Starting off the week making a fresh loaf of bread has become a beautiful ritual these days. It’s a simple way I romanticize everyday life. I used to buy bread from the bakery section of the grocery thinking it was much healthier than the regular bread aisle. That is until one day I looked at the list of ingredients on the label.

Why the hell where there so many ingredients in bakery bread? Shouldn’t it just be the essentials? Well, obviously additional ingredients are used to extend the life of the bread, but I figured I could navigate it with much less.

It took a few trial and error sessions, but I now relish in the art of baking fresh loaves of bread for my guys every week. It takes a bit of time, but what else are lazy Sunday afternoons for anyway? The ingredients are minimal and it’s saved us on grocery bills. (We’re heavy bread eaters in this house.)

We use this bread for sandwiches, breakfast toast, or as an afternoon snack slathered in room temperature salted butter. The laboring art of bread baking holds a beautiful reminder to slow down and enjoy the simple yet decadent things in life.

What You’ll Need:

3 Cups All Purpose Flour
1 & 1/2 Cups Very Warm Water
2 Tsp Instant Yeast
2 Tbs Granulated Sugar
1 Tbs Sea Salt
Drizzle of Olive Oil

How To:

In a large mixing bowl combine yeast, sugar, and very warm (not too hot) water. Stir with a wooden spoon and let sit for about seven minutes to activate yeast.
Add in flour and salt then combine with a wooden spoon. Your dough is going to be pretty sticky.
Knead dough by hand for ten minutes or in a stand mixer for five minutes on speed four. You’ll know it’s ready for rising when the dough is soft and cloud like when pinching.
Cover your mixing bowl and place in the fridge to rise overnight. Take the dough out the next morning and keep covered to rise on the counter for an additional 4 hours.
Once dough has risen a second time add a little flour on top and use your fist to punch a hole in the center of the dough. Let the dough deflate then scrape away from the bowl edges.
Remove dough from mixing bowl and fold sides under to form a rectangular shape. Place in bread pan uncovered to rise one last time for about an hour in the bread pan.
Optional- Melt a 1/2 Tbs of salted European style butter and brush melted butter onto the top of the loaf. Cut three to four slits in the top of your bread and sprinkle a very small amount of kosher salt on top.
Bake at 325F for about 45-55 minutes.
Remove bread, cover with a cloth for twenty minutes prior to serving. The top of bread will be hard when first removing from the oven. Allow to sit covered for a few minutes so the steam can soften up the crust.