Artisan Bread (with less than 10 minutes of work!)

We are all busy. It's unfortunate, but true. However, few people are truly too busy to make this bread. It takes less than 5 minutes on day 1, and then less than 5 minutes on day 2 to make this bread. (Of course, additional time is needed for rising and baking, but those happen without you even needed to be in the kitchen.

It is almost automatic bread. And it is absolutely delicious. Bread this good might be illegal in some jurisdictions!

My Homemade Artisanal Bread
Makes 10 slices, each approximately 1.5 ounces.

My recipe (for 4 one-pound loaves)

Whisk together:

3 cups tepid water (95-105F)

1 tablespoon yeast (any dry yeast)

1 tablespoon salt (any type)

Stir in 6.5 cups of flour. Any flour works, but 100% whole wheat is a challenge. Mixing white with whole wheat and/or rye work well. I usually use at 4 cups general purpose white with 2.5 cups of whole wheat. As long as you use a total of 6.5 cups of flour, you will end up with bread.

Stir just until everything is wet and combined. Do not knead--ever. Cover loosely, and let rise on the counter for 2-3 hours (if you forget overnight, don’t worry, it will not ruin the bread.) Place in the refrigerator overnight.

The next day, cut 1/4 of the dough out. Dust with flour. Working quickly, form the dough into a ball. 

For the greatest ease, place the formed loaf of a corn-meal dusted pizza peel.

                                                        

                                            Picture from Amazon. I use this exact Pizza Peel. 

Let the dough rise for 40 minutes. These make free-form round loaves, not rectangles.  Do not bake in traditional bread pans.

Preheat oven and baking stone to 450. Boil 2 cups of water, and pour into an oven safe dish and place in the oven while pre-heating. (The water creates steam to help develop a very crunchy crust. It will work without the steam, but the crust isn't as nice.)

When the dough has risen, make several shallow cuts in the surface of the dough. Sprinkle corn meal on baking stone and place dough on the corn meal. Bake for 35 minutes.

The dough will keep in the fridge for up to 14 days and as it ages, the flavor develops into more of a sour dough character. When the last of the dough is used, do not wash the container. Immediately refill with the ingredients for more bread (this will quickly develop that wonderful sour dough flavor.

Nutritional Data:

Calories:         66

Fat:                0.4g

Sat fat:           0.1g

Chol:              0mg

Sodium:  117.2mg

Carbs:          14.2g

Fiber:             2.4g

Protein:          2.7g

------------------------------

Finding simple ways to enjoy life, and yet stick to both a financial and calories budgets are common themes on my Make Your Someday Today podcast, We all want the best of all possible options. When you take a little time to make your own, you get the best results.