Even if you’ve never made homemade bread or worked with yeast before, this homemade crusty artisan bread is for you. It’s the perfect beginner recipe because it only requires 4 ingredients without any special pans or mixer, there’s no kneading or complicated shaping involved, and 95% of the work is hands-off. Bread masters will appreciate this recipe too because it delivers with delicious flavor, a slightly crisp and mega chewy crust, and those signature soft holes inside like ciabatta or French bread.
Bread Beginners—Start Here
Have you ever wanted to master homemade bread? Real, crusty, chewy, delicious bakery-style loaves that taste incredible with dips, soups, sauces, and comforting dinners? This is where you start. This artisan bread recipe is for beginners, but even bread masters will appreciate its flavor and ease. It’s so fresh, so flavorful, and so surprisingly easy because it basically makes itself.
You only need 4 ingredients without any special pans or mixer, there’s no kneading, no poolish or dough starter required, and you can add herbs, cheeses, and spices to make a variety of bread flavors.
This base recipe will soon be on repeat in your kitchen. After you realize how easy it is to make real homemade bread, you’ll find any excuse to bake a loaf. You can even turn it into garlic bread and homemade croutons.
What is Homemade Artisan Bread?
When it comes to bread, the term “artisan” doesn’t mean 1 particular thing. But, generally, artisan bread is homemade, fresh, crusty, and deliciously rustic-looking. An artisan is a skilled worker, one who works with their hands. But ironically, there isn’t much “work” involved with this recipe.
Why You’ll Love This Bread Recipe
- Easier than you ever imagined
- Soft + flavorful
- Chewy, slightly crisp crust
- Shape however you want
- No special pans, poolish, or dough starter required
- Only 4 ingredients
- You decide the length of time it rests
Like sandwich bread, whole wheat bread, focaccia, homemade English muffins, seeded oat bread, and homemade bagels—the process is surprisingly easy. If you’re new to yeast, reference my Baking with Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs.
Only 4 Ingredients
The crustier and chewier the bread, the less fat in the dough—also known as a “lean dough.” We’re using a lean dough for our artisan loaf today. (If you’re curious, a “rich dough” is a soft bread dough with the presence of fat, such as butter and eggs—the kind we need for overnight cinnamon rolls, sweet potato dinner rolls, brioche, and honey butter rolls.) Without fat, we’re left with the basics.
- Bread Flour: While you can use all-purpose flour in this recipe, I strongly recommend using bread flour. Just like when we make olive bread, pizza bread, and asiago-crusted skillet bread, bread flour produces a stronger, chewier bread and that makes a big difference in a recipe with only 3 other ingredients.
- Instant Yeast: Instant yeast is key in this recipe. While you can use active dry if that’s all you have, any quick rise or instant yeast will produce flavorful results in less time. I use more yeast in this recipe compared to my cranberry nut no-knead bread and no-knead jalapeño cheddar bread. Why? Those doughs rest and rise at room temperature. However, for more flavor and just as much rise, I use more yeast and let this dough rest in the refrigerator. (Cool air slows the fermentation process.)
- Salt: You can’t make good bread without salt and for best flavor, I recommend a coarse salt, such as coarse sea salt. I find the bread’s flavor lacking with regular table salt.
- Water: I normally encourage you to use warm liquid with yeast because warm liquid helps the yeast work faster. However, use cool or room temperature water here. Not freezing cold, not super warm—cool to touch. 70°F (21°C) is great, but the exact temperature doesn’t matter as long as it’s not hot or warm. The cooler the water, the longer the dough takes to rise and, usually, the better the bread’s flavor. (This is important since there are so little ingredients to add substantial flavor!) We use the same cool water method for no knead honey oat bread.
- Optional Cornmeal: Dusting the pan with cornmeal adds a pop of flavor and a little crunch to the bottom crust. This is completely optional. If you have it, use it. If you don’t have it, don’t worry about it.
You can also add herbs and seasonings such as garlic, rosemary, dill, chopped onion, jalapeño, shredded cheese, chopped nuts, dried cranberries, etc. My no yeast bread is the quick bread alternative here—you can add flavors to that loaf, too!
Baker’s Tip: Avoid adding too much flour to the dough as you work with it. The stickier it is—and the longer it sits in the refrigerator—the more likely you’ll have those big airy pockets of air in the crumb.
How to Make Homemade Artisan Bread in 5 Steps
- Mix the dough ingredients together. At first the dough will seem very dry and shaggy and you’ll question if it will even come together. But it will. Use a spatula at first, then switch to your hands to ensure all of the flour is moistened. The dough is actually a little sticky after it’s thoroughly mixed.
- Let it rise at room temperature for 2-3 hours. Cover the dough and let it rise at room temperature for about 2-3 hours until doubled in size.
- Use right away or refrigerate. After 2-3 hours, you can immediately continue with the next step. However, for ideal flavor and texture, I strongly recommend letting the dough sit in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours and up to 3 days. Yes, 3 full days! I usually only let it rest for about 18 hours. During this crucial step, the cold air slows the fermentation process and adds so much flavor and texture. So, you can bake bread in 2-3 hours or in 3 days. The longer it sits, the better it tastes. 🙂
- Shape into 2 loaves or 1 boule. Rest as oven preheats. You can shape the bread into a round loaf (boule) or two longer loaves. I usually make two longer loaves side-by-side on a flat baking sheet, about 9×3 inches each. Preheat the oven to a very hot 475°F (246°C). The extremely hot air will immediately set the crust so the bread rises up instead of spreading all over. Score the loaves on top right before baking. Scoring also helps control the bread’s expansion. To help ensure a crispier crust, after the oven preheats, pour boiling water into a metal or cast iron baking pan on the bottom oven rack. Immediately place the baking sheet inside and shut the oven door to trap the steam. The steam will help create that coveted crisp crust.
- Bake until golden brown, about 20-25 minutes. Gently tap the loaves because if they sound hollow, they’re done.
Look at those deliciously soft holes inside! Reminds me of ciabatta or a French baguette, both of which can be a little more complicated to make.
Serve Artisan Bread With
- Slather with homemade honey butter or cinnamon butter
- Slice and dunk in crab dip, beer cheese dip, garlic & bacon spinach dip, or even homemade Italian dressing
- Serve alongside slow cooker chicken chili or pumpkin chili
- As a dunker for homemade tomato soup, creamy cauliflower potato soup, minestrone soup, creamy chicken noodle soup, crab soup, or slow cooker creamy chicken & corn soup
- With a big bowl of mac & cheese or spaghetti with slow cooker turkey meatballs
- Use for my goat cheese & honey crostini
- It’s the perfect starch in breakfast casserole or baked apple cider French toast
- Use it to make homemade garlic bread or homemade croutons
- With anything because homemade bread is everything’s best friend
Homemade Artisan Bread Recipe
- Prep Time: 4 hours
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 4 hours, 25 minutes
- Yield: 2 8-inch loaves
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Even if you’ve never made homemade bread or worked with yeast before, this homemade artisan bread is for you. Watch the video tutorial below and review the recipe instructions and recipe notes prior to beginning. If you’re new to working with yeast, reference my Baking with Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs.
Ingredients
- 3 and 1/4 cups (about 430g) bread flour (spooned & leveled), plus more for hands and pan
- 2 teaspoons (about 6g) instant yeast
- 2 teaspoons (about 9g) coarse salt (see note)
- 1 and 1/2 cups (360ml) water, close to room temperature at about 70°F (21°C)
- optional: cornmeal for dusting pan
Instructions
- In a large ungreased mixing bowl, whisk the flour, yeast, and salt together. Pour in the water and gently mix together with a silicone spatula or wooden spoon. The dough will seem dry and shaggy, but keep working it until all the flour is moistened. If needed, use your hands (as I do in the video tutorial below) to work the dough ingredients together. The dough will be sticky. Shape into a ball in the bowl as best you can.
- Keeping the dough in the bowl, cover the dough tightly with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and set on the counter at room temperature (honestly any normal room temperature is fine!). Allow to rise for 2-3 hours. The dough will just about double in size, stick to the sides of the bowl, and have a lot of air bubbles.
