Be sure to click on “UPDATED SECOND LOAF” link on bottom of page to see how the second loaf turned out!
I’m still in a state of shock this morning. I found a book at a thrift store titled, “The Splendid Table“ by Lynne Rosetto Kasper. I had heard of the author on NPR. I was excited to find such a great book at a thrift store and I couldn’t wait to take it home and comb through it. I always go online and look up the books I buy and check out the author’s bio. I came across her web site which recommended a recipe for artison bread in five minutes. More research led to the book I will be purchasing today:
Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois
If you enjoy great bread–run to the bookstore NOW! The recipe allows you to mix flour, salt, yeast, and water to make a dough that rises for a few hours on the counter and then goes into the refrigerator to use at your leisure for up to two weeks. I have only made my first loaf, and there is plenty of dough leftover-I predict a few more loaves of bread and maybe a pizza in the next week or so.
When you’re ready for fresh baked bread –simply load your hands up with flour, cut off a grapefruit size piece of dough from your container of dough, form it (if you haven’t made rounds before, you may need to see a video for this part) and place it on a pizza peel you have covered in corn meal to rise for about 40 minutes (I allowed mine to rise 60 minutes in the warmest part of my home). Preheat your oven to 450 degrees for 20 minutes (or halfway through the rising time) with a pizza stone on the middle rack and a broiler pan on the bottom rack–to be filled with a cup of very hot water when you slide your risen bread dough into the oven onto the stone. Slit the top of your risen dough with a serrated knife (dip knife in flour to keep it from sticking), sprinkle some flour over top, and bake! 30 minutes later, you should get something that looks like the photo at the top of the page.
Watch the video
The Recipe:
Recipe: Simple Crusty Bread
PRINT this Recipe
Adapted from “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day,” by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François (Thomas Dunne Books, 2007)
1 1/2 tablespoons yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
6 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour, more for dusting dough
Cornmeal.
1. In a large bowl or plastic container, mix yeast and salt into 3 cups lukewarm water (about 100 degrees). Stir in flour, mixing until there are no dry patches. Dough will be quite loose. Cover, but not with an airtight lid. Let dough rise at room temperature 2 hours (or up to 5 hours).
2. Bake at this point or refrigerate, covered, for as long as two weeks. When ready to bake, sprinkle a little flour on dough and cut off a grapefruit-size piece with serrated knife. Turn dough in hands to lightly stretch surface, creating a rounded top and a lumpy bottom. Put dough on pizza peel sprinkled with cornmeal; let rest 40 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough or refrigerate it.
3. Place broiler pan on bottom of oven. Place baking stone on middle rack and turn oven to 450 degrees; heat stone at that temperature for 20 minutes.
4. Dust dough with flour, slash top with serrated or very sharp knife three times. Slide onto stone. Pour one cup hot water into broiler pan and shut oven quickly to trap steam. Bake until well browned, about 30 minutes. Cool completely.
Yield: 4 loaves.
I made a sandwich today and the bread is just like the great artisan breads you buy at the bakery!
NOTES FROM ANGELNINA: Make sure you use the pizza stone and add the hot water right after you slide dough oven. I do not have a pizza peel, so I used a small flat edged cookie sheet which I practically piled cornmeal on to make sure it wouldn’t stick no matter what ( I mean heap it on!). Then I grabbed my baker’s scraper just in case it needed a shove–it didn’t and slid right off. Again, I had loads of flour and cornmeal on the bottom to ensure proper fast slip off pan. Some people use parchment paper, but I haven’t tried it yet.
I used Gold Medal Bread Flour–so far nothing beats this flour for me, so I didn’t want to take a risk.
See MY photos of various stages here…
Rising right after mixing.
Risen for two hours. ( I kept lid on looser because I wasn’t sure if it was too air tight
In the fridge to wait a few hours more…
My formed ball, slitted, and resting. I slit it before the rest period, but the instructions say to slit before placing in oven! I panicked but all went well.
Fresh out of the oven
Slicing while still a bit warm (not hot). We couldn’t wait.
UPDATED: SECOND LOAF CRISPER CRUST
this sounds so amazing! nothing i love more than fresh bread!! do you think it needs to be made on a stone? or is it posible to do it on another type of pan?
Comment by sarah — July 2, 2008 #
This looks pretty amazing. I’ve tried the no-knead bread recipe from the NY Times but this one looks like a keeper too.
