Make your own 3 ingredient bread at home
What this is not
This is not a 'grow your own starter, 4 business days of proofing & 5 rounds of kneading' bread. This bread recipe is more for an open faced avocado toast or to enjoy with soup.
With only 3 ingredients and a good night's sleep, you can be an artisan bread maker at home without all the extra ingredients shelf stable bread contains.
What you’ll need
2 large mixing bowls
1 Sheet pan, oven safe stainless steel pot or a dutch oven
Parchment paper
1/2 tsp Dry active yeast
1 ½ cups Water
1/2 tsp Salt
3 cups (360g) Flour
Proofing your dough
I’ve tested a few methods and found one I enjoyed best. For a no-knead bread, you can proof your dough for anywhere from 3-16 hours. I know … that's a large time difference, so which time is best? Lucky for you I tested 3 different times.
With a 2-4 hour proof your bread will be a bit more dense.
With a 12 hour proof your bread will be tall and fluffy. (my personal favorite)
With a 13-16 hour proof I found that that loaf wasn’t as tall. It could be that the dough was over-proofed. But nonetheless the bread was delicious.
In summary, the proofing process doesn't need to be something overly stressed. The goal is to put a buttered slice of bread in our face hole ASAP. So, choose your proofing time as you see fit. But to be safe - wait 12 hours IMO! You can certainly bake it after 2-4 hours.
Pro Tip
Best time to make your dough would be the night before and let it proof while you're sleeping.
Prepare your dough - Sheet pan
Once your dough is ready, take a piece of parchment paper the same length/ width as the sheet pan you plan to bake on, dust a generous amount of flour, to prevent sticking, on the parchment paper before placing your dough blog in the center.
I like to do a pull and fold method to form a circle shape with the bread.
Once your dough is shaped, it’s ready for the oven!
Prepare your dough - Dutch oven or oven safe stainless steel pot
As your oven is preheating, place your pot or dutch oven in the oven to preheat.
Follow all the instructions above to prepare your dough for baking. Just transport the dough into the pot with the parchment paper still under the dough. It will bake on top of the parchment paper.
Baking your bread
Sheet pan - Cook for about an hour.
Dutch Oven or Pot - Cook 30 mins covered and 30-35 mins uncovered.
425 degrees
*You’re looking for a cracked golden crust. Feel for a hollow inside by tapping the top of your loaf.
When to slice your bread
Wait for your loaf to cool before cutting. 45 mins to an hour
How to store your bread
A loaf doesn’t last long in my house. To be safe. Eat within 3-4 days. Or slice and freeze to keep longer.
Reminder
This is supposed to be simple! Make your dough, proof for 12 hours, bake for an hour & then EAT!
Enjoy my friends!