Low Waste Recipe: Simple Bread
The Easiest Bread Recipe. EVER.
Have you felt intimidated to bake your own bread? Here is a super easy 4-ingredient beginner bread recipe that’s low waste. It’s simple, straightforward, and so delicious. Plus there is no kneading involved. It’s hard not to eat it all in one sitting - it’s that good.
Timing is Important
It’s best to make your dough in the afternoon. The actual time it takes to mix/prep the dough is about 15 minutes. However, you have to let the dough rise for 18 hours so you don’t want to make the dough in the morning and then be up at 3am baking it. Mid-afternoon is the best time to get started. If you plan to make the dough at 2pm, for example, you will be turning on the oven around 8am and baking at 8:30 am.
What You’ll Need
In addition to the ingredients, you will also need a large bowl, a wooden spoon, a clean dish towel, a rubber band, parchment paper, and a round Dutch oven. We have a secondhand Dutch oven from Le Creuset and it works really well for this. I have also heard of people using a tagine. However, I have not tried this so I can’t confirm if it works.
Simple Bread Recipe
Ingredients:
1 3/4 c. whole wheat flour
1½ all-purpose flour
2 tsp. coarse kosher sea salt
½ tsp. active dry yeast
1½ c. warm water
Instructions:
Whisk the dry ingredients in a medium bowl.
Using a wooden spoon, gradually stir in water until incorporated.
Mix dough gently to form a rough ball.
Transfer to a large clean (ungreased) bowl. You can use the same one as before but just wash and dry completely before reusing.
Cover with a lightly moist clean dish towel and secure around the rim with a rubber band.
Let the dough rise. It should sit in a draft-free place at room temp for 18 hours. The dough will double in size and have bubbles on top.
When the dough is ready, place your empty Dutch oven in the oven. Turn it on to 450F and allow it to heat for 30 minutes.
As the oven is warming, transfer the dough to a well-floured surface. Fold the corners of the dough under to form a ball. Place the dough ball on a large square of parchment paper that’s big enough to cover the bottom of your Dutch oven.
Dust dough with flour, cover it lightly with a dish towel and allow it to rest where it is for 15 minutes.
Score an X on the top of the loaf (approx. 2½ in. long by ¼ in. deep) using a large sharp knife or kitchen scissors. Using a pastry brush or spray bottle and some water, lightly brush or mist the top of the bread.
With potholders, very carefully remove the Dutch oven from the oven. Using the parchment paper to pick up the dough, place both into the Dutch oven and cover with a lid. Put back in the oven for 30 minutes.
Remove lid. Bake for an additional 8-15 minutes (until the top is darkened but not burnt).
Remove from oven. Transfer the bread to a cooling rack, and allow it to cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing.
Notes:
This recipe can be made with all all-purpose flour (3 1/4 cups) or all whole wheat flour (3 1/4 cups) or a combination of the two (totaling 3 1/4 cups). Also, I like to make 2 loaves at once. I stagger adding the water to the dry ingredients by an hour so the 2nd is ready to go in the oven when the 1st comes out.