Comment by Caitlin — July 2, 2008 #
Sarah: I think it changes the crispiness of the crust, but check out your local thrift shops–I find them everywhere–unused. Check out this link
http://www.baking911.com/howto/breads_goodcrust.htm
I just realized using my convection baking setting may make this bread even more amazing–if that is possible
You might give it a try and let me know how it turns out.
It sure is nice to know a fresh loaf of great bread can be prepared before I finsih cooking dinner!
Comment by angelnina — July 2, 2008 #
Hi Caitlin
I have a no knead recipe from a farmer’s cookbook that my mother bought in Idaho when I was a kid. I thought it was my best kept secret until all the news broke about the no-knead bread in a dutch oven–mine was in loaf pans. It works like a charm, but doesn’t have the same look as the NY Times no-knead. I have been wanting to try the now popular no-knead bread too. Is it as great as people are saying?
Comment by angelnina — July 2, 2008 #
I am coming over and you can feed me!
Yummy!
Comment by ellen aka e_musings — July 2, 2008 #
I wish you would! I made strawberry jam too–we could really have fun
Comment by angelnina — July 2, 2008 #
I can’t wait to try this! Very exciting! Have you ever tried the “no raise” bread that’s baked in a French Le Crueset type oven? I’ve been wanting to try that one too.
Beautiful job. You’re very good at forming those loaves. It looks perfect.
Comment by Melanie — July 2, 2008 #
Thanks Melanie
You really must try it–it’s so good. I went to buy it tonight and the store I checked didn’t have it 
Tomorrow I’m going to try another place.
I haven’t tried the “no knead” bread yet, but I will–you did mean no knead right?
Comment by angelnina — July 2, 2008 #
HAHAHAHA…yes. I meant no knead. How funny. My sister HBB gets here next week. Maybe we can do this one together.
Comment by Melanie — July 3, 2008 #
Caitlin: Gorgeous loaves. I’m Jeff Hertzberg, one of the co-authors of the book. Come visit us anytime at http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com, where you can post questions into any “Comments” field, or into the “Bread Questions” gateway on the left side of the home page.
Our website turns our book into an interactive one, so please visit!
Jeff Hertzberg
http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com
Comment by Jeff Hertzberg — July 3, 2008 #
okay a day late and a dollar short. I saved this recipe but didn’t read the comments til today, guess I am late to the party.
my bread dough just got mixed. I kind of freaked when I was doing the yeast thing and felt like I just had to add a little sugar and proof it… so I did.. we’ll see if that was a bad idea.
I also freaked while mixing the yeast mix with the flour.. it just wasn’t coming together nicely.. so I mixed it pretty good.. with a few stragglers..and set it in my turned off gas oven to rise. … also, all I had was bleached flour. … everything else was by the “book”..lol
I am hoping to serve it with some sausage spaghetti for dinner tonight.
When I read the recipe.. (which also wasn’t til today) I found it to be very very similar to no knead.. more yeast.. no sugar. the water in the oven.. on the pizza stone instead of in a covered dutch oven. .. and this one you don’t knead either.
so I’ll let you know .. maybe I’ll document my final outcome with a picture or two.. since I didn’t take any pics during the mixing.
Comment by Kim — July 12, 2008 #
OMG – I love the Splendid Table! I’ve been a subscriber to her podcast for several months now. I should look for her book since she’s rekindled my love of cooking again.
Comment by cynthia — November 10, 2008 #
I’m glad I found your site. I happened upon mention of the book “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day” and thought I’d like to get ahold of the recipe without buying the book (desperate times, desperate measures). I googled the recipe and found your blog. Thanks for the tutorial. I made my dough last night and it is fermenting in my cold basement. I might make one loaf today. Thanks again. Oh, have you ever done a more whole grain version of this bread?
Comment by Julie — December 5, 2008 #
PS to my last comment. I tried that no knead New York times recipe for bread. I baked it in my crueset ware dutch oven. The bread burned horribly and I had to scrape it out the pan. I don’t recommend that recipe at all.
Comment by Julie — December 5, 2008 #
I baked my first loaf of bread yesterday. I cut off about a 12 oz. slab of slack dough, shaped it and let it rise for about 40 minutes. I baked it in my turbo oven, which worked great because I didn’t have to heat up my big oven. Thanks for the recipe and the help. I will be baking and brewing bread as the days go by!
