I know I posted recently “the ONLY bread recipe you need” and I do stand by that claim, but if you aren’t home to babysit the bread through all the rising and proofing, or you don’t have an electric stand mixer (thanks mom!) to do the kneading, then this is a much faster and easier recipe. This recipe is from a book I have called “200 Fast and Easy Artisan Breads”. Because there are a few shortcuts (namely, no use of ‘old dough’) you would think that it would not be as flavourful. I’ve found that this is not the case, probably because of all the extra yeast, and the fact that I am always substituting in extra ingredients and more flavourful flours. Here is my basic version with my most common modifications listed at the very bottom of this post:

BASIC BREAD

INGREDIENTS:

• 6 1/2 c flour *
• 1 1/2 tbsp instant or bread machine yeast *
• 1 1/2 tbsp kosher salt
• 3 c lukewarm water (100F or 37C)

METHOD:

1. Add flour, salt and yeast to the biggest bowl you’ve got. This bread rises and bubbles up more than you’d expect and much more than normal bread recipes. Stir to make sure the yeast is mixed through all the flour.
2. Pour in the water and blend it all with a wooden spoon. This is a sticky mess, but stick with it. Beat it for another 40 strokes (basically, just keep stirring through the mass).
3. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 2 hours. You can cut this time a little if you put it into your oven on the ‘bread proof’ setting. Check it at an hour and a half, if it’s risen to the top of the bowl and looks bubbly and sponge-like, it’s ready.  TIP: Even if you don’t have that setting on your oven, it’s still a good idea to allow it to rise in the oven as it’s draft free.
4. Now you are going to shape the bread. This is a little tougher than with normal bread recipes because it’s so sticky. Just work with it, you will learn little tricks and get better all the time. I take a long thin knife and make a slice down the middle of the bowl to divide the dough in two somewhat equal parts. Sprinkle about half a cup of flour onto the sticky dough. Now get your hands in there and grab one half.
5. Smooth the dough into a round. Add some more flour if you need to on any sticky spots, and try not to fuzz with it too much. If there is a lot of dough sticking to the bowl, use a metal spatula to scrape it off. Round the second half of the dough.
6. Lay both on separate parchment lined baking sheets sprinkled with cornmeal or flour. Of course, if you have a baking stone, please use that instead! Cover with a tea towel and rest for about 40 minutes – not in the oven.
7. While the dough is resting, preheat the oven to 450 F or 425 F if you are using convection. If you’d like a thicker, crisper crust, place a hot water filled shallow roasting pan or broiler pan on the bottom of the oven as low as you can. I place it UNDER my bottom rack right onto the metal piece that covers the open flame, but if you have an electric oven, you may need to place it on the bottom rack.
8. Slash the loaves if you like, (criss cross is my fave) and place into hot oven for 27-30 minutes. Give it a knock to make sure it’s done – it should sound hollow.

*MODIFICATIONS: I ran out of bread machine yeast and used regular yeast instead and it worked just fine. The trick is to activate the yeast because you aren’t giving the bread a whole lot of time to proof. I just measure the yeast into the water and leave it for about 5 minutes, then add the mixture to the flour. Feel free to play with the flour. Try half whole wheat, some oats, spelt flour, potato flour, whatever you like, so long as the total is 6 1/2 cups. You are pretty much guaranteed that it will work out great if you do half plain white or whole wheat flour, and half other grains, but be brave and try whatever you like – it’s just bread! It’s VERY forgiving. See my other bread recipe “The ONLY Bread Recipe You Need” for more modification ideas.

I’ve added a “printer friendly” button in case you’d like to print a recipe without comments and other ink and paper wasters!