Dutch Oven Artisan Bread

This amazing Dutch Oven Artisan Bread couldn't be easier to make. With just a handful of ingredients and very little hands-on time you can have a freshly baked loaf of homemade bread on the table. You may never go back to store-bought bread again.

Course bread

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 35

Total Time 3 45

Servings

Calories 276kcal

Equipment

Ingredients

6 1/2 cups flour
1 tbsp yeast
5 tsp salt
3 cups very warm water
1/3 cup honey

Instructions

Put the flour in a large bowl. Put the yeast on one side, and the salt on the other. You don't want them to touch before adding the liquids.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the water and honey. Add to the flour and stir until combined. The dough will look a little scraggly.
Cover the bowl with a damp dish towel and let rise for two hours.
After the dough has had a chance to rise, lay a sheet of parchment on the counter and dust it lightly with flour. If you want to make two smaller loaves of bread, divide the dough in half. The other half can be stored in the fridge in a covered container for up to three days.
Gently dump the dough from the bowl straight onto the floured parchment. Without handling the dough too much, gently shape the dough into a round loaf.
Place a large bowl over the dough and let it rise for another 30-40 minutes.
After 15-20 minutes, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Make sure your rack is on the lowest rack. You might need to remove the other rack while baking the bread.
Ten minutes before the dough is ready, place your dutch oven and allow it to heat up.
After ten minutes, carefully remove the hot pot from the preheated oven.
Remove the bowl from on top of the dough. Carefully lift up the dough by grabbing the corners of the parchment paper. Gently lift the dough, with the paper, into the dutch oven.
Lightly flour the top of the dough then use a sharp knife to cut 3 slices into the top of the loaf. The slits should be about 1/4" deep and will allow steam to escape and the bread to expand while baking.
Lower the oven temperature to 400 degrees. Place the lid on the dutch oven, covering the bread. Place the pot in the oven and bake for 28 minutes.
After 28 minutes, remove the lid from the dutch oven and bake the bread, uncovered, for another 5-10 minutes (total cooking time is 33-38 minutes).
The bread is done when it is lightly browned and cooked through. After taking the bread out of the oven, immediately use the parchment to lift the loaf out of the pot and place on a rack to cool. Otherwise, the bread will continue to cook and the bottom crust will become tough and hard to slice.
Allow to rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing and devouring.

Nutrition