If you've ever tried to make your own bread from scratch then you already know that the struggle is REAL! This is why I wanted to design a recipe that is not only easy, but also less time consuming.
"Everyone is kneaded out of the same dough but not baked in the same oven" -Yiddish Proverb
There's nothing quite like the smell of freshly baked bread. The only problem is that most breads tend take 15-24 hours before you can even bake! Who has that kinda time? It's me, I have that kinda time...BUT, I still don't like waiting a whole day before I can have freshly baked bread so I found a way to cut the wait time to under 2 hours.
Baking Tips
You're going to need a Dutch Oven for this recipe. They aren't expensive and it's a great investment that you can use for almost anything.
If you want to make this into a different flavor of bread such as rosemary bread; just add 1-2 Tbsp of fresh rosemary or whatever herbs you like.
I prefer to use bread flour but you do you.
Be sure to have some parchment paper handy, it makes life so much easier when you're trying to remove the baked bread to and from the dutch oven.
Be sure to use an instant/rapid yeast.
Ingredients:
6 Cups Flour (All-Purpose or Wheat)
4 ½ Tsp Instant/Rapid yeast
3 Cups Warm Water
3 Tbsp Sugar
1 Tbsp salt
½ - 1 Cup of dried Cranberries (depending on how much flavor you want)
Directions:
Using a large mixing bowl, combine the water and yeast.
In a separate bowl, sift the salt and flour. Add your dried Cranberries and mix.
Next, add flour mixture into the yeast mixture. Using a wooden spoon, stir and turn the mixture until it is well combined.
Cover the bowl with a cloth or plastic wrap to allow dough to rise for at least 1 hour, it should double in size.
With your hands floured, carefully remove dough from the bowl onto a lightly floured surface and shape it into a ball. Next, place the dough onto two sheets of parchment paper layered like a cross ( + ) and cover with a cloth to rest for another 20-30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 450°F and place Dutch oven with lid on inside to heat up during the preheat.
Once the preheat has finished, take the pot out of the oven, and remove the lid. Pick up the dough by grabbing all corners of the parchment paper, and carefully place the dough inside the pot.
Place the lid back onto the pot, and return it to the oven. Bake for 35 minutes with the lid on, and 20-25 minutes with the lid off, or until the bread is golden brown.
Remove the bread from the Dutch oven and allow it to cool completely before slicing. Enjoy!
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