Dutch Oven Loaf
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 1/2 cups warm water
- 2 1/4 teaspoon dry active yeast
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 - 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (* more for dusting)
- In a large bowl stir the honey and warm water until the honey is dissolved. Sprinkle the dry active yeast on top of the honey water and let it bloom for 5-10 minutes until foamy.
- Once the yeast has bloomed, add the flour and salt to the bowl. Use a wooden spoon to bring the mix together until no dry bits remain. It will be shaggy but do not knead the dough. Dust the dough with additional flour on all sides, cover with a kitchen towel and place in a warm spot in the kitchen for 1 hour to rise.
- After 1 hour, the dough should be bubbly and smooth, do NOT punch the dough down (we want those bubbles!). Tip to dough onto a lightly floured surface and begin to pinch and fold towards the center to shape the dough. Flip the seam side down on the surface and smooth into a round loaf.
- Flour a proofing basket (or a towel lined bowl!) place your dough, seam-side down and cover with a towel for an additional 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 460°F. While the oven is preheating, place the dutch oven with the lid on inside the oven to come to temperature with the oven. When the oven has reached temperature, set the time for an additional 5 minutes to allow the dutch oven plenty of heating time.
- Lay a piece of parchment paper on the counter, turn the dough onto the parchment and flour the surface lightly.
- Very carefully, pull the dutch oven out of the hot oven. Using the sides of the parchment paper to lift the dough, lower the dough into the hot dutch oven, return the lid and bake for 30 minutes covered. After 30 minutes, remove the lid and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes until golden.
- Remove the bread from the dutch oven, place on a cutting board and cover with a kitchen towel to rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
*this is best by weight, 360g of flour is roughly 3 cups. You will be dusting as you go so will likely use up an additional 1/2 cup flour as you go.