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 stretch and folds' bread. This bread recipe is best as an open faced avocado toast, grilled cheese or to enjoy with soup!
With only 3 ingredients and 3 hours, 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 dutch over or large oven safe pot (I use a tall stainless steel soup pot)
Parchment paper
1 tsp Dry active yeast
1 ½ cups Water (luke warm)
1 tsp Salt
3 cups (unpacked) (about 360g) Bread Flour
1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Kitchen towel
Mixing your dough
- Mix water, yeast and salt together in a large bowl.
- Dump in flour.
- Mix well with clean hands until you have a shaggy dough
- Try your best to form a dough ball.
- In another bowl pour in the olive oil.
- Lay the dough ball in the oiled bowl.
- Cover with a towel and proof in a warm area. I proof in my oven. Make sure the oven isn't on!
Proofing your dough
For this no-knead bread, you only need to proof your dough for 3 hours.
I like to keep an eye on the dough. When it's doubled in size, it's ready for baking. 2-4 hours is a nice sweet spot. I usually make the dough around 2-3PM and bake right before dinner time! Nothing like fresh baked bread with dinner.
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. Remember, dough should be DOUBLED in size!
Prepare your dough for the oven
Dust some flour on parchment paper to prevent any sticking. Pull dough from the sides of the proofing bowl. I like to tuck and roll to create a smooth top. I tuck the edges under the dough blob. The idea is to make a circle. Plop your dough on the floured surface and dust the top with the flour that was sprinkled on the parchment.
I cut a long slit on the top of the loaf to help the rise. Trim the sides of the parchment paper before transferring to your pot/dutch oven.
Once your dough is happily snug in a pot/dutch oven, it’s ready to bake!
Baking your bread
Bake for about 65-70 minutes (uncover for the last 5-10 minutes)
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. 20-30 mins to an hour. If you're inpatient like me and or want hot bread, it's not totally wrong to cut into your loaf after 10 minutes.
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 3hours, bake for an hour & then EAT!
Enjoy my friends!