Homemade Crusty Bread

5 from 10 votes

An easy, homemade crusty bread recipe with a no-knead dough. The bread has a slightly chewy crust and a soft, cloudy crumb with large, artisanal holes.

Prep Time15

Cook Time30

Rise time1 45

Total Time2 30

Course: Bread

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian

Servings: slices

Calories: 130kcal

Author: Vaishali · Holy Cow Vegan

Equipment

Large bowl
Loaf pan, dutch oven or baking sheet
Small oven-safe pan

Ingredients

2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1½ cups lukewarm water
3¼ cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt (use less if that's your preference)
Oil or cooking spray for coating bowl and loaf pan
Cornmeal for dusting loaf pan

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Prepare a loaf pan or a dutch oven by spraying some cooking spray or coating with oil. Dust with cornmeal for easy release.
Mix the yeast and lukewarm water and set aside to activate the yeast, about five minutes. The yeast should start frothing and bubbling to indicate it's alive.
Add the flour and salt and mix until a loose dough forms. You won't be able to shape it at this time.
Oil a bowl or coat it with cooking spray and place the dough in it. Coat the top with a little more oil or cooking spray to keep the dough from drying.
Set aside in a warm spot in your kitchen to rise for an hour. After an hour the dough should have more than doubled.
Turn the dough out and using your hands shape it into a rectangle or oval loaf. If using a dutch oven you should shape it into a round.
Gently place the loaf into the loaf pan or dutch oven. Dust some flour on top, cover with a clean shower cap or with a kitchen towel°, and return it to the warm spot. to let the dough rise Let it proof or rise for another 45 minutes. If you are using a loaf pan the dough should easily form a nice dome during this time.
About 15 minutes before the dough has finished rising, preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
Just before you put the bread in the oven place a small glass or other oven-safe pan filled with hot water on a lower rack of the oven.
Score the bread jbefore placing it on the middle rack in oven. I like to make a single score down the center, but you can also make three diagonal scores.
Bake the bread for 30 minutes. Remove to a rack and cool for an hour, then remove from pan and continue cooling on rack.
Slice and eat.

Notes

To make this bread with instant yeast, reduce the amount of yeast to 1.5 teaspoons. You can skip the step for blooming the yeast and add it directly to the flour along with the water.
The loaf pan I used this time is one of the squatter ones I own--it's 10 inches by 5 inches. Had I used a more standard size loaf pan --about 81/2 by 41/2 inches, I'd have gotten an even taller loaf.
You can also bake this bread freeform on a baking sheet. After the first rise shape the bread dough it into a boule or an oval loaf, place on the baking sheet and bake after it has risen. Because the dough is so loose the loaf will flatten a bit but the bread will taste great. If you want a higher, more rounded boule use a dutch oven for the second rise and to bake the bread. You can even bake the bread in a small cast iron skillet.
If you don't have a bread scoring blade, use a small, light, serrated knife, like a steak knife, t0 sc0re the bread. Scoring the bread helps gases escape during baking, giving your loaf a better rise and also an artisan bread look. Use a light, swift touch when scoring -- the dough should cut through quite easily. Don't use a heavy knife as the weight of the blade might cause the risen loaf to deflate. And don't use a blunt knife because any pressure you apply will also make your risen dough fall flat.
This is a white bread recipe, and you will get the best results with all purpose flour. But you can substitute a cup of the white flour with whole wheat flour. You will get a decent loaf although it will be a bit more dense than if you were to use APF alone.

Nutrition