Artisan Bread

4 Ingredient No Fail Homemade Artisan Bread that's easy and delicious! Perfect for those who love freshly home baked bread right out of the oven.

📝 Ingredients

• 3 cups water (lukewarm )
• 1 1/2 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 tablespoon salt
• 6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

👨‍🍳 Instructions

1. 1Activate the yeast. In a medium bowl add the warm water, yeast and stir together. Let the mixture sit for 5-10 minutes until the yeast bubbles up. If you are using instant yeast, you do not need to wait for 10 minutes for the yeast to activate.
2. 2Make the dough. In the bowl of your mixer add all the flour, salt, then pour the yeast mixture over the flour and mix using the dough hook of your mixer, until it's all well incorporated and the dough comes clean from the sides of the bowl. I usually do this for about 5 to 7 minutes. If you do not have a mixer, simply add all the ingredients to a large bowl and using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon mix everything together until all the flour is incorporated. The dough will seem shaggy at first but keep mixing until you don't see anymore dry flour. The dough will be very sticky and elastic.
3. 3First rise. Place the dough in a large bowl, cover it well with plastic wrap and poke a couple small holes in the top using toothpicks. Let the dough rise for 2 hours in a warm draft free environment.
4. 4Prep the baking sheet. It is recommended to bake this bread on a stone, however a regular baking sheet will work just fine. Cover the baking sheet, or stone with parchment paper.
5. 5Shape the dough. Add flour to your hands, and divide the dough in two pieces. Add more flour to your hands as necessary. Shape the dough into the desired shape for your bread and place it seam down on the baking sheet. Sprinkle some more flour on top of the loaves.
6. 6Second rise. Let the loaves rest for another 30 minutes so that they can rise a bit. Preheat oven to 450°F. Before placing the bread in the oven, add a pan with a cup of water and place it in the bottom rack.
7. 7Bake the bread. Score the top of your bread with a very sharp knife, to allow gases to escape. Bake the bread for 30 to 35 minutes. The water will allow for the bread to form a nice crusty top.
8. 8Cool and serve. Cool on a rack before serving.