Homemade Bread in 5 Minutes

One of my oldest friends another Jenna! started making her own bread and claimed it was so easy even I could do it.  

At the time I had 3 kids under 3.  I didn't have time to open a pack of pop-tarts let alone make my own bread!

Nonetheless, she sent me the link for the recipe...Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes.  I took one look and gave it a fat NO!

She insisted on coming over and giving me a personal bread making demonstration.  

To my surprise it was so easy that, yes, even I could do it!

You can try and follow the website's recipe or take a look at my step by step instructions with pictures below.  I tried to make it busy mom friendly.  

Ready to give it a try?  Check out my version of the recipe - I know you'll love it!

Artisan Bread Recipe

Tools: 

Deep bowl 

Plate

Clean dish towel

Sheet of parchment paper

Baking tray

Measuring cups and spoons

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon Active Dry Yeast

1 tablespoon salt

3 1/2 cups lukewarm water

6 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Directions:

In a deep bowl add the following ingredients...

1 tablespoon ACTIVE DRY YEAST

1 tablespoon of kosher salt

3 1/2 cups lukewarm water

Stir ingredients

Add 6 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Stir

Your dough will look like this...

Throw a clean dish towel over your bowl on the countertop for 2 hours.  I used to use 2 baby bibbs, ha!

It will rise and look like this...

Place a plate on top of your bowl of dough, but make sure it is not completely sealed.  Stick it in the frig until ready to bake.  Let it chill for about 1 hour. 

Place a layer of parchment on an oven tray and preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

After your dough has chilled, flour your hands and the top of your dough generously or it will be too sticky to pick up.

Pick up a softball sized slab of dough and tuck the edges under to form a loaf.  Take a serrated knife and make 3 quarter inch slices across the top of your loaf.

It should look something like this...

Let the unbaked loaf sit on the counter for about 15-20 minutes while the oven is  warming up.

After the loaf is done resting, stick it in the oven for 30 minutes or until the surface is golden.

See the pic at the top for a look of the finished product!

Let it is sit for 10-15 minutes before digging in.  

Repeat the process with the remaining dough the next time you are hungry for bread.  

The dough is good for about a week.  I've found the dough gets a little crunchy after that.