Comment by Julie — December 6, 2008 #
JULIE! Congratulations on your first loaf. How did it taste? I love the stuff. I prefer it within the first week.
Thanks for commenting.
Comment by angelnina — December 6, 2008 #
Angelnina, the bread was great the first time and then I baked another loaf the next day. Let’s just say that we didn’t have to worry about leftovers!
Still hoping that you have some info on how to incorporate whole wheat flour into it.
I am in sourdough heaven!
Comment by Julie — December 7, 2008 #
Ooooho lordy me. That is definitely going to be tried as soon as I can wrangle myself a pizza stone. It looks amazing! I had good success with the no-knead bread but this one looks even more delish. Yum!! Great post!
Comment by katelewis — December 17, 2008 #
Thank you soo much for posting this!
I actually attempted it last night and have made two loaves so far. My family’s actually impressed haha
Comment by Carolyn — December 17, 2008 #
Carolyn: YES! Can you believe how easy it is?
Comment by angelnina — December 17, 2008 #
KATE The pizza stone makes the crust crustier! Go for it, and let me know how you like it
Comment by angelnina — December 17, 2008 #
If you don’t have a stone to bake on, use the bottom of a cast iron skillet. The bread is awesome!!
Comment by pietra — February 5, 2009 #
I just got this book from Amazon almost 2 weeks to check it out, and decided I just had to have it!
I am on my 3rd time of making the basic Artisan bread, and learned a few things from the last loaf I made.
1-make sure your oven is *very* well heated..I had just finished making the pretzels from the book, so mine was. It had been going for about 45min already.
2-try to be patient and let the dough sit in the fridge for a day or 2 after the initial rise. I made my dough on Sunday, and did not make this last loaf til Tues. The dough was a bit firmer to use, but my end result was an *awesome* looking loaf of bread. I only baked @ 30min this time..and (sorry) it came out looking better than the one above – and that looks really good! I used a pastry brush to brush the flour on before making the slices – I did the tic-tac-toe version – and that seemed to make a BIG difference.! You have got to try this! It is sooo easy!!!
I am trying to locate the version of Parmesan Garlic Artisan bread that someone posted and cannot find…can someone help me!
Comment by Debbi — February 13, 2009 #
I have tried this recipe several times. And I just can’t get it to look like yours. Mine is heavy and fine grained. The taste is delicious. I need bigger airholes. Should I let it rise longer than the 40 minutes? Thanks for anybody’s help.
Comment by Ruth Jennerjahn — February 28, 2009 #
Hmm, when mine comes out of the fridge, i let it rest 40-60 minutes (i just don’t want it too cold). Are you using a pizza stone? Also, is the temperature of your water 100-105 degrees? If you can email the steps and exact ingredients you use in making the bread, i can probably offer a few more suggestions. Also, I make sure my stone heats for 30-60 minutes in advance. I’m at angelninaa@hotmail.com
Comment by angelnina — February 28, 2009 #
I just got the book and made my first bread for communion this a.m. and everyone (after only a tiny bite, mind you) told me after church how delicious the bread was. So, now I’m very excited and have the half whole wheat flour version in the refrigerator. But, what I wanted to share is that the authors’ website, artisanbreadinfive.com, has a tab for ERRORS and there are some corrections there. One of them is the rising time after refrigeration for some of the recipes, which need to rise 1 hour 40 minutes instead of just the 40 minutes. I think the basic recipe still only needs 40 minutes though, but one of the comments there said the dough should no longer feel cold.
Comment by Connie — March 1, 2009 #
sounds yummy
Comment by STEPHANIE — March 11, 2009 #
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I have tried the new Almost No-Knead Bread and it is also wonderful… Google it if you are interested. BTW, want your yeast to go crazy and bread have a really neat taste – try a tablespoon of vinegar and a couple of tablespoons full of Malta Goya!
Yum!
Comment by Bill — June 15, 2009 #
I just made my second loaf on a cookie sheet. Need to get the Pizza peel and stone. My family is VERY happy. Going to try Bear Claws tomorrow.
Comment by Robin @ Heart of Wisdom — October 12, 2009 #
YAY! Oh, yum, I haven’t tried the bear claws, but the pecan rolls are amazing! If you’re happy now, you’ll be happier with the pizza stone
Comment by angelnina — October 13, 2009 #