Name: Best and Easiest Home-Baked Bread
Yield: One large round loaf
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 3½ cups unbleached bread or all-purpose flour; 1½ teaspoons active dry or instant yeast; 1 cup warm tap water; 2 teaspoons salt; Cornmeal for bottom of loaf; ¼ teaspoon active dry or instant yeast; ¾ cup unbleached bread or all-purpose flour; ¾ cup warm tap water (about 110 degrees)

Preparation info

One
large round loaf

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

How to Bake

By Nick Malgieri

Published 1995

About

Using a sponge for this bread minimizes the amount of yeast in the dough and gives the bread a slow-risen, nutty flavor characteristic of the finest breads. The whole process takes about 24 hours from start to finish—but there’s very little work during that time.

Ingredients

Sponge

¾ cup warm tap water (about 110 degrees)
¼ teaspoon active dry or instant yeast

Method

For the sponge, place the warm water in a glass or stainless-steel bowl and whisk in the yeast. Stir in the flour and cover with plastic wrap. Set aside to rise at room temperature until bubbly—8 hours or overnight. In warm weather, let the sponge ferment for 2 hours and then refrigerate overnight.
For the dough, pour the water into the bowl of a stand mixer an