One of my husband’s favorite things is bread. Ok, let’s be real everyone loves bread. I was always scared by the daunting idea of creating bread from scratch. The grocery store is literally half a mile from my door, and the thought of wasting all that flour that could become a beautiful cake brought a tear to my eye. This quick Dutch Oven homemade bread was incredibly easy and remarkably fun and I didn’t shed one tear.
Last year brought many things, but empty grocery store shelves was something I thought I would never see. Faced with no bread in sight, a husband going through carb withdrawals, and two little girls who NEEDED peanut butter and jelly I realized I had no other choice, it was now or never we “kneaded” bread. Also, this bread making skill may come in handy if if transported back in time like Claire from Outlander. (Yes, last year also brought many Netflix binges).
If you can stop yourself from eating this homemade bread right out of the oven, you will be amazed at all the other uses it has. Some of the transformations for this bread include a bread bowl for soup, bruschetta, making your own homemade breadcrumbs, stuffed French toast, and my favorite, The Perfect Healthier Grilled Cheese.
Ingredients
- 4 cups flour (Gluten free flour works just as well)
- 2 cups warm water
- 2 tsp Sugar
- 2 tsp Active Dry Yeast
- 2 tsp Kosher Salt
- Dutch Oven
- Hand Towel
- Olive Oil
- Parchment Paper
Directions
- After all of your materials and setting the oven to pre-heat at 450℉.
- Add 2 tsp sugar to the 2 cups of warm water, stirring it to help dissolve.
- Then add 2 tsp active dry yeast to the sugar water mixture and allow to sit for 5-10 minutes until bubbly.
- In a large mixing bowl add 4 cups flour and 2 tsp Kosher salt, stir until combined.
- Incorporate the warm water, sugar, yeast mixture and kneed using your hands until fully integrated.
- Once the dough is formed separate it into 2 sections.
- Use olive oil to grease two bowls, form the dough into a ball and place into bowl covering with a hand towel for about an hour.
- Punch the dough down and reform into a ball.
- Put parchment paper in your dutch oven and transfer one of the doughs into the pan allowing it to rise again for 30 minutes.
- Place the lid on the dutch oven and place into the 425℉ oven for 15 minutes.
- Remove the lid (being very careful because it is hot) and bake an additional 15-20 minutes at 350℉
- The bread will be golden brown on top when it is completely baked.
- To remove loaf of bread from the pan you can hold on to the edges of the parchment paper and slowly guide the loaf to the top of the pan.
