The Simplest Crusty Bread Recipe Ever!

I confess – I’m not the best bread maker. I’ve had a lot of epic fails to tell you the truth.

However, I really wanted crusty bread to go with our soup dinner one night, so I set out to make it happen.

Sometimes, you just have to set your mind to something and refuse to fail.

I’ll keep telling myself that.

In the meantime, I did happen to create a very simple, crusty bread that was heavenly! If I can do it, anyone can!

Simple Crusty Bread

Ingredients:

1.5 Tablespoons instant yeast
3 cups warm water
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 Tablespoon salt
6.5 cups flour

Method:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Place a glass baking dish filled with water onto bottom rack.

Using a stand up mixer, combine warm water, instant yeast, and sugar. Let sit for 3-5 minutes. Toddlers are great helpers for this part! My son loves to announce when the mixture starts “bubbling.”

Add salt and combine well.

On medium setting (my mixer says the kneading setting is 4), slowly add flour. The key is adding flour until the dough no longer sticks to the sides, but you still want a nice sticky dough.

Cover the bowl and sit in a warm place to rise.

When the dough has doubled, remove from bowl (do not punch down!). Separate your dough into three separate parts.

Using a cast iron baking sheet (baking stones work well too), dust flour across the pan. Place three rounded dough balls onto baking sheet. Cut three slits in the top of each loaf and dust again with additional flour.

Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes. You want your bread to reach a beautiful golden brown color and sound hollow when you tap it.

Voila! You have a really simple crusty bread to go with your favorite soup or pasta dish! Yum!

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