This recipe is for beginners: no kneading, lots of adaptability. I suggest weighing all your ingredients separately before you begin. Honestly, I learned this the hard way after only a gazillion times of adding too much water into the yeast and then having to start again.

Ingredients:

370 grams water

7 grams instant yeast

500 grams all-purpose flour

10 grams salt

Combine:

In a large bowl, combine the water and yeast together first. Lots of recipes use sugar to “active” the yeast. I don’t do that, but feel free to add a teaspoon of sugar here if you want to. Then add the flour and salt on top of the water and yeast.

Mix:

With your hands or a solid wooden spoon, mix together until you get a sticky dough. This should come together pretty easily. I recommend using your hands because it will be the fastest way for you to feel your dough’s progression.

Rest:

Let the dough rest for about 15-20 minutes, letting the flour absorb the water, making it easier to handle.

Fold:

Time to fold your dough!

Grab hold of the outer edge on the right side of the dough, pull the dough up, then fold it into the middle of the dough ball. Repeat the same type of fold for the left, top, and bottom edge. Be careful not to tear the dough when you pull it up.

Rise:

Time to chill out while your dough does it’s thing. Cover your bowl with plastic wrap, a floured kitchen towel or THESE and let it sit for 1.5 hours. Don’t hover, but stay close by.

Test:

At 1.5 hours, it’s time to check your dough. You should notice a difference right away. The dough should look lighter, bigger, and filled with air. You can perform a “float test”: Fill a glass with water, pinch off a small ball of dough and place it in the water. It should float, indicating that you’re ready to move on. If it doesn’t float, that’s okay. Cover and check again in 20-30 minutes.

Shape:

Now to build some tension! Flour a portion of your countertop. Tip the bowl upside down to pour the dough onto the floured area. The side of the dough that was in contact with the bowl should now be facing the ceiling. Grab hold of the outer edge on the right side of the dough, pull the dough up, then fold it into the middle of the dough ball. Repeat the same type of fold for the left, top, and bottom edge. Be careful not to tear the dough when you pull it up. If the dough feels like it’s going to rip if you keep folding it, it’s a good time to stop. If the dough still has a lot of stretch to it, you can rotate the entire dough 90° and do another set of the folds you’ve just done.

Proof:

Line a bowl, basket, or banneton with a lightly floured towel. Transfer your dough into the bowl, basket, or banneton seam side down. Let the dough rise 1 hour – 1.5 hours until the dough feels pillowy. When poked with a finger, an indentation should be left. At this time, preheat your oven!

Preheat:

Preheat the oven at 450° with an empty dutch oven inside. Preheating the dutch oven helps create steam for your loaf to rise.

Bake:

Prepare a piece of parchment paper the width of your loaf. You will be using this paper to lower your loaf into your dutch oven. Once your dough is ready (it has risen, looks and feels pillowy when one finger is pressed down into it), tip the dough from your bowl, basket, or banneton onto the parchment paper. Your dough will now be seam side up and ready to bake. Remove the dutch oven out of the oven, remove the lid. It’s hot, be careful! Using the paper, lower the loaf into the dutch oven. Place the lid on top. Insert the dutch oven into your preheated oven and bake with the lid on for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, take the lid off the dutch oven and continue to bake for 15 more minutes.

You did it!

Cool:

Let your bread cool for AT LEAST 30 minutes on a wire rack before cutting it. Using a serrated knife that is 8″ or longer will help to cut your bread.

Enjoy!