Best Crusty Artisan Bread Recipes

CRUSTY HOMEMADE BREAD (ARTISAN TYPE)

Steps:

• 1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in water. In a large bowl, mix 3 1/2 cups flour and salt. Using a rubber spatula, add yeast mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until smooth (dough will be sticky). (At times I have had to add up to 1/2 cup more, until it is the right consistency.) Do not knead. Cover with plastic wrap; let rise at room temperature 1 hour.
• 2. Punch down dough. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Pat into a 9-inch square. Fold dough into thirds, forming a 9x3-inch rectangle. Fold rectangle into thirds, forming a 3-inch square. Turn dough over and place in a greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap; let rise at room temperature until almost doubled, about 1 hour.
• 3. Punch down dough and repeat folding process. Return dough to bowl; refrigerate, covered, overnight or for at least 4 hours.
• 4. Line bottom of a disposable foil roasting pan with parchment paper. Dust with cornmeal. Turn dough onto a floured surface. Knead gently 8 times; shape into a 6-inch round loaf.
• 5. Place in prepared pan; dust top with 1 tablespoon of flour. Cover pan with plastic wrap; let rise at room temperature until dough expands in size to a 7 1/2 inch loaf, about 1 1/4 hours.
• 6. Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Using a sharp knife, make a slash (1/4 inch deep) across top of loaf. Cover pan tightly with foil. Bake on lowest oven rack for 25 minutes.
• 7. Reduce oven setting to 450 degrees. Remove foil; bake 25-30 minutes longer or until deep golden brown. Remove loaf to a wire rack to cool.
• 8. Note: At step 4, you can make this a Cheddar Cheese Bread by adding 4 oz. diced cheddar cheese. You could also make this a Rustic Cranberry & Orange Bread by adding 1 cup dried cranberries and 4 tsp. grated orange peel. I have made this with cheddar, mozzarella, and the cranberries and orange. We have loved all variations.

DUTCH OVEN CRUSTY ARTISAN BREAD

Steps:

• 1. Stir dry ingredients together.
• 2. Add water.
• 3. Cover with plastic and let sit 2 hours up to 14 hours. It will be ready to bake at 2 hours but you can let it sit up to 14 hours for your convenience.
• 4. Turn out onto a floured surface and form into a ball.(be sure and coat your hands with flour as the dough is sticky) Cover once again in plastic and let rest. While this rest preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Once your oven is ready then preheat your dutch oven for 30 minutes.
• 5. Place dough into the dutch oven and cover.(I usually grease mine with ghee) Bake 30 minutes. Remove the cover and bake an additional 10-15 minutes.

CRUSTY BREAD MACHINE JALAPEñO CHEESE ARTISAN BREAD

Steps:

• Place ingredients in bread machine in the order according to the manufacturer's directions.
• Use the regular bread cycle raisin cycle.
• Add chopped jalapeño and cheese when the raisin cycle indicated it is time to add.
• Let cool on rack before slicing.

HEALTHY GLUTEN-FREE ARTISAN BREAD -- FREE-FORM CRUSTY BOULE

Steps:

• MIXING AND STORING THE DOUGH:.
• Whisk together the flours, yeast, salt and xanthan gum in a 5-quart lidded Round Food Storage Container or the mixing bowl of your stand mixer (a metal mixing bowl should be fine as long as it is stainless steel).
• Combine the oil, honey and water; set aside.
• Dump the eggs into the dry ingredients and then stir while you pour in about 1/3 of the oil and water. (Unlike wheat doughs, we do not add all of the liquid at once and stir. If you do that it will result in a lumpy dough).
• Continue to stir while you pour in another 1/3 of the liquid; the dough will start to come together in a thick dough. NOTE: You can use your mixer for these steps with your bread hook rather than stirring the dough ingredients together.
• Add the final 1/3 of liquid and stir until the dough is nice and smooth. Cover container with the lid, but do not snap it shut. Allow it to rest on the counter for about 2 hours.
• Place the dough in the refrigerator and store for up to 7 days.
• NOTE: If you want to bake a loaf immediately after the initial proving you can bake it the first day, but you need to reduce the resting time before hand. In fact, you can mix the dough, shape it and let it rest on the parchment. After it has risen then slide it directly into the oven.
• BAKING DAY:
• On baking day take the bucket from the refrigerator. The dough will be quite fluffy still and you do not want to handle the dough too much. Just like our other doughs the trick is to keep as much of the air bubbles intact as possible.
• Use WET HANDS to remove a 1-pound (grapefruit-size) piece of dough from the bucket. In order to not handle the dough too much you can even scoop it out of the bucket with a slightly wet metal spoon.
• The dough will be quite scraggly when you take it out, just place it on a piece of parchment paper.
• Use wet hands to smooth out the surface of the dough and shape it as desired. DO NOT KNEAD. This may take dipping your hands in the water a few times...to get a nice shape. Gently smooth it out with wet hands into the shape you want.
• Cover dough loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rest on the counter for about 90 minutes. If your kitchen is very warm you may only need about 75 minutes.
• The dough will not have grown much while resting, but it will seem a little bit puffier. Use a serrated knife to cut slashes in the dough.
• BAKING OPTIONS:.
• STONE OR COOKIE SHEET OPTION: If you want to bake using a baking stone, you can OR you can use a cookie sheet.
• Preheat oven to 450°F
• Place parchment paper with your prepared dough on prepared stone or baking sheet.
• Place a pan (not glass) under the baking stone or sheet (at least 4 inches away) and add a cup of hot water to it when you put the loaf in the oven to create steam.
• Bake at 450 degrees for 30 minutes.
• DUTCH OVEN OPTION: Preheat the oven with a 5 1/2 quart Dutch Oven in it to 500 degrees 30 minutes before baking time. (Be sure it is fitted with a metal Replacement Knob, the original plastic knobs can only be heated to about 400 degrees.)
• Remove the pot from the oven and take off the lid.
• Lift the bread on the parchment and VERY CAREFULLY lower the parchment and bread into the pot, replace the lid onto the pot.
• Return to the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
• After 20 minutes remove the lid, turn the heat down to 450F and bake for an additional 15 minutes.
• COOL THE BREAD:
• Once the bread is done baking remove it from the pot using a spatula or from the stone/sheet and transfer to a baking rack to cool.
• ALLOW THE BREAD TO COOL COMPLETELY before eating or the center may seem gummy.
• The loaf is also wonderful toasted and served with butter and marmalade. Enjoy!

