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 tablespoons salt

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

Method

In a large bowl mix sugar with water, add yeast. Add flour and salt, mixing until there are no dry patches. The dough will be loose. Cover with a clean towel and let dough rise for 2-5 hours.

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!