Two Hour, No Knead Artisan Bread

When I think of a lovely little witch's cottage, I am immediately drawn to smells. Incense smoke and lemon cleaners. Honeysuckle in the summer and pine in the winter. And always, through it all, the scent of freshly baked bread.

Rare is the day there's not a loaf of bread baking in my oven. It is a staple of of evening meal, the loaf sliced right as we fill our plates, the golden pad of butter sitting on the table. Some days it's a sourdough loaf I've worked on for since the night before. Sometimes a quick and simple Italian or French loaf. But more often than not, as my day is filled with other chores, tending animals and gardens and children and home, it's this bread.

Perfectly crusty on the outside. To die for soft and springy on the inside. That rich yeasty taste you crave from a homemade bread. I firmly believe the difference between a house and a home is the bread that gets eaten there. This one makes the arena of homemade bread open to even the busiest of homes. Two hours from start to finish and no kneading time what so ever. Make a loaf while you settle in for an evening drink and set about your evening meal. Or even in the early morning while your house is silent and still and you savor that first cup of coffee, a rich little miracle all of its own. I tend to bake early or put together this dough for dinner while I'm making lunch.

Whenever you choose to bake it, you will not regret the minimal effort required. If baking is not your thing, surprise your family with this loaf. It's so simple even a child could bake it. And the simplest food are often the best.

My family likes to eat this bread alongside their meal (especially soup), slathered in butter. It is also delicious slice and toasted in a cat iron until slightly charred, topped with a fried egg and bruschetta. However you choose to eat it, savor it. Homemade bread is one of those everyday enchantments, magical moments meant to be enjoyed.

Two Hour No Knead Artisan Bread

Ingredients

3 cups of aerated flour (spoon your flour into your measuring cup, do not scoop)

1 tsp salt

2 1/4 tsp active yeast

1 1/2 cups warm water

Instructions

Before measuring your flour out, aerate it. Otherwise it tends to compact and you end up with more flour than you actually want. Simply take a spoon and stir the flour up before spooning it into your measuring cup.

Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Create a well in the center and add the warm water. Stir until combined well.

Cover your bowl with plastic wrap or beeswax cloth (I highly recommend removing plastic wrap from your kitchen if you can afford to do it). Let rise for one hour.

Place your dutch oven into the cold oven and preheat to 450 for 15min. During the preheat, turn your dough out onto floured parchment paper and using either your hands or a dough scraper, pull and fold in half, Turn 90° and pull and fold again. Repeat this process approximately 10-15 times and then shape your dough into a ball and allow it to rest until the preheat is finished.

Score your dough and lift it with the parchment paper into the hot dutch oven. Bake covered for 30 min, then remove the lid and bake another 15 min.