- You can continue with step 4 immediately, but for absolute best flavor and texture, I strongly recommend letting this risen dough rest in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours and up to 3 days. Place covered dough in the refrigerator for 12 hours – 3 days. I usually let it rest in the refrigerator for about 18 hours. The dough will puff up during this time, but may begin to deflate after 2 days. That’s fine and normal—nothing to worry about.
- Lightly dust a large nonstick baking sheet (with or without rims and make sure it’s nonstick) with flour and/or cornmeal. Turn the cold dough out onto a floured work surface. Using a sharp knife or bench scraper, cut dough in half. Some air bubbles will deflate as you work with it. Place dough halves on prepared baking sheet. Using floured hands, shape into 2 long loaves about 9×3 inches each (doesn’t have to be exact) about 3 inches apart. Loosely cover and allow to rest for 45 minutes. You will bake the dough on this prepared baking sheet.
- During this 45 minutes, preheat the oven to 475°F (246°C).
- When ready to bake, using a very sharp knife or bread lame (some even use kitchen shears), score the bread loaves with 3 slashes, about 1/2 inch deep. (“Score” = shallow cut.) If the shaped loaves flattened out during the 45 minutes, use floured hands to narrow them out along the sides again.
- Optional for a slightly crispier crust: After the oven is preheated and bread is scored, place a shallow metal or cast iron baking pan or skillet (I usually use a metal 9×13-inch baking pan) on the bottom oven rack. Carefully and quickly pour 3-4 cups of boiling water into it. Place the scored dough/baking pan on a higher rack and quickly shut the oven, trapping the steam inside. The steam helps create a crispier crust.
- Place the shaped and scored dough (on the flour/cornmeal dusted pan) in the preheated oven on the center rack. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Gently tap the loaves—if they sound hollow, the bread is done. For a more accurate test of doneness, the bread is done when an instant read thermometer inserted in the center reads 195°F (90°C).
- Remove the bread from the oven and allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing and serving. Store leftovers loosely covered at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: The dough can sit in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, so this is a wonderful recipe to begin ahead of time. You can also bake the bread, allow it to cool, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature before serving. You can also freeze the dough. Complete the recipe through step 3. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in a freezer-friendly container. To bake, allow dough to thaw overnight in the refrigerator, or for 2-3 hours at room temperature. Continue with step 4 and the rest of the recipe instructions.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowls | Silicone Spatula or Wooden Spoon | Baking Sheets | 2-cup Measuring Cup | Bread Lame | Instant Read Thermometer
- Flour: For absolute best flavor and chewy texture, I strongly recommend using bread flour. You can use a 1:1 substitution of all-purpose flour in a pinch with no other changes to the recipe. I recommend avoiding whole wheat flour in this dough. If necessary, use half bread flour and half whole wheat flour. The bread will taste dense.
- Yeast: You can use instant or active dry yeast, but I highly recommend an instant (aka “rapid rise” or “quick rise” yeast). The bread will rise faster. I usually use Platinum yeast by Red Star, which is an instant yeast. 2 teaspoons is a little less than 1 standard packet. If using active dry yeast, there are no changes needed to the recipe. The rise time in step 2 may take longer.
- Salt: Use a coarse salt, such as coarse sea salt, in this bread. I find the flavor slightly lacking when using regular table fine salt. If you only have fine salt, reduce to 1 and 1/2 teaspoons.
- Water: Use cool water. 70°F (21°C) is great, but the exact temperature doesn’t matter as long as it’s not hot or warm.
- Round Loaf: If you want to shape the dough into a boule (round loaf) simply shape into a round ball instead of 2 loaves in step 4. Baking instructions are the same, but the loaf will take a few extra minutes in the oven. If you want to bake the boule in a dutch oven, see next note.
- Using a Dutch Oven: Follow this dough recipe through step 3, then follow the simple shaping/baking instructions (steps 2-5) in my Cranberry Nut No Knead Bread recipe including using the parchment paper. If your parchment paper can’t withstand heat this high, you can either lower the oven temperature and bake the bread for longer or grease the Dutch oven instead.
- Using a pizza stone: If you want to bake your bread loaves on a pizza stone, place pizza stone in the preheating oven. In step 8, place the shaped and scored dough on your preheated pizza stone. If the bottom of the shaped dough is pretty sticky, dust the hot pizza stone with some extra cornmeal. Bake as directed.
- No Nonstick Pan: If you don’t have a nonstick baking sheet, line it with parchment paper instead. Coat with a dusting of flour and/or cornmeal before placing the dough on top. Parchment paper can burn, so it’s best to check the box to see how much heat yours can tolerate. Lower your oven heat if necessary and bake the bread for longer until golden brown and when gently tapped, sound hollow.
- Flavor ideas: Before pouring in the water in step 1, add any of the following ingredients/combination of ingredients to the dry ingredients in the bowl: 4 cloves minced garlic + 3 Tablespoons chopped rosemary, 3 Tablespoons your favorite fresh herb (chopped), 1 cup your favorite shredded cheese, a diced jalapeño, 3/4 – 1 cup dried cranberries and/or chopped nuts, 2 teaspoons garlic powder, etc.
- Reference my Baking with Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs.
- Recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour & Red Star Yeast, similar method originally from Jim Lahey.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 slices
- Calories: 136
- Sugar: 0.1 g
- Sodium: 389.8 mg
- Fat: 0.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 27.2 g
- Protein: 4.7 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Reader Comments and Reviews
My spouse declared this bread “restaurant quality” and my teenagers are eating it so fast that I’m going to start another batch later today! I followed your directions to let it sit overnight (I left it in the refrigerator for about 18 hours) and then used the boiling water method to bake it. Perfection. Thank you for making me feel like my kitchen deserves a Michelin star today! Lol
So easy and delicious! I may never buy another baguette ever again!!
Great, easy delicious! I use Hawaiian pink salt and yum! Such a simple, easy recipe. Thanks Sally!
I usually love any recipe’s from this website, but this one was horrible. It was dry, dense, almost imposable to slice to serve. I chose to make the bread slightly “Slightly” more crispy, and it made the bread IMPOSSABLE to enjoy. I do not know if I made a massive mistake during the baking process, but this bread was atrocious.
If you have any tips or common mistakes I would greatly appreciate it.
Hi Maliah, happy to help troubleshoot. Make sure to handle the dough very carefully to prevent compressing the air bubbles. Be sure to also spoon and level your flour (or use a kitchen scale) to ensure it’s not over-measured, which can make the bread dry and dense. Are you using instant yeast or active dry? Active dry can take a little longer to rise. Be sure your yeast is not expired, and a digital thermometer is helpful for ensuring the water temperature isn’t too hot, which can kill the yeast. Hope this helps for next time!
Can I use oat flour for Gluten Free?
Hi Danielle, we haven’t tested oat flour here, but let us know if you do.
Can I double this recipe?
Hi Ann, for best results, we recommend making two separate batches rather than doubling. Enjoy!
Great Recipe Easy to follow. Used half bread and half all purpose because I was low on bread flour. Only did the first rise because I needed it for dinner, we used it to dip in soup so it didn’t really need the extra flavor that comes with the refrigerator rise. It seemed maybe too wet when I was forming it but it baked up beautifully. The 25 minutes was perfect, internal temp was 201° at that point.
I made this for my brother yesterday to have with Christmas dinner because he is lactose intolerant. It couldn’t have been easier and almost everyone liked it (my brother said it was just ok). I took it out of the oven when it came up to temp but it was still doughy. I wonder if my bread flour wasn’t fresh enough though. I toasted it for breakfast this morning and it was really good. I’ll definitely make it again.
Thank you for sharing and posting your recipe. The bread was so delicious! I left it to fermented 24 hours in the refrigerator. My next attempt, I will try leaving it for even longer! I tried some stretching techniques to see if I could build even more gluten. I don’t know if it was necessary but I guess I felt a little guilty that the technique was so simple. I should have baked mine a couple minutes longer for additional color but it still came out tasty! I can’t wait to make this again!
