This easy bread recipe has become the staff of life around here.  If you're used to baking bread, or even if you've never tried before, this recipe is going to impress you.  It rocks our world, and you won't believe how easy it is! 
  • No more mixing up bread dough just because you want fresh baked bread.
  • No digging around to find your pizza or breadstick recipe...this dough is ultra versatile, and ready to go when you are!
  • No special ingredients or complicated processes
  • Practically no dishes to wash...
  • and best of all...no kneading!
Really and truly!  The trick is a cold, long fermenting time for the dough, which develops the flavors and gluten...

Wait.  You just want to know the really important stuff, right?  OK...Easy, delicious and versatile.

And it's delicious.  It's the perfect texture for french toast and bruschetta, with a thin crisp/chewy crust; the inside is soft with just a bit of chew.   Cold fermentation prevents it from souring, so you're not going to get a sourdough flavor with this method.

Did I mention that it's really, really good?  OK. 
Just so you know. 

It is.

I keep a batch in the fridge at all times now, just in case of a nuclear holocaust, or a really bad carb craving hits. 

Meal planning is so much easier since I've found this easy bread recipe.  I have started branching out, and now I use it for pizza crust, dinner rolls, french bread, pepperoni bread, bread sticks...you get the idea.  And don't even get me started on the toppings! 


Pass the butter.

Here are the simple ingredients you need for this super easy bread recipe:
6 1/2 cups Flour (I use unbleached...no sifting), 3 cups warm water, 1 1/2 T. or two packets of fast acting (also known as rapid/perfect/instant rise) yeast, 1 1/2 T. kosher or coarse salt. 

Let's take a minute to talk about equipment: you'll need a large container (5 quarts/20 cups) with a lid to mix up and store your dough.  Since I am now officially addicted to this bread, I bought a large glass 'cookie jar' canister at Wally World for $7 because it's pretty and it stands upright in my fridge to save room. 
When I first started making this kind of bread, I just used a bowl with plastic wrap or lid, and then switched to a non-holey plastic tub that my salad mix came in.  You can also use a large plastic storage container, just make sure not to seal the lid so the gasses can escape. 

For baking your bread, it's really nice to have a pizza peel, parchment paper and a baking stone...these are standard equipment here for pizza night.  You can't beat this pair for baking crispy crusts, and for transferring bread dough easily in and out of the oven.  In fact, I leave my pizza stone in the oven almost all the time, and just put cookie sheets right on top of it.  It ain't purdy, but it gives nice even heat.  You can find these at Target and kitchen stores for not much money.  If you don't have a peel or stone, then you can use a cookie sheet turned upside down so you'll have a flat surface to bake on.  All this will make more sense further down when we talk about baking.

This easy bread recipe is broken down into two parts: mixing the dough, and then baking.  The time you'll spend in total is just a few minutes to prep the dough and form the bread.  But you'll want to allow enough time for the dough to rise, rest, and develop good flavor.  Here is the time frame that I usually use:

  • I start by making the dough the night before, or first thing in the morning if I plan on baking a loaf of bread for dinner. 
  • Rising takes a couple of hours.
  • You can start baking right after the dough has risen, but it's really soft and sticky, and it's easier to work with if you let it chill thoroughly...at least 3 hours. 
  • From fridge to stove, it takes about an hour and you're in homemade bakery heaven. 

Let's get to it.

First, pour in your three cups of warm water.  There is no need to rinse your bowl out between batches if you've kept it refrigerated...the dough bits that are left in there will help make your next batch rise faster.  We'll call it a 'starter'
(Note to self...I don't even have to wash the bowl!  Yippee!)

Next, add 2 packets or 1 1/2 T of yeast...

1 1/2 T salt,...

and 6 1/2 cups of all purpose flour. 

Now mix it all together with a wooden spoon.


You want a loose, wet dough with no dry spots.  Like this:

So, that takes all of about 2 minutes.
Now, leave it out on the counter for a couple of hours to rise.  It should at least triple in size, and the top should flatten out as it begins to collapse on itself.  You can allow it to rise longer than two hours without hurting your dough.

Just mixed, one hour later, and two hours later.

You can bake a loaf or four right now if you want to, but chilling the dough will give you even better flavor, and cold dough is easier to work with.  Chill for at least 3 hours, or overnight. Your dough will keep in the fridge for up to two weeks, and you can just bake what you need as you need it.  The batch of dough we just mixed up will make four one-pound loaves...which translates to three twelve inch baguettes and a medium pizza crust at our house. 

So, let's bake up a loaf of bread.  You'll want to get your dough out and shape it at least an hour before you're ready to eat it.

The dough is very soft and wet, so flouring your hands is a good idea.  Cut or tear off a grapefruit sized hunk of bread dough.  The shaping isn't an art form, so don't get frustrated by the gooey dough.
 
Gently stretch it into shape, smoothing out on the top layer into a 'gluten cloak'.  It doesn't need to look perfect. In fact, there is no way that it will look decent at this stage...just get it into the general shape you want.  Here is a quick video about shaping the bread:



You don't want to manhandle or overwork the dough.  It needs to stay sticky and retain all those beautiful air bubbles as much as possible.  It will rise up and become beautiful in the oven.  Promise.
Plop it down onto the parchment paper on top of the pizza peel (or upside down pizza or cookie sheet), and let it rest, uncovered for a total of 40 minutes.  I set my timer for 20 minutes, and then come back and preheat the baking stone to 450 degrees.  Let the oven heat and the bread finish rising for the final 20 minutes. 

When the oven is heated, and the bread is done resting (it won't have risen much at this point), you'll want to cut a few slits in the top to allow the gasses in the baking bread to escape.  Otherwise, your bread will get an unsightly blowout.  Use a very sharp knife or a clean razor blade, and cut a few slashes, an X or a long slit.

I like to top my bread with more of the kosher salt at this point too.

Now slide the parchment paper that's holding your loaf of bread right onto the sizzling hot baking stone. 

Let it bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown.  At this point, you might be looking at that pitiful, unrisen, shabbily shaped dough wad and thinking you've bungled it up.  But not so, friend!

Magic is happening in that oven.  That pallid, soggy lump of dough is becoming...


beautiful!

You can slice and eat it right away, but I like to let it cool a bit because it slices easier.  And because it burns your tongue and fingers if you're greedy and try to eat it right out of the oven...theoretically.  Since that's never ever happened to me.

So, this was a really long post to describe such a simple process.  You just have to try it, and let me know how it turns out, OK? 

Click below for a handy, dandy printable easy bread recipe...

And a black and white version is here.

________________________________________________________________

Note: This easy bread recipe has become the basis for a lot of our family favorite recipes...it makes an incredible pizza crust!  Here are all the recipes that use this dough as the base: