Easy Crusty Bread

This is a terrific recipe from King Arthur Flour - their no knead crusty white bread!

The recipe is written for beginners so at a glance it looks like lot of instructions but the gist is mix flour, yeast, salt and water, together, stick in the fridge up to a week and make bread whenever you feel like it. Well, up to four loaves. It has to rise for 45 minutes or so then bake at 450 degrees for 25 minutes or so.

I get off of work at 5:00 p.m. and can have this bread ready by 7:00 (ish) to serve with dinner during the week. In fact this is so easy and tasty I'm having to make myself take breaks in between making it just so the family doesn't get too used to having it all the time. Don't want it to no longer be special!

It has a nice crispy crust on the outside but the bread is soft and moist on the inside. Towards the end of the week it tastes a bit (just a bit) like sourdough. Yum...

Your bread will not look like the picture that accompanies the recipe. It will be flatter. The directions even say that it "doesn't rise upwards that much but seems to settle and expand" so don't freak when you don't wind up with that neat little ball. I also skip the "slash the bread with a knife" part. I've done it a couple of times but don't find it necessary.

This truly is a delicious bread for everyone but it's a great bread for anyone who has never even tried to bake their own.

Give it a try!