~ crusty dutch oven bread ~
“The smell of good bread baking, like the sound of lightly flowing water, is indescribable in its evocation of innocence and delight.” ~M.F.K. Fisher
This is a very easy recipe that yields a gorgeous loaf of crusty bread! This is the perfect bread to make on a lazy day off when you don’t plan on leaving the house. Stay in your jammies, watch old movies or read a good book, write letters, knit… It takes between 8 and 18 hours for the dough to proof, so it’s a good idea to mix up the dough before you go to bed to give it a head start while you sleep…
In a large bowl, dissolve:
1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
in
1 and 1/2 cups warm water
Mix in:
3 cups all-purpose flour
and
1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt
Stir with a wooden spoon until well blended
The dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow to proof in a 70 degree room for 8 – 18 hours. The dough is ready for the next step when the surface is dotted with bubbles. Flour a work surface. Place dough on it. Fold it over on itself twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap, and allow to rest for 15 minutes.
With floured hands, shape into a ball. Place a clean dish towel in a big bowl and sprinkle a little cornmeal over so you have enough to coat the underside of your loaf.
Place the dough ball, seam side down, on towel inside the bowl and sprinkle the top of the loaf with a little more cornmeal.
Cover with the other end of the flour sack towel, or cover with another clean flour sack towel.
Allow dough to raise for 2 hours in a warm spot. This is when I turn the oven on. I set the dough bowl on one of the burners and the warmth from the oven is the perfect temp. to encourage the dough to double in size. You know the dough is ready to bake when it springs back when poked with your index finger.
Heat oven to 475 degrees F. 20 minutes before the dough is done rising, place your Dutch oven in the oven to get it ready for the bread. When dough is ready, remove pot from oven, lift off lid and place bread dough in the pot, seam side up. Shake gently a couple times to evenly distribute the bread. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Remove lid and bake for another 20 minutes. The bread should be beautifully browned. Remove to a rack and allow bread to cool one hour prior to slicing and serving.
This is seriously the best bread I’ve ever made. Jeff and Gracie concur 
Enjoy!
xoxo,
~Melissa
Oj oj – 8-18 hours?? I’m not sure if I could be that patient! If it’s really as good as you say it is, perhaps I could be persuaded to give it a try… “for science”!
OMG…not even kidding. this bread is amazing, and it’s so darn EASY I hardly feel like I can take any credit
enjoy.
Bread is totally my weakness…I could lose myself for days over a fresh loaf.
Heaven!!
This bread is so good. You will love it….and this recipe is way easy
xo
What a great recipe I will definitely be trying this very soon. One of my goals for this year is to bake more breads opposed to always grabbing a loaf at the bakery and try a variety of bread recipes so this is the perfect recipe! Adding this to my Bread board on Pinterest!
You know I had to pin this but no I need a Dutch oven! Sounds like a good Valentine’s present to me!
perfect!
This bread looks fantastic and I love the crunchy crust. I’ll have to give this one a try.
enjoy, Carrie
WOW!! I never knew the dutch oven could bake bread! Awesome idea! I am saving this one! Thanks
best bread EVA!
enjoy Kristen!
[...] Deep shared this Crusty Dutch Oven Bread, I could eat the whole loaf myself, [...]
OMG, i could eat that whole thing! I can practically smell it…
it’s amazing. and SO easy! enjoy sweet Justine! xo
PS. Forgot to say I found this recipe through Newlywed Blog’s linky
LOVE that blog! Thanks for letting me know!
I saw a recipe like this back in 2006 on Martha Stewart – I THINK from the bakery BREAD in NYC! I made it then and loved it! I have done a lot of work with yeast over the past few years so I really think if I made it again, I could make it even better. Thanks for sharing!
PS Who needs to pay $4 for a loaf of bread at Whole Foods when you can make THIS at home?
exactly!
thanks for commenting!
There are so many recipes for Dutch oven bread on the internet. The only way I can think of to improve this recipe is to make two next time
I discovered the recipe over at the Mother Earth News website. xo
ok, melissa… You have me sold! My next new project will be to make this recipe tomorrow! Thank you so much for sharing! I will try this recipe from Mother Earth News. So excited.. and if I can possibly think of a way to do 2 loaves, I SO WILL!
enjoy
just took an amazing bread baking course yesterday and this looks like the tops!! Hope you are having a relaxing Sunday sweetie!
aw! thanks! you have a relaxing weekend too! xoxo
Oh yum this bread looks fantastic Melissa! I wish I had a slice for breakfast …
It’s really good. Best bread I’ve ever made, and the easiest too
xo
This is my family’s favorite bread! We’ve been making the Jim Lahey/Sullivan Street Bakery version every Friday since we first discovered it in the New York Times. So easy, and so good! It’s so versatile too. Sometimes we throw in cheddar cheese, or make it with different whole grain flours. I love that you can throw the ingredients together before you go to bed, and have bread ready the next night for dinner!
Your loaf turned out beautifully!
Jenn/Rook No. 17
You’re right, Jenn, that really is the beauty of this bread! I doubled the recipe last time and it came out perfect! thanks so much for stopping by and leaving a comment
I will never buy another loaf of bread!! I’m into rustic and crusty!! xoxo Ally
enjoy my lovely Ally
I love that this bread uses a dutch oven and is crusty! Crusty bread is very popular in my house, yum!
please let me know what you think after you try this.
it’s like bread magic.