Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a day!

I heard about this recipe on NPR---The Splendid Table. I hurried home and checked out the recipe online and quickly made up a batch. I tried several other batches with my own variations and then of course I just had to buy the book. I've tried this basic recipe using half whole wheat flour. Also have added about 1 cup sourdough starter to the basic recipe. I have made bread for many years and this is probably the easiest recipe and also one of the best for crusty, hearty bread (our favorite type of bread). If you don't have a baking stone you really should get one, but until then a good substitute is a clay saucer from the garden shop---the ones that are red and go with the red clay pots. We use these outside on our barbecue for cooking pizza in the summer and they work great. Also, I have found that using parchment paper to raise the dough works easier than using the pizza peel, just pick up the edges of the paper and lift everything onto the stone.

Note from Min, 2/2009: I watched Becky make this bread this past weekend, and it is fast, easy, and delicious. I am embarrassed it has taken me so long to make any! Also, for anyone who's wondering, you can check out the authors', Jeff and Zoe, website at http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/.

Five-Minute Artisan Bread

December 15, 2007


From Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois (Thomas Dunne Books, 2007). Copyright 2007 by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois.


Serves 4

Note: This recipe must be prepared in advance.

1-1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast (about 1-1/2 packets)
1-1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
6-1/2 cups unbleached flour, plus extra for dusting dough
Cornmeal
In a large plastic resealable container, mix yeast and salt into 3 cups lukewarm (about 100 degrees) water. Using a large spoon, stir in flour, mixing until mixture is uniformly moist with no dry patches. Do not knead. Dough will be wet and loose enough to conform to shape of plastic container. Cover, but not with an airtight lid.

Let dough rise at room temperature, until dough begins to flatten on top or collapse, at least 2 hours and up to 5 hours. (At this point, dough can be refrigerated up to 2 weeks; refrigerated dough is easier to work with than room-temperature dough, so the authors recommend that first-time bakers refrigerate dough overnight or at least 3 hours.)

When ready to bake, sprinkle cornmeal on a pizza peel. Place a broiler pan on bottom rack of oven. Place baking stone on middle rack and repeat oven to 450 degrees, preheating baking stone for at least 20 minutes.

Sprinkle a little flour on dough and on your hands. Pull dough up and, using a serrated knife, cut off a grapefruit-size piece (about 1 pound). Working for 30 to 60 seconds (and adding flour as needed to prevent dough from sticking to hands; most dusting flour will fall off, it's not intended to be incorporated into dough), turn dough in hands, gently stretching surface of dough, rotating ball a quarter-turn as you go, creating a rounded top and a bunched bottom.

Place shaped dough on prepared pizza peel and let rest, uncovered, for 40 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough or refrigerate it in lidded container. (Even one day's storage improves flavor and texture of bread. Dough can also be frozen in 1-pound portions in airtight containers and defrosted overnight in refrigerator prior to baking day.) Dust dough with flour.

Using a serrated knife, slash top of dough in three parallel, ¼-inch deep cuts (or in a tic-tac-toe pattern). Slide dough onto preheated baking stone. Pour 1 cup hot tap water into broiler pan and quickly close oven door to trap steam. Bake until crust is well-browned and firm to the touch, about 30 minutes. Remove from oven to a wire rack and cool completely.