With the covid-19 pandemic forcing people to stay indoors, baking bread has seen a massive surge in popularity.
More and more people are learning how to bake bread, to relieve stress and pass their time since all you’ll need is yeast, flour, water, and Dutch ovens for baking delicious bread at home.
It doesn’t matter if you are just starting on your bread baking adventure because these five easy bread baking recipes are for everyone!
No-knead french oven bread
This no-knead recipe is as simple as it gets and skips kneading the dough altogether.
Ingredients
- 1 and a half cup of warm water
- 3 cups of all-purpose flour
- One-fourth tsp of yeast
- 2 tsp of salt
Method
- Mix in flour east and salt in a large bowl and add the warm water.
- Stir it till it blends and the dough becomes sticky.
- Cover the bowl with a kitchen wrap and let the dough sit at room temperature overnight.
- Before you place the dough on your work surface, lightly flour it. And then let it rest for about 15 mins with a loose cover
- Shape the dough into a ball.
- Put the dough seam side down on a towel that you have already dusted liberally with flour.
- Cover it with another cotton towel and let the dough rise for about 2 hours before proceeding.
- Preheat your french oven to 450°F
- Put the dough on the pot with its seam side up and shake the pan a couple of times to ensure an even spread.
- Put the lid back on the oven and let it bake for 30 mins before you take off the lid. Then bake for another 15 to 30 mins till the crust turns that lovely shade of brown.
Homemade Dutch oven bread
Homemade bread is fresh and nutritious but with this Dutch oven recipe simplifies the process. Try it out with a cheddar cheese dip for added flavor.
Ingredients
- 2 cups of warm water
- 1 envelope of active dry yeast
- 4 cups of flour
- 1 and a half teaspoon of salt
- 1 teaspoon of olive oil
Method
- Pour the yeast into the water. Stir it and let it rest till it becomes foamy
- Mix the flour and the salt in a large bowl and then pour the yeast into it.
- Once the dough is formed, cover it and let it rest for about two hours till it doubles in size.
- Use a spatula to loosen up the dough from the sides and keep folding it in towards the center.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rest till it doubles again.
- Transfer it to a lightly floured surface and shape it gently into a loaf.
- Place the loaf seam side down on a bowl that’s been coated with olive oil and let it rest for an hour.
- Preheat your Dutch oven to 450°F.
- Put the dough in and bake it for 30 mins. Bake it for another 15 minutes with the lid off.
Homemade artisan bread
This is flavourful bread that can incorporate any seasoning.
Ingredients
- 4 cups of bread flour or all-purpose flour
- 2 cups room temperature water
- 1 tsp Instant yeast
- Sea salt to taste
- Added seasoning
Method
- Mix the ingredients to make the dough
- Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for 2-3 hours
- For more flavor and texture, refrigerate it for 18hours
- Shape it into 2 loaves
- Preheat the oven to 475°F
- Bake for 20-25 mins until the crust is golden brown.
Crusty french bread
This recipe gives you a loaf of bread with an extra crisp crust.
Ingredients
- 6 cups of flour
- 2 and ¾ cups of warm water
- 2 and ½ tsp active dry yeast
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 2 tsp virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
Method
- Mix flour, salt, and yeast
- Slowly add the warm water and keep stirring it till the dough forms
- Wrap the bowl and let the dough rise for two hours
- Preheat the oven to 450°F and place a bowl on the bottom rack with four cups of water. The steam will help make the crust crispier.
- Tuck in the dough and do not knead it more than the minimum.
- Brush the olive oil inside the Dutch oven
- Put the dough seam down into the oven and score an X on top with a knife.
- Bake for 20 mins and brush the top with olive oil and sprinkle your seasoning. Bake another 20 mins or till the crust turns golden brown
Dutch oven milk bread for beginners
This is a great recipe if you are just starting out on bread baking in a Dutch oven.
Ingredients
- ½ cup warm milk
- ¼ tsp sugar
- 2 tsp dry active yeast
- 4 cups of flour
- ¾ tbsp salt
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Method
- Stir the yeast into warm milk and sugar and let it bloom.
- Mix flour and salt in a bowl and pour in the milk yeast mixture.
- Mix one egg with warm water and pour it in.
- Stir it till the dough forms and knead it lightly.
- Glaze it with olive oil and let it rest for 2 hours or till it doubles in size
- Fold the dough and let it rest for three hours for the second rise.
- Preheat the oven to 450°F. Knead and shape the dough into a loaf in the meantime.
- Bake for 40 mins with the lid covered and then for ten mins with the lid open
- Take the bread out and enjoy!