No need to visit the fancy bakery when you can make this Artisan Bread at home! The no knead dough comes together in 5 minutes and can be refrigerated for up to 14 days, making it easy to have freshly baked bread every night.
There is nothing like a fresh slice of bread with a hot bowl of soup or a big plate of pasta! This Artisan Bread is so easy, you’ll easily be able to have fresh bread on the dinner table!
Bread is my love language. I am not that girl that can pass up the bread basket on the table. In fact, I’ll usually take the bread before I take the dinner.
And freshly baked, homemade bread? I cannot resist.
If you are like me, what would you do if I told you that it only takes 5 minutes of hands on time to have fresh bread?
Why You’ll Love This Bread
I know that bread can be intimidating to some people. I totally get it. I’ve had plenty of times when my bread didn’t rise, or when it burns on the outside but is raw on the inside, or when I just end up with hockey puck dinner rolls.
But this bread will make a bread baker out of anyone.
It is so easy. Really, anyone can make it.
This artisan bread is the best for many reasons.
1st – it’s easy. Only 5 minutes of hands on time.
2nd – it only takes 4 ingredients. And one of those is water. I bet you have everything on hand to make it right now.
3rd – make up a batch of the dough and you have enough for 4 loaves of bread. Make one tonight, refrigerate the dough, and make another loaf tomorrow. Or the next day. The dough can actually be refrigerated for up to 14 days, and it gets better with time!
Ingredients
Water: You want water that is just warmer than room temperature. If you have an instant read thermometer, you can try to get it around 100ºF, but it doesn’t need to be exact. You just don’t want it too warm because you want it to rise slowly.
Yeast: You could use rapid rise yeast or active dry yeast, but I suggest using active dry yeast. If you do use rapid rise yeast, I would cut the amount down by about 25%.
Salt: You will get the best results by using a coarse salt. I use coarse kosher salt, but any coarse salt should work.
Flour: I use regular all-purpose flour. You could definitely use bread flour, if you prefer. It will give you a chewier texture. But I usually just use all-purpose flour!
How to Make Artisan Bread
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- Pour the water into a large bowl, then add the yeast and salt.
- Use a wooden spoon to stir it together.
- Add the flour all at once.
- Use the spoon to stir everything together.
- Continue to stir until you don’t have any dry patches. The dough will be sticky, but you don’t need to go crazy. Just make sure it’s mixed.
- Cover the bowl with a towel or with plastic wrap. Set it in a warm place to rise.
- Allow it to rise until it starts to flatten on top. At this point you can bake the dough or refrigerate it to use it later.
- When you’re ready to bake the bread, sprinkle the surface with flour, then use your hands and a serrated knife to cut 1/4 of the dough.
- Start pulling all of the edges to the bottom, making the top semi smooth.
- Place the ball on a piece of parchment paper or on a pizza peel dusted with cornmeal.
- Cover, and let the dough rise again.
- Sprinkle the top of the dough with flour.
- Use a serrated knife or very sharp kitchen knife to score the top of the loaf.
How to Bake Artisan Bread
There are a few ways you can bake this bread:
On a Pizza Stone: This is my preferred way to bake artisan bread. Simply preheat the pizza stone in oven 30 minutes before you want to bake the bread. Place a dish or a broiling pan on the bottom shelf of the oven. Transfer the dough to the pizza stone with a pizza peel, then immediately pour about 1 cup of water in the broiling pan and shut the oven door. Bake until the bread is browned and cooked through.
On a Baking Sheet: The process is much the same as a pizza stone, except you don’t need to preheat the baking sheet in the oven. Simply place the dough on the baking sheet and transfer the baking sheet to the oven to bake. You will still want to do the broiling pan with the water.
In a Dutch Oven: If you have a dutch oven with a lid, this is also an option. You’ll want to make bigger loaves, getting 2 loaves from this recipe instead of 4. Shape your dough on a piece of parchment paper so that it is easy to transfer. Cover and let it rise. Preheat the dutch oven in the oven for 30 minutes with the lid on. Remove the pot from the oven and transfer the dough on the parchment paper into the dutch oven. Put the lid back on and bake for 30 minutes, then remove the lid and continue to bake until browned and cooked through, another 10-15 minutes.
Tips and Tricks
- This bread gets better the longer you refrigerate the dough. It is delicious when you make it right away, but continues to develop more flavor the longer it is refrigerated.
- As tempting as it is to eat the bread straight from the oven, allow it to cool before serving for the best texture.
- I like to shape mine into rounds, but you could always do longer loaves, as well.
- Feel free to make larger loaves by dividing the dough into 3 portions instead of 4.
How to Store It
Once the dough is made, you can keep it in the refrigerator with a non-airtight lid for up to 14 days.
When the bread is baked, you can keep any leftovers in a plastic or paper bag for a couple of days. It will start to dry out, so if it gets to that point, you may want to toast it and use it for crostini, turn it into breadcrumbs, or make homemade croutons.
You can also freeze the baked bread. Make sure the bread is completely cooled, then wrap in plastic wrap and then foil. Freeze for up to 6 months.
