The other day I decided to make a soup for dinner and thought it would be nice to have a bread to dip into the broth. This recipe is perfect for those split decisions as it only requires a few minutes of work and sits for just three hours before baking.
I should mention that this is not going to produce that light, crispy bread you know and love, but this is a great bread for dipping or even slicing for sandwiches.
Tips and techniques
- With dry active yeast, you technically don’t need to activate it, but I usually do mainly just to make sure the yeast is good (sometimes it will go stale or just be a bum packet). Your yeast should be good if it dissolves well into the water and gets a bit frothy
- When I mix my dough together, I like to use my hands. It’s extremely difficult to stir with just a spoon and with a dough hook, a lot of the dough get stuck on it, and it’s kind of a pain. It may be messy, but I always feel it’s the best way to get the dough fully combine and not waste anything! (Just be sure not to over-knead this dough)
- Stretching and folding the dough is a common technique in bread-making used to strengthen the dough before baking. It’s done simply the way it sounds, by stretching the dough out and then folding it over on itself. I usually do this about 5 to 6 times
⟶ the recipe
same-day bread loaf
ingredients
3 cups bread flour (or all-purpose)
1 ½ cups warm water
2 teaspoons dry active yeast
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
Prep time
3 hours and 5 minutes
Cook time
40 minutes
Total time
3 hours and 45 minutes
1 medium loaf
instructions
Activate the yeast in warm water for about 2 minutes. Add olive oil, and stir in flour and salt. Mix dough until it’s completely combined. It should be slightly sticky, but not to the point where it completely adheres to your hands. Cover tightly with Saran Wrap and a dish towel and let sit for about 3 hours at room temp.
About an hour before baking, preheat oven to 450 degrees, and place a large Dutch oven with the lid inside to heat up.
After 3 hours or so, your dough should have risen to about twice its original size. Sprinkle some flour on the counter and lightly coat your dough with it while stretching and folding a few times.
Shape dough into a circle and transfer to a piece of parchment paper. Remove your Dutch oven and carefully place parchment paper with dough inside.
Bake with the lid on for about 30 minutes. Remove lid, and bake for 10 more minutes or until the top of the bread is brown and crispy. Once it has cooled for a few minutes, carefully remove the parchment paper and bread from the Dutch oven and place bread on a cooling rack until ready to serve.
⟶ recipe notes
- If you don’t have a Dutch oven to bake in, you can use a different type of oven-proof pot, or you can place the bread on a baking sheet with parchment paper (although it may not be as round when finished baking)
⟶ make it ahead
- You can let the bread sit for more than 3 hours, or, if you want to make a day ahead, refrigerate the bread in a bowl covered in plastic wrap. Remove it from the fridge about 3 hours before baking
