Easy Homemade Bread Recipe

Easy Homemade Bread Recipe By: Cece Kirkwood This post may contain affiliate links.

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This easy homemade bread recipe has the most delicate crust which makes it the perfect dinner table bread for you and your family.

I like to call this bread the “everyday bread” because it is so simple that you’ll want to make it everyday. It is light, fluffy and with an added hint of honey, this loaf has a sweet flavor profile. 

There is no mixer required, but I do suggest using a dutch oven to bake the dough. This helps create that beautiful crust by mimicking a fancy steam bread oven. But, if you don’t have a dutch oven, I’ve got a few tips that can still help you make this delicious bread from home. 

There are a few other tools you’ll need to begin your bread journey…

1. Dough Whisk
2. Bench Scraper
3. Proofing Basket
4. Lame
5. Dutch Oven

The Process 

1) Combine Ingredients and Rest 

First things first, pre-measure out your ingredients into smaller bowls. In a large bowl, whisk together the water, olive oil, honey and yeast. Then, add in both flours, and the salt on top. 

TIP: It is important to add the salt on top of the flour, otherwise, the salt can hit the yeast too quickly and actually stall the rising agent. 

Now, you will want to bring the ingredients together, but don’t over mix. Combine using a dough whisk or wooden spatula to form a shaggy and slightly tacky dough. Things should come together rather easily. As soon as the dough comes together into a ball, leave it to rest. 

TIP: Don’t worry if it isn’t too smooth yet, we will get things all nice and robust in a bit. Leave the dough to rest for about 20 minutes to allow the flour to absorb the water a bit before kneading. 

2) Knead the Dough 

Turn the dough onto a well-floured surface and begin to knead for about 8-10 minutes. The dough might be a little sticky at first, so handle it with quick, precise movements. It will quickly remind you of playdough – easy to knead and very elastic.

Kneading can be done by using the palm of your hand to push one side of your dough away from you, then bringing that back to fold over onto itself. Give your dough a quarter turn and continue this kneading process until your dough is elastic, smooth and robust.

Form the dough into a ball and place into a lightly oiled bowl, covered with a towel to rest for 1.5 hours or until the dough doubles in size. 

3) Pre-Shape & Pre-Heat 

After 1.5 hours, this dough will be full of air. Gently knock the air out of it, by turning your dough onto a well-floured surface. Now, we will pre-shape the dough into a boule. 

To do this, pull the top third of the dough up and away from you, then fold it down onto itself, towards the center of the dough. Then, starting from the bottom, roll the dough up to the top. Flip onto the seam and begin to create tension across the top of the dough by pulling and tucking the dough from the edges into the center of your dough ball. 

Place the dough ball, seam side up, in a proofing basket. You may need to seal the edges together by pinching the dough across the center of the circle. Once sealed, cover with a towel for 1 hour and let it rest. 

Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 425 degrees with the dutch oven inside.

4) Score, Bake & Enjoy the Easy Homemade Bread

After an hour, your dough will be ready for baking. If it splits a bit at the seam don’t worry, this dough is just very elastic. Seal it back up by pinching together the sides, then flip the dough out of the proofing basket and onto your work surface, seam side down. 

TIP: I like to put my bread directly onto a sheet of parchment paper. This helps make the transfer to and from the dutch oven a little easier in the steps to follow. 

Lightly dust your dough with flour and using a lame, score your bread with at least one deep cut into your dough. You’ll want to hold the lame at an angle and make one continuous movement as you cut into the bread. 

Using oven mitts, remove your dutch oven from the preheated oven and carefully place your dough ball into the dutch oven. Replace with cover and place directly into the oven. 

Bake for 15 minutes, then remove the cover of the dutch oven, decrease heat to 375 and bake for another 30 minutes. 

TIP: You’ll know when your bread is done, when you give it a little “tap” and it sounds nice and hollow. 

Remove from the dutch oven and let it cool completely on a rack before cutting.

Enjoy! 

The Tips 

Do I need a dutch oven?

A dutch oven helps mimic a traditional steam oven that you would find in a bakery. By preheating it in the oven with the lid on, you create steam in the bread’s very own little oven. That trapped steam helps create the soft, bouncy crust for this easy homemade bread recipe. To succeed in this bread recipe, you’ll need a dutch oven for baking.

Why is this recipe in grams? 

Baking is a science and in science you want things to be exact and precise. The best way to do this is by weighing out your ingredients using a simple scale. Ever baked a cookie using the same recipe, yet somehow it turns out slightly different each time? That is because when measuring by volume, you can’t be as precise. It is vital that your ingredient ratios are accurate for a reliable bake every time.

What is yeast? 

Yeast is a beautiful, wonderful ingredient to baking. It is in part what gives bread that delicious smell you breathe in deeply when passing by a bakery. It is a fungus…

Yes… a fungus! And it is ALIVE! You can read more about yeast in one of my recent baking basic posts.

How to store Easy Homemade Bread. 

This bread stores well in a linen bread bag on your countertop for a day or two. If you’d like it to last longer, I suggest slicing the bread, placing it into a plastic bag and placing it in the freezer. When you’re ready to devour, defrost the slices one by one!

The Easy Homemade Bread Recipe

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