Bread to die for

We received our first snowfall of the season one day last week, so that made for a good day of staying indoors and baking.

One recipe I decided to try for the first time was Crusty Bread from Simply So Good.

I don't remember how I learned about this recipe, but it probably was recommended on someone's website, so I bookmarked it for a time when I could give it a try.

It's an usual recipe compared with my other bread recipes. It requires no kneading, which isn't terribly unusual, but once the dough is mixed together, it needs to sit for 12-24 hours at room temperature in order to "proof."

Then, when it's ready for the oven, it is placed in a preheated cast-iron Dutch oven or casserole, or anything that can stand a heat setting of 450° and has a tight-fitting cover.

It's baked for 30 minutes with the cover on, then 15 more minutes with the cover off.


Oh. My. Word.

This bread is super-delicious. As evidence of that, compare the two photos of the loaf on the left, before and after dinner that evening.

I have a small confession, though. Since I  mixed up the dough around 10:00 a.m., and since the dough kept rising to giddy heights and trying to escape the bowl entirely, and since I'd stirred it down to get it under control at least three times and I wasn't sure it was even supposed to be stirred once, and since I didn't want to be baking bread somewhere between 10:00 p.m. and 10:00 a.m. the next day, I baked it after only six or seven hours of proofing. The dough didn't seem to mind at all; it was really, really, really tasty.

Next time I'll plan ahead a little better and mix up the dough around 6:00 a.m., just to see if it's even better if it's proofed longer.

But I honestly don't know how it could be.