CRUSTY ARTISAN BREAD

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the flour, yeast, and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water and stir until blended; the dough will be shaggy and very sticky. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rest at warm room temperature (about 70°F) until the surface is dotted with bubbles, 12 to 18 hours. Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface. Sprinkle the dough with a little flour and fold the dough over onto itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest for 15 minutes. Using just enough flour (I went a little crazy with flour, which you can see from the images) to keep the dough from sticking to the work surface or your fingers, gently and quickly shape the dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel, preferably a flour sack towel (not terry cloth), with cornmeal. Put the dough, seam side down, on the towel and dust with more flour or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise until the dough is more than double in size and does not readily spring back when poked with a finger, about 2 hours. At least 30 minutes before the dough is ready, put a 2 3/4-quart cast-iron pot in the oven and preheat the oven to 450°F. (We didn't have one of those really nice French enameled pots, but my mother had a pot that could be backed in so we used that. Worked great! When I got home I used a seasoned dutch oven, which was a little smoky but worked) Carefully remove the pot from the oven. Slide your hand under the towel and turn the dough over, seam side up, into the pot; it may look like a mess, but that is OK. Shake the pan once or twice if the dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with the lid and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and continue baking until the loaf is browned, 15 to 30 minutes more. Transfer the pot to a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes. Using oven mitts, turn the pot on its side and gently turn the bread; it will release easily. Makes one 1 1/2-lb. loaf.

NO-KNEAD CRUSTY ARTISAN BREAD RECIPE - (4.1/5)

Steps:

• In a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt and yeast. Add the water and stir using a wooden spoon until the mixture forms a shaggy but cohesive dough. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Let dough sit at room temperature for 8-24 hours*. Dough will bubble up and rise. After dough is ready, preheat oven to 450°F. Place your Dutch oven, uncovered, into the preheated oven for 30 minutes. While your Dutch oven preheats, turn dough onto a well-floured surface and, with floured hands, form the dough into a ball. Cover dough loosely with plastic wrap and let rest. After the 30 minutes are up, carefully remove Dutch oven. With floured hands, place the bread dough into it. (You can put a piece of parchment under the dough if your Dutch oven isn't enamel coated.) Replace cover and bake for 30 minutes covered. Carefully remove cover and bake for 7-15 minutes* more, uncovered. Carefully remove bread to a cutting board and slice with a bread knife. Enjoy! NOTES Uncovered baking time depends on your oven. In my oven, the bread only needs 7 minutes uncovered until crusty and golden brown, but this can vary. Just keep an eye on it! Preheating your Dutch oven to 450°F. will not damage it. I've let this dough rise anywhere between 8-24 hours and it has baked up beautifully. Just make sure it has risen and appears to "bubble" to the surface. There's no need to grease the Dutch oven/baking dish/pot. My bread has never stuck to the pot. If you are concerned though, put a piece of parchment paper under your dough before placing into your pot. I do not recommend using whole wheat flour or white whole wheat flour in this recipe. The resulting bread will be very dense, and not as fluffy and delicious. I used a 5.5 quart enameled cast iron Le Creuset pot, but you can use any large oven-safe dish and cover. All of these also work: a baking dish covered with aluminum foil, crockpot insert, stainless steel pot with a lid, pizza stone with an oven-safe bowl to cover the bread, and old cast iron Dutch oven.