How To Make A Rustic Bread Loaf For Pennies

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No Mixer, No Kneading, No Kidding

At a fancy bakery or bread shop, a gorgeous rustic bread loaf like this might cost $5.00 or more. Why not bake it at home for pennies and enjoy the amazing fragrance of yeast bread in every corner of your house? It's ridiculously easy!

The crispy crust and chewy middle are perfect for dunking in soup, slathering with butter, or topping with a thin slice of sharp cheddar. This bread is incredible, but best of all, it's incredibly easy to do!

I was shocked by the outstanding results, even on my very first attempt!

Start A Perfectly Baked Loaf Of Rustic Bread Tonight

All you need is a bowl, a spoon, and four ingredients to make the dough. While you do the dishes or before bed, stir up a batch. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic film once you've mixed up the ingredients.

While you're away, the yeast gets busy forming oodles of bubbles in the dough. Look at that bubbly dough and look at all that busy yeast action!

Then, the dough can sit on the counter for 8 to 24 hours, or until you are ready to bake! It is so cooperative! The slow rise is what gives this rustic bread its distinctive flavor. This gives you amazing flexibility to have a fresh, hot loaf of rustic bread right when you want it!

How To Bake Your Gorgeous Rustic Bread

Then, when you're ready, it only takes a few minutes to gather the shaggy, bubbly dough with floured hands and form it into a plump round loaf. Cover the loaf with plastic film and let it rest for about half an hour.

Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Put your Dutch oven, lid on, in the oven to preheat. Both of them need to be very hot!

When you are ready to bake the bread, place the loaf on a sheet of parchment paper large enough to use as a sling to lower it into the Dutch oven. Carefully remove the Dutch oven from the oven and set it on a heat-resistant surface.

Remove the lid and use the parchment paper "sling" to lower the bread into the Dutch oven. Replace the cover and put your beautiful rustic bread loaf into the oven to bake.

Bake the bread with the cover for half an hour while the steam that forms works its magic. The steam gives the rustic loaf its characteristic texture.

Finally, remove the lid and bake it for about fifteen minutes longer until the crust crisps and browns to a lovely honey-gold color. Voila! You have created your very own beautiful, professional-looking rustic loaf!

Let it cool slightly before slicing with a serrated knife. Just look at all those butter-catching craters!  

This bread is a perfect accompaniment for soup, makes wonderfully chewy sandwiches, toasts beautifully, and is ideal for a panini press! It is so easy and so inexpensive you can make it often! My friends go wild when I give them a loaf, and I love doing it!

No Dutch Oven? No Problem — Try This Instead

Not every kitchen has a Dutch oven, but don't let that stop you from baking this glorious rustic bread! A Dutch oven has tall, thick walls and a snugly fitting lid that traps steam inside. The steam inside the pot is key to creating a crisp crust and chewy middle.

The vessel you use needs to withstand 450 degrees in the oven. You can adapt any oven-proof stockpot, ceramic baker, casserole dish, roasting pan, or deep skillet. You can fashion a cover using a rectangle of heavy-duty foil secured to the edges of a pot without a lid.

Someone told me they used the insert from their crockpot with good results, but when I checked, slow cooker liners are only rated to 400 degrees, and I have not tried it myself.

The finished rustic loaf will be about an eight- or nine-inch round and about six inches tall. I hope this helps you choose a vessel to bake it in.

Chances are, though, you'll find plenty of things you can do with a Dutch oven, which may be a great kitchen investment. It's great for soups and stews; use it to roast or make a batch of jam! A Dutch oven is a pretty great piece of equipment to have!

This no-knead bread recipe has become an internet phenomenon because it's so easy to make and looks exceptionally professional! Even someone with no yeast-bread experience can make a delicious, gorgeous loaf.

PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD

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Yield: 16 slices

Simple Rustic Bread

5.0 Stars (1 Review)

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Incredibly easy rustic bread loaf with a crisp crust and chewy middle. No mixer, no kneading, no kidding.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Additional Time 8 hours

Total Time 8 hours 55 minutes

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups warm water (about 110 degrees)
• 1/2 tsp fast rising dry yeast
• 2-3 tsp kosher salt

Instructions

1. Mix the flour, salt, and yeast thoroughly in a large bowl, then add warm water.
2. Stir with a wooden spoon until everything is combined, forming a somewhat sticky dough.
3. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Leave out at room temperature for 8 hours or up to 24 hours. The dough will bubble up and rise.
4. When you are ready to bake it, preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
5. Put your empty Dutch with the lid on into the preheated oven for 30 minutes so it's nice and hot.
6. While your Dutch oven preheats, turn the dough onto a well-floured surface and, with floured hands, form the dough into a ball. Kneading the dough is unnecessary; gently form it into a ball. Cover the dough loosely with plastic wrap and let it rest.
7. When the Dutch oven is preheated for 30 minutes, remove it carefully. Working quickly, place the ball of dough on a sheet of parchment paper and carefully place it in the Dutch oven. Put the lid back on the Dutch oven and return it to the hot oven.
8. Bake the bread, covered, for 30 minutes.
9. Remove the cover and continue baking for 10 or 15 minutes more until the crust is a beautiful golden brown.
10. Watch to make sure the bread does not get too brown.
11. Use the edges of the parchment paper to remove the loaf from the Dutch oven and place it on a rack to cool.
12. Allow bread to cool slightly, then slice with a serrated bread knife and serve.

I love making yeast bread, and here are some of my favorites! Simple Cinnamon Rolls, One Great Yeast Bread Recipe, Quick French Bread.

I also love making sourdough, and I still do, but this rustic loaf gives me a similar crisp crust, chewy texture, and wonderful flavor with much less tending. What's your favorite yeast bread?

If you enjoyed a post, I'd love it if you would leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review or a comment. It really helps my little business connect with folks who cook like we do- simple but tasty!

Love, GB (Betty Streff)

Real food. Real kitchen. Real easy.

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