When I very first started to cook from scratch for our little family, I learned how to make bread. I felt like I had conquered the world! It was probably the biggest win in the kitchen and the flavor and cost savings dragged me deep into the rabbit hole. With only 4 ingredients this easy artisan bread recipe is almost fool proof.

A Few Helpful Tips

When making bread there are a few things to remember.

1. Temperature – Yeast needs warmth. So if you use cold water or your house is too cold your yeast may not activate properly and your dough may not rise. So use warm water(not hot) and put dough in a warm place to rise.
2. Fresh Yeast – When storing active dry yeast, it is important to store it correctly. I like to just keep mine in an airtight jar in the freezer and use as needed. Yeast can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 months without affecting rise. Do not store yeast at warm temperature.
3. Good Flour – Make sure you are using good flour. If your flour is really old the gluten may not activate properly and can affect your rise. I buy my flour in bulk, but I make sure I am rotating through it, so it doesn’t go rancid and affect my baking.

Sourcing Bulk Ingredients

Most of my ingredients I try to source in bulk. I do enough cooking and baking from scratch that it is more cost effective for me to purchase in bulk. If you are interested in building your pantry on a budget, I highly suggest checking out Azure Standard. I can order from them once a month if I want to, which I don’t need to do that. I then meet a semi-truck at a specific drop location. Everyone purchasing helps unload all the product for that drop and then we take our goods and head home. I have saved so much money this way. For example, the items I have purchased in bulk for this recipe are: organic all-purpose flour, salt and active dry yeast. The flour is from Azure Standard, the yeast was from Amazon in 2020 and the salt from Costco.

I also have a great source for vanilla beans and make my vanilla extract and vanilla sugar in bulk. If you have not started to purchase in bulk, I highly suggest you start. Take the time to do a price comparison, especially on spices and flours. Now let’s get to the recipe…

Easy Artisan Bread

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Rising Time 2 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Total Time 3 hours hrs 10 minutes mins

Course Side Dish

Servings 12

Calories 135 kcal

Equipment

• Stand Mixer
• Cookie Sheet
• Measuring Cups & Spoons
• Parchment Paper
• Serrated Knife

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1.5 cups Water
• 2 1/4 tsp Active Dry Yeast
• 2 1/4 tsp Salt
• 3.5 cups all-purpose flour

Instructions

 

• Measure 1.5 cups of warm water.
• Add yeast to the warm water. Stir and let sit for 1 minute.
• Stir salt into yeast and water mixture. Allow to sit for 4 minutes.
• Pour water, salt and yeast mixture into stand mixer bowl.
• Attach dough hook to stand mixer and turn mixer on to speed 2.
• Add Flour a half of a cup at a time. Mix on speed two until combined.
• Up to speed 4 for 1 minute. Dough should be staying together and hitting the sides of the bowl pretty hard.
• Turn mixer off and remove dough hook.
• Place moist paper towel over bowl and place in a warm area. Allow dough to rise for 2 hours.
• Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
• Remove dough from bowl and place on cookie sheet in a long oval log. Allow to rise for 30 more minutes. I like to do this last rise on top of the stove while the oven preheats.
• Place an oven safe glass bowl or dish with 2 cups of water on the bottom rack of the oven.
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
• Once the dough has finished its final rise you will need to score it. I usually use a sharp knife and put 4 diagonal lines about half an inch deep down the length of the dough.
• Bake at 450 degrees for 30 minutes. Make sure you leave the bowl of water in the oven through the cooking time.
• Remove from oven and cookie sheet and allow to cool completely before slicing.
• Enjoy!

Video

Notes

Store left over bread in an airtight container.  Fresh bread only lasts a couple of days at room temperature due to lack of preservatives.  You can also freeze slices of the bread and remove as needed. 

Nutrition

Calories: 135kcalCarbohydrates: 28gProtein: 4gFat: 0.4gSaturated Fat: 0.1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.2gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.1gSodium: 439mgPotassium: 45mgFiber: 1gSugar: 0.1gVitamin C: 0.002mgCalcium: 7mgIron: 2mg

Keyword Artisan, Bread, Yeast

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We love to make memories building gingerbread houses or frosting cookies to give away. Making homemade ornaments or simmer pots that make the house smell better than a candle store. We gather together as a family and make things together. All the while laughing, talking, remembering and most importantly opening our hearts to one another.…

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