneading dough. Each time I've made it I've gotten a crusty, flaky, delicious artisan loaf that goes great with anything from breakfast in the morning to a nice bowl of hot soup.

Here's the recipe and directions to make this great bread.

No Knead Crusty Bread- takes approx 9 hours including rising and baking time
3 cups flour

1 1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
A dutch oven or heavy baking casserole dish with lid

1. Combine all dry ingredients and mix. Add warm water and mix well. Dough will appear shaggy and that's normal.

Dough after just mixing together

2. Spray top with cooking spray and flip over in he mixing bowl. Spray the bottom of the dough and cover bowl with plastic wrap. Cover the bowl with a towel and set in a warm corner of the kitchen to rise for 6-8 hours.

Dough after rising 6 hours

3. Remove dough from mixing bowl and fold over and press together a few times until it comes together and forms a ball. (Dough will feel pretty loose at first but with a couple folds will feel more like a normal dough). Place ball back into mixing bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for another hour.

Ball of dough that has just been formed

Ball of dough after rising an additional hour

4. 20 minutes before the hour of rising is up, place a Dutch oven or heavy casserole dish in the oven and preheat to 450 F.

5. Once oven is preheated roughly shape the dough into a ball by stretching the top of the dough and pulling it up under it's self. A great video of how to do this can be found here. Drop the taunt ball into the dish/Dutch oven and cover with the lid. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake for an additional 15 minutes or until the top of the bread is golden brown.

6. Remove the bread from the oven and allow to cool in the dish for a couple of minutes. Remove from the dish and wrap in a kitchen towel. Slice and serve once mostly cool.

Toasted, this crusty, homemade bread would also go great with my mussels in white wine recipe instead of using a store bought baguette.

Enjoy!