More Bread Recipes
White Bread Recipe
Polenta Bread
Dinner Roll Recipe
Whole Wheat Rolls
Easy French Bread
Potato Bread
Artisan Bread
Ingredients
- 3 cups 720mL lukewarm water, about 100ºF
- 1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast
- 1 1/2 tablespoons coarse salt
- 6 1/2 cups 845g all-purpose flour
Instructions
Make the dough:
- In a large bowl*, mix together the water, yeast and salt.
- Add the flour all at once. Stir with a wooden spoon until there are no dry patches and everything is uniform. There is no need to knead the dough.
- Cover the bowl with a non-airtight lid or with a kitchen towel. Allow the dough to rise until it flattens on top, about 2 hours. The time will be determined by the temperature of the water that you used and the temperature of the room.
- If making the bread right away, continue on to baking the bread. If not using right away, refrigerate, covered in the non-airtight container for up to 14 days.
Bake the bread:
- Sprinkle the surface of the dough with flour. Using your hands, pull up the dough and cut a portion (1/4 of the dough, about the size of a grapefruit) with a serrated knife.
- Stretch the dough around to the bottom of the ball, rotating so that the bottom looks like a bund of ends and the top is smooth.
- Place the dough on a piece of parchment paper or a cornmeal dusted pizza peel. You can also just use a baking sheet. Cover the dough and let it rest for 40 minutes. (If the refrigerated dough is being used, let it rise for 60-90 minutes.)
- While the dough is resting, preheat a pizza stone in the oven at 450ºF for 30 minutes. (If you are not using a pizza stone, you won’t need the oven to be preheated for as long, but you will want it up to temperature before the rising time is up.)
- After the dough has risen, lightly dust the top with flour. Use a serrated knife to slash the top of the bread. You can do 2 or 3 parallel slashes, or an x, or get creative with your slashes.
- Place an empty broiling pan in the oven under the pizza stone.
- Slide the dough onto the pizza stone. Quickly pour about 1 cup of water into the broiling pan, and quickly shut the oven door to trap the steam.
- Bake for about 30 minutes, until the crust is browned.
- Allow the bread to cool completely before cutting for the best flavor and texture.
Glenys Johnson says
This is the best artisan bread I’ve ever made. It’s perfect in taste and texture. I love the crunchy crust.
Deborah says
Thanks so much, Glenys! I’m glad you have been enjoying the bread.
Glenys Johnson says
I’ve made this recipe 4 times now and every time it turns out perfect.
Super Mommio says
This bread turned out well, and what a bonus that it requires so little effort! Also, it’s such a great idea to make one big dough batch, that can then sit in the fridge for 2 weeks, waiting to be used.
Deborah says
I’m so glad you liked it. Yes – such a bonus that it is so simple!
Theresa Lukes says
It was easy and turned out really good!
Tiffany says
Deborah! I’ve never been very successful at bread making, until this bread! Thank you! My family loved it. It was super simple and I am definitely saving this recipe.
Jodie says
The best and easiest bread recipe ever-I bake mine in a Dutch oven-35 min with lid on and 5 or so with lid off-so good!
Jo says
Did i miss how many loaves this recipe makes?
Deborah says
You should get 4 round loaves.
Carly says
I’ve never baked bread before I tried this recipe, and it turned out great! Definitely will make again.
Roy Brown says
Excellent recipe one of the best loaves of bread I’ve made!
Dayamy Cabrera says
This recipe is AWESOME!! You made this super easy for someone is a beginners. Thank you! ❤️
Barbara says
Just a quick quesion.
When storing the Dough in the refrigerator, do you Store it in a closed container or loosly covered?
Deborah says
I will usually loosely cover it – not in a closed container.
SBek says
It turned out amazing. Thank you for sharing your recipes.
Adam Rowe says
This is the first loaf of bread I have ever made. 1/4 the recipe and just made 1 bun. It was fantastic!
Debbie Schmitz says
I can’t wait to make this bread but I don’t have a baking stone, could I just bake it on the pizza pan?
Deborah says
Yes – that should work just fine!
John Doe says
I loved this recipe so much!
Norah Funk says
Where is the recipe? All I see is a description and pictures, but no recipe. This sounds like just the thing for bread bowls and is love to try it!
Deborah says
So sorry about that! It got deleted somehow but it’s back up!
Janie Poor says
It really is as easy as you said, we love being able to have fresh bread at any time. Thank you for sharing your recipe, I look forward to seeing more of your posts.
Trina Kruse says
very easy to make almist too simple although i added about 2 tsp sugar just to give the yeast something to eat on for activation,
MARSHA says
I have made this many times. We love it!! But please tell me if I can add a little sugar to sometimes change it up a bit?
Brooklyn says
Yes you can add sugar! Mixing maybe 2 tsp in with the water and yeast will actually help the gluten form for fluffier bread 🙂
Linda stansell says
Can I bake the bread in a glass bowl?
Ellijo says
This is a great Artisan bread recipe. I made it and it turned out so good. I’m going to make it again and add my 12 grain mix to it and see what happens. Thanks for sharing!
