Homemade Easy Bread

I only started baking a year ago, and I have enjoyed it immensely. But I have never been brave enough to tackle making bread from scratch! A friend of mine, Amy, baked some amazing bread when I was over at her house, that I practically begged her to teach me. Thinking this would be a long process, I was prepared to spend a lot of time at her house, only to find out that all it took was 4 ingredients! Yeah, that’s right, FOUR!

Ingredients:

3 cups of all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp yeast
2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup of warm water

Method:

1. Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix it all up with a wooden spoon. (I told you it was easy!).
2. Cover it with plastic wrap and set aside for 8-12 hours. (I did this overnight and you can actually let it rise for up to 20 hours if you need to).
3. Once the time has passed, get a plate and sprinkle some flour on it and put the dough that has sat overnight, onto the plate.
4. Punch down the dough lightly about 4-5 times and cover lightly with plastic wrap and let it sit for 2-6 hours. (I have only done it for 2 hours).
5. Preheat your oven at 425 degrees,  and heat up a covered ovenware dish for about 15 mins in the oven.  At the end of the 15 mins, take out the heated dish using gloves, and sprinkle some cornmeal in the bottom of the dish to prevent the dough from sticking and to slide it right out when it is done.
6. Put the dough into the hot dish. The dough will be twice the size it was when you first set it aside, and a bit sticky and stringy. Place the lid on the dish and put back into the oven for 30 mins.
7. At 30 mins, remove the lid and continue to cook till the crust is the desired brown that you would like.
8. Let it cool for about 5 mins, cut and serve with butter.

I learned this recipe on Wednesday on this week, and I have made it 3 times already!! My husband, I think, secretly, loves me more 😉