Best Bread Recipe

This is the only bread recipe you’ll ever need. I used this recipe to make a nice side to our Christmas dinner and there was none leftover, not a single crumb. The Best Bread Recipe produces a fluffy on the inside, chewy crunchy outside loaf - you’ll find excuses to make sandwiches just to have a slice. You don’t need tons of time or to slave over dough to make the Best Bread Recipe, that’s part of what makes it the best!

Ingredients

1 1/2 tablespoons yeast

3 cups warm water (100F)

1 tablespoon sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

6 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour, some on hand for dusting

Method

In a large bowl, mix sugar with water and yeast. Add flour and salt, mixing until there are no dry patches. The dough will be loose. Cover with a clean towel and let it rise for 2-5 hours. *Tip: Oil a piece of cling wrap and loosely place it over the bowl to keep the dough from touching the towel.

When you are ready to bake, deflate the dough(wet your hands to make it a little easier) gently. A wet dough will make a crustier bread, a drier dough will make a chewier bread. Either way, it’s delicious. Heat oven to 450F. You can place a dutch oven, pizza stone, cast iron skillet, or pan in the oven while it pre-heats.

Once pre-heated, place dough in hot dutch oven, on pizza stone, cast iron skillet, whatever it is you’re baking your bread on. Be careful! If you have a lid for your dutch oven place the lid on for 30 minutes and remove for the last 5 minutes. If you are using something without a lid- no worries- bake for 35 minutes until the outside is golden brown.

Cool completely before slicing and enjoy!