Cooking: Bread ~ Quick & Easy

I love to make bread. I love to eat bread. If I could only eat one thing for the rest of my life it would be freshly baked bread and butter. Unfortunately, the last few years haven't really allowed for hours of free time for kneading, rising and baking. Hence the reason I was so excited when Margaret shared this easy artisan bread recipe with me. Not only is it quick and easy but it makes enough for three small loaves and the dough stays in the fridge so you can make a loaf each night. Thanks for sharing Margaret!



6 cups of flour
1.5 tablespoons yeast
1.5 tablespoons salt
3 cups of water

Sift together dry ingredients, mix in water.
The dough will be really wet and sticky. Put it in the fridge for at least two hours. Preheat oven to 500 degrees and place a small empty metal 8x8 (or any size you have) pan on the bottom rack so that it is heating up with the oven. Take out one third of the dough (or make two large loaves like I usually do). Flour the counter and put the dough on the floured surface. Cover the dough with a fair amount of flour (enough so that you can shape it into a circle without it sticking to your hands). Make sure the bottom in sufficiently floured so that it doesn't stick to the cookie sheet. Let rise on the counter for at least 40 minutes. Place in the oven and pour a glass of water into the pan previously placed on the bottom rack. The water should steam which will help create a crispy shell on the bread. Bake for 30 minutes at 500. Remove from oven, let cool and enjoy!

The greatest thing about this bread is that it is really versatile. Today I added a cup of shredded Parmesan cheese and about a tablespoon of Italian spices. It was the bomb!

Baby approved!