Name: Country Bread
Yield: Makes two 8-inch round loaves
Ingredients: 2 cups (280 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus 2 to 3 tablespoons for baking; 1 teaspoon sugar; A big handful of medium-coarse yellow cornmeal for the baking sheet; 2 cups (300 grams) bread flour; 1½ cups (360 grams) water, at body temperature (when you put your finger in it, it should feel neither cold nor hot); 12 ounces (340 grams) Bread Sponge; Pinch of active dry yeast; 2 teaspoons kosher salt

Preparation info

Makes
two
8 inch round loaves

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Flour

By Joanne Chang

Published 2010

About

I call this rustic, chewy loaf “Country Bread” because it is what I imagine would be on a long, wooden farm table in the country, alongside a hunk of cheese, a mound of fresh butter, and a bowl of olives. It’s not ethereal and light like a classic French baguette, nor is it hearty and sour like an artisanal sourdough loaf. Rather, it falls deliciously in between: soft and fragrant and a little holey, with a golden crust and an ever-so-slight sourdough taste that elevates it from plain-white