No need to visit the fancy bakery when you can make this Artisan Bread Recipe at home!! The dough comes together in 5 minutes and can be refrigerated for 14 days, making it easy to have freshly baked bread every night!
Photos Updated November 2014
We are surrounded by many different “trends” every day. Fashion is a big one. And there are financial trends, and weather trends, and definitely food trends. Before I discovered food blogging, I never really knew there were food trends. I just kind of made what I wanted, without realizing what the world around me was doing. But my eyes have been opened – in a good way. There are 2 big trends I’ve noticed in the food blogging world lately. The first is Dorie Greenspan. I think her newest book has taken over the blogging world. I’d be surprised to find more than a handful of food bloggers that haven’t heard about her, or that don’t have the book. The second trend that has hit us lately is the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois. It’s like the no-knead bread that took the world by storm a while back, but everyone claims this is even better. So when I was lucky enough to win a copy of this book from Steamy Kitchen awhile back, I was ecstatic. When I received the book, I read all of the beginning instructions many times. But being the procrastinator that I am, it took me a couple of weeks until I finally decided to try it out.
I love bread. I could eat it with every meal. But then I’d have to buy a whole new wardrobe, because unfortunately, I don’t have a metabolism that can handle bread at every meal! So while I love to make bread, I don’t do it a whole lot. And since there are only 2 of us, I thought I’d be safe making a half batch of this artisan bread recipe. I mixed everything up and stuck it in the fridge to be made another day.
I got 2 loaves out of a half recipe. The first loaf I made to serve with our Valentine’s Day dinner. And do you know what? It really does take 5 minutes or less of hands on time, and I was able to make this after work and have hot bread on the table for dinner. I did have a little problem with that first loaf, though. From the front, it looked really pretty. But from the back? I don’t know what happened, but part of the underside did something funky and blew out the bottom!! I had a good laugh about it, but it didn’t affect the taste at all. My husband and I ate the whole loaf at dinner that night, still hot from the oven. We dipped it in some olive oil, and it was almost like we were eating out!
The second loaf turned out better all the way around. As much as I enjoyed the first loaf, the second one was even better!! I was able to shape and slash it a little better (I’m getting better at this every time!) and I loved the taste of it even more. It says in the book that the longer the dough sits in the fridge, the more of a sourdough flavor it will take on, and it really does.
So is this artisan bread recipe really worth all of the hype around it?? You bet it is! Not only is it way easier than traditional bread making, but it is way faster, and the only way I can have fresh bread on the table for dinner while working all day long!!
Check out these other breads made from this book. And if these posts don’t make you want to run out and buy the book, I don’t know what will!
Sticky Pecan Caramel Cinnamon Rolls from Steamy Kitchen
No Knead Brioche with Pink Almond Praline from Tartlette
Challah from Jumbo Empanadas
Brioche Filled with Chocolate Ganache from My Kitchen Treasures
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- 3 cups lukewarm water, about 100ºF
- 1½ tablespoons granulated yeast
- 1½ tablespoons kosher or other coarse salt
- 6½ cups unsifted, unbleached, all-purpose white flour
- Add the yeast and the salt to the water in a large bowl (5 quart) or container with a resealable lid. Add the flour all at once. Mix with a wooden spoon until the mixture is uniform. (You can also mix it in a heavy duty stand mixer.) If it becomes to hard to mix, you can mix it with wet hands until it all comes together. It is finished when there are no dry patches and everything is uniform - kneading is not necessary.
- Cover the container with a non-airtight lid. Allow the dough to rise at room temperature until it flattens on top or starts to collapse, about 2 hours (depending on the temperature and water temperature.)
- You can use the dough at this point, or refrigerate the dough if not using right away.
- Sprinkle the surface of the dough with flour. Pull up on the dough, and using a serrated knife, cut off a 1-pound piece of dough (the size of a grapefruit). Hold the dough in your hands and add a little more flour if needed so that it doesn't stick to your hands. Stretch the dough around to the bottom on all sides, rotating the dough as you do. (The bottom of the ball will look like a bunch of bunched ends.) Do this until the ball is smooth.
- Place the ball of dough on a pizza peel sprinkled with cornmeal or lined with parchment paper. Allow the dough to rest for 40 minutes.
- minutes before the resting time is over, preheat a baking stone in the oven set to 450ºF.
- Dust the top of the dough with flour, then slash the top with a serrated knife, going about ¼” deep. (More instructions on different designs in the book.) Place an empty broiling pan on a rack below the baking stone.
- Slide the dough off of the pizza peel onto the baking stone. Quickly pour about 1 cup of water into the broiling pan and close the oven door quickly to trap the steam.
- Bake the loaf for about 30 minutes, until the crust is browned. Allow the loaf to cool completely, preferably on a wire rack, for best flavor and texture.
- Store the remaining dough in the refrigerator for up to 14 days. The flavor and texture will improve over time.
Total time does not include refrigeration time.
Recipe from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day
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More bread recipes perfect for dinnertime:
Around the Web:
Potato Rolls from Chef in Training
Savory Garlic and Thyme Buttermilk Biscuits from Foodness Gracious
Foolproof Homemade Pretzel Bread from With Salt and Wit
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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
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.
PS – I was just out in Utah!
I am really glad you added the brioche link to your post
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!
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.
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.
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!
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!
I really MUST get this book!!
Mmmm, I love a good crusty bread. Sounds like a great cookbook. I’ll definitely have to check it out!
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.
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!!
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.
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!
lol! that is one funky shape!
Wow! That’s amazing. It looks magnificent. I want some!
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!
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….
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.
Your loaf looks spectacular. Although I try not to follow trends (fashion, food..etc) I am craving to mak this bread right now!
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.
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!
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.
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!
I have heard so much about this! I think I will just cave in one day to get it.
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!
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.
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!!!
I’m so happy to have found your review of this book. I enjoyed reading your site!