Artisan Herb Bread

I have been so tempted to make bread for a long time, but as someone who fancies herself more of a cook than a baker and a recipe maker rather than a recipe follower, I was less than optimistic about my potential skills.  However, after doing some research, I managed to come up with a recipe that I found to work very well.  It's easy, and pretty similar to the New York Times famous "No Knead Bread", though I found that a little kneading never hurt anyone :)

For the bread, you can really put anything that you want in it, but I chose the herbs that I had on hand at the time.  Later, I made some with fresh rosemary, thyme, and oregano that was so delicious!!

 

 

Ingredients

4 cups of wheat flour
1 1/2 cups warm water
3/4 packet of dry active yeast (3/4 tbs)
3/4 tsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt (more if you like salty)
2 tbs chopped basil
1/2 tsp dried onion flakes
1 tsp dried rosemary

How to make Artisan Herb Bread

This is a great bread recipe that turns out super crispy on the outside and airy in the middle.  I had never made bread before, so I surveyed some recipes and came up with this one.  Feel free to add whatever spices and herbs you want to the bread.  The next time I make it, I think I am going to put some cloves of garlic in it!

Start by pouring the warm water into the yeast and sugar.  Let sit for about 20 minutes until it is a very bubbly mixture.  

Then, add in the flour, salt, and herbs and mix.  You will have a very sticky, ugly looking dough. 
Cover it with plastic wrap and let it sit for about 18-24 hours.  The mixture should look very bubbly.
Take the mixture out of the bowl and carefully transfer to a floured working surface.  Form the dough into a ball and cover with a smooth, liberally floured kitchen towel while you preheat the oven.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  While preheating, put your pizza stone or baking sheet in there to warm up as well.  I let mine sit for an extra 10 minutes while the oven was heating the stone.
Sprinkle the dough with some dried rosemary and transfer to the pizza stone.  (I put some aluminum foil between the stone and dough to make it easier to transfer and to ensure that it would not stick).  I also put a small ramekin full of water into the bottom of the oven to given a crispier crust to the bread.

Bake at 450 degrees for about 1 hour, or until the bread is golden brown and crispy.  I used the toothpick trick to make sure the inside was properly cooked as well.

Enjoy!!