Delicious and SO EASY! I double the recipe and bake at 475 for 30 minutes. I also coat each loaf entirely in a very light layer of olive oil with my hands immediately before baking, and the bread bakes with a perfect crisp. Leaving it in the fridge before baking for atleast one night makes a huge difference rather than baking it immediately after rising. This bread is a staple in our household and we always have it on hand now!
I made the bread, came out beautiful. In your statement you said you can use regular purpose flour. I didn’t have bread flour at the time. Just want to let you know it was still good. My only problem was it was a little salty for me. Can you use some sugar with this recipe.
Hi Gearldene, glad it turned out for you. You can reduce the salt next time or feel free to play around with the recipe and add sweeter additions. You can try adding a little sugar.
Hi
I tried baking a bread for the first time.
It looked lovely from outside but the inside wasn’t as fluffy as it should’ve been and maybe slightly undercooked. I followed the instructions and the cooking times so not sure what went wrong.
It was still edible and yummy crunchy crust though but too soft from inside
Thanks
Hi, it sounds like the bread could have benefited from a few additional minutes in the oven; do you have an instant-read thermometer? That’s especially helpful for making sure the bread is fully baked through.
tried it but added garlic butter to one and cheese to another and i am in love
This recipe is fantastic. My bread looks and tastes amazing. Will be my go to bread from now on.
This is a great recipe! The moisture in the oven is a new trick for me, I’m 65 and been making bread for 50 years. My addition was vinegar to give it a sourdough tang! About 4 tbsps , just delicious and so easy. I also left the dough in the fridge overnight, otherwise followed all directions precisely, even coarse salt!!
We make this all time.. it is delicious! Thank you for sharing the recipe.
I’ve been making this bread for a couple years and it always turns put so good, I add jalapeños and cheese and it is a staple in our home now!! Thank u for this great recipe.
This recipe is delicious! It was the first bread I made about a year ago & it gave me the confidence to start making other breads as well. I have a question, though. I’d like to send this to a relative for Christmas through the mail. How would you recommend doing that?
Hi Catherine! So happy to read this. Here’s a helpful article on shipping bread: https://www.delish.com/food-news/a32070640/how-to-ship-bread/
This is by far my favorite bread recipe! I’m always getting requests for this!
I love this recipe a lot, it was the first bread recipe I ever used and it’s always a hit 🙂 My family prefers crispier dinner rolls so I’ve ended up using this recipe and making smaller loaves to tear apart or share and it turns out great!
This was delicious! I followed the recipe and used the shaping and baking from the cranberry nut no knead bread recipe which I love. Would this also be able to sit out of the fridge like the cranberry nut bread for the 12-18hours?
Hi Jen! This recipe has more yeast, so a rise that long at room temperature would be too long.
H! Love this recipe! First time making bread and it came out perfect. Just wondering if I can bake these in a loaf pan and if so, does the baking time change?
Hi Abbie, There is a little too much dough for a standard size (9×5-inch) loaf pan, so you could try dividing the dough in half and using 2 loaf pans. The edges should still crisp up and the bake time may vary.
Very good. Nice crust. Made 4 smaller loaves.
?.flour in pan burned on also causing smoke alarm to go off. Any ideas how best to deal with.
Forgot to say I bake it on my preheated pizza stone which works out great!
I also put sesame seeds on the bread, great addition.
Thanks for the recipe Sally!
I love this bread! It’s so easy to make a delicious.
My bread did not rise after coming out of the refrigerator for 18 hours. I ended up rolling it flat to make cheesy bread sticks. Can you please give more details about what to do after refrigerating?
Hi Dawn, the video tutorial above should give you a helpful visual!
This is delicious!!! But I didn’t get that dark brown color…. Should I have done an egg wash?
Hi Melanie! You can certainly use an egg wash if you’d like a shinier crust.
I’m the most inexperienced cook ever, and I was able to do this! My first time baking bread. It came out pretty good! Next time I’m going to add rosemary and garlic cloves.
Can you make it with gluten free flour
Hi Kathleen, we have not tested this recipe with gluten-free flour, but you should expect different results if doing so–especially with yeasted breads.
Im naking tjis to bring to church in am can i bake night before and still be good? Plus if i make this in boul yo i have to score it?
Hi Mary, this will still be good if you bake it the night before. Enjoy.