Everyone loves fresh bread right out of the oven! I particularly love this recipe because it is EASY to make and EASY to clean up. Easy to eat too!! Most bread recipes are just too complicated… this one has four ingredients and requires about 10-15 minutes of actual hands on prep time. You can make it with yeast or sourdough. And the best part? It makes a great dough for a whole lot more that just a loaf of bread!
Making the Easy Bread
- Mix in a bowl:
- 4 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons yeast
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 cups of hot water
- Let that rise for about an hour (until it’s fluffy). Then use oil to grease your hands and a section of the countertop.
- Dump the dough into the counter and gently form it into a ball or loaf or whatever shape you want 🙂 – you don’t want to knead it just form it into a shape really.
- I let that rise for 30 mins and then turn the oven on to preheat to 450.
- Put a little pie tin or pan with about 1/2 cup water on the bottom rack of your oven while it preheats (and leave it there while the bread cooks).
- I bake the bread on a cookie sheet or in a cast iron frying pan (no lid or anything). Bake it for 30 minutes and then enjoy!!
What Else to Make with the Dough
Basically anything… the dough is a bit more dense, so here are my favorites:
- Cinnamon rolls
- Rolls
- Monkey Bread
- Flat Bread
- Scones
Sourdough Version Artisan Bread
Use the same recipe as above but replace the yeast with your active sourdough start. If you activate the starter first (let it be active for 12 hours) then you don’t need to let the dough rise any differently than the yeast version.
Whole Wheat Version Artisan Bread
I have done it with 1/4 Whole Wheat and 3/4 White as well as 50/50. Both are good! The BEST is if you can grind your own wheat flour. It is fresher and has a better flavor than the stuff you buy at the store. That and it seems to be more glutenous making for a spongier bread.
Best Ways to Eat the Bread
Hot out of the oven. Smothered in Butter. Little bit of jam… Yum! This is such a good recipe to go with a soup meal on a cold winter day. It is also perfect for a hot summer day when a slice of fresh bread and jam is just the thing. You can’t go wrong and it is soooo easy!
