This recipe is originally from Sally's Baking addiction, specifically her homemade artisan bread and no knead cranberry nut bread recipes.
Ingredients
- 430 grams white or bread flour
- 6g instant yeast
- 9g salt
- 360g water, close to room temperature (around 70°F)
Directions
- In a large ungreased mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, yeast, and salt.
- Pour in the water and gently mix with a silicone spatula. The dough will seem dry and shaggy, but keep working it until all the flour is moistened. If needed, use your hands to work the dough ingredients together. The dough will be sticky. Shape into a ball in the bowl as best you can.
- Cover the dough tightly with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and allow to rise for 2-3 hours at room temperature. The dough will just about double in size, stick to the sides of the bowl, and have a lot of air bubbles.
- You can continue with step 4 immediately, but for absolute best flavor and texture, you can let the risen dough rest in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours and up to 3 days. Place covered dough in the refrigerator for 12 hours – 3 days. The dough will puff up during this time, but may begin to deflate after 2 days. That’s fine and normal—nothing to worry about.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and, using lightly floured hands, shape into a ball as best you can. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Transfer the dough to a large piece of parchment paper. Using a very sharp knife, kitchen shears, or a bread lame, gently score an X into the top. Place the ball of dough + parchment inside a bowl so the dough doesn’t spread out as it rests. Cover dough lightly with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and let it rest for 30 minutes.
- During this rest, preheat the oven to 475°F (246°C). Place your Dutch oven (with the lid) or heavy-duty pot in the oven for 30 minutes so that it’s extremely hot before the dough is placed inside. After 30 minutes, remove the Dutch oven and carefully place the dough inside by lifting it up with the parchment paper and placing it all—the parchment paper included—inside the pot. Cover with the lid.
- Bake for 25 minutes with the lid on. Carefully remove the lid and continue baking for 8–10 more minutes until the bread is golden brown.
- Remove pot from the oven, carefully remove the bread from the pot, and allow to cool on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes before slicing.
- Cover and store leftover bread at room temperature for up to 1 week.