Alliscirp says
This recipe is so simple and amazing. I have never been a bread maker but I rolled out some hot fresh bread that was pretty darn good. I added a bit too much salt but it had great texture. The first one I cooked in a Dutch oven, and it was crusty and really crunchy on the outside. The others I just cooked on a pan and they were also good. I fried a little garlic and put it in evoo for dipping. It was so good! Thank you so much!
Ryansmom says
I’m so happy to have found your review of this book. I enjoyed reading your site!
Tiffany says
I had never heard of Dorie until I started reading food blogs. I kept reading about this Dorie person and couldn’t figure out who she was. Then I figured it out. Still don’t have any of her cookbooks. I don’t know, maybe I’m a non-conformist…but since I get so tired of reading about her stuff I just don’t want to do it myself…LOL!!!
Judy says
I discovered this book awhile back while following a thread on eGullet. Zoe will answer any questions you have about the whole process. Looks like I should get a copy and get started.
kellypea says
Clearly, I’m not going to be able to avoid making this bread any longer. I see it everywhere and everyone raves about it. When you mentioned that it gets more like sourdough the longer it’s in the fridge, I was a gonner!
Mandy says
I have heard so much about this! I think I will just cave in one day to get it.
kat says
I love this book too & bought it for my Dad who uses it all the time. We make the Buttermilk bread from it for our sandwich bread & it is sooo good!
Tart Reform says
Wow. Hadn’t heard of it till your post…and now Amazon is shipping it my way. You should totally be getting part of the profits!
oh, and the exploded bread looks great! I wanna know what it looked like while baking and exploding.
StickyGooeyCreamyChewy says
Hi, Deborah! Your bread looks beautiful! Isn’t that cookbook the best!? I need to make up another batch of dough this weekend and try another one of thos great recipes.
Thanks so much for the link!
Katia says
I am so glad you posted about this- I have been wondering if I should get that book. I am excited the bread turned out as well as it did- can’t wait to try it! Thanks.
Warda says
Your loaf looks spectacular. Although I try not to follow trends (fashion, food..etc) I am craving to mak this bread right now!
Bellini Valli says
I have bookmarked this bread to try out when my daughter is here at Easter. Like you my hips repel bread so I have to deprive myself. But that loaf of occasional bread does taste extremely good straight from the oven slathered in butter.
Susan from Food Blogga says
I’ve got Dorie’s book (it is amazing), but I don’t have the second one. Thanks for alerting me to it. Now, if I only had room on my book shelf….
kelly.dee says
I love that book! But it’s easy to catch “Bread Making Disease” or “Eating a Loaf of Bread Every Single Night” Syndrome.
It is so addictive!
sher says
Wow! That’s amazing. It looks magnificent. I want some!
SteamyKitchen says
lol! that is one funky shape!
White On Rice Couple says
You blew out the bottom…it’s so cute! Too bad you ate it all ready, cause we’d offer you to take it. The crust looks marvelous!
Kevin says
That bread looks nice! The Artisan Bread book does sound interesting. I will have to flip through a copy at the bookstore to get a better look at it.
Arfi Binsted says
Your love of bread is just like my love of rice. I don’t really eat bread but I do love making them. Funny, but I love the process and the satisfaction given from the results. Good on you, Deborah!!
mimi says
i love the photo of your bread, the crust and bubbles make it look so absolutely must. eat. now! i’ll have to go check out this book now before i start salivating over everyone else’s yummy creations.
Jenny says
Mmmm, I love a good crusty bread. Sounds like a great cookbook. I’ll definitely have to check it out!
RecipeGirl says
I really MUST get this book!!
ruthEbabes says
Your bread looks great! I just wish we had done this for the last daring bakers challenge… it would have saved a lot of time!
glamah16 says
I was one of those handful, but know I know. I’m just going to have to click on one of these links to add to my collection. Most likely the bread book, as CS would prefer me to bake bread rather than tons of sweets.
Your bread looks like its giving birth! Its like a double yolked egg, which some consider a lucky omen!
linda says
When I read Tartelette’s post this morning I already thought that I had to have this book. Your lovely breads have only enhanced that.
Brilynn says
I have a picture of a loaf that looks just like that!!! I read in the book what the problem was though: when you slid the dough into the oven there probably wasn’t enough flour or cornmeal on the board you were using and it stuck a little. And if it got stuck there was probably a rip in the dough, that rip is the cause of your exploding dough. I simply added more cornmeal to the board when I made my second loaf and didn’t have that problem anymore.
Gretchen Noelle says
Lucky you! I have tried the no-knead pizza dough and absolutely love not only the quickness but the taste is terrific! Can’t wait for this recipe, it looks tasty!
Happy cook says
I am really glad you added the brioche link to your post
Madam Chow says
PS – I was just out in Utah!
Madam Chow says
I just got this book, and I’m soooo looking forward to making things from it! Have heard a lot of positive things about it.
Happy cook says
I think it is a wonderful book this. I saw it in jadens place , ofcourse i didn’t win the book , lucky you 🙂
I bought them and have made the sticky rolls and also the brioche filled with chocolate gnache and both were easy and delicious