The Easiest Homemade Bread in The Game
Just because we have nowhere to be, doesn’t mean we can’t cut corners!
Are we still making bread at home, gang? I mean, why not? We certainly have the time. That said, using a recipe that takes multiple days to complete is just not in the cards for me. I lose interest in any recipe that requires more than two hours of my attention. That said, one of my dear friends did the dang thang last weekend, and made my family three loaves of gorgeous 2-day-process sourdough, and lemme tell you… THEY WERE SO GOOD. Like shed a tear good. So, if you are able to find sourdough starter in your neighborhood, perhaps at a local bakery, you can go that route too. This recipe is not that.
A few weeks ago, when my family was in a pinch and “needed” bread, I scoured Youtube to find a lil’ bit quicker version of the classic Mark Bittman “No-Knead Bread,” which takes about 22 hours total. Mark, I bet your bread is glorious. But twenty hours rest time? That’s aggressive.
I successfully found a quickie no-knead, crunchy, addicting loaf that blew away my whole family. The recipe takes about 1 hour and 45 minutes total, and the end result is crusty, airy, deliciousness. All you need is flour, self-rising yeast, salt and warm water (+ anything else you might want to add into the mix, I threw in leftover olives this time), as well as a dutch oven like this one—preferably five quart in size, the rounder the better to achieve some height. I hope you guys love this recipe as much as my fam does. It’s the perfect addition to any family style lunch or dinner—served warm and straight out of the oven, of course.
Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour (+ roughly 2 tablespoons for shaping)
2 teaspoons self-rising yeast
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups hot (not boiling!!) water
Optional: 1 cup olives
Preparation:
Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl.
Slowly fold in the warm water until combined—don’t over mix!
Cover bowl with plastic wrap, and let rest for 45 minutes.
After 45 minutes, pre-heat the oven to 450F.
Place dutch oven inside oven, empty, and let it get nice and toasty.
Remove dough from bowl and place on a well floured surface.
Flatten the dough and spread olives onto it.
Fold dough in half about 10-12 times, and then roughly form it into a ball.
Place dough into parchment-lined bowl, cover with a dish towel and let sit for another 15 minutes.
Remove dutch oven from the oven, and lift the parchment-lined dough into it.
With the lid on, place dutch oven back into the oven and let bread bake for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, remove the lid of the dutch oven, as well as the parchment paper, and let bread bake another 15 minutes uncovered.
When golden brown in color, remove bread from oven and let sit for about 10 minutes before going iiiin.
Enjoy warm with some good olive oil. Bone apple tea!
