April Do It Yourself Experiment: Artisan bread

The finished product

April's Do It Yourself Experiment was Artisan Bread. I have to say - this DIY experiment went much better than the gluten free pita bread!

I chose to make the artisan bread for Easter weekend, since we had company (and I knew my husband wouldn't eat two loaves of bread by himself).

The dough is ready in five minutes!

I cut the recipe in half, so I made two loaves instead of four. It did seriously only take about five minutes to mix up the dough on Wednesday. I baked one loaf on Friday and one loaf on Saturday.

"Resting" before baking

I also happened to have some Tuscan dipping oil on hand, so everyone enjoyed dipping their artisan bread in that. I heard that it was delicious, but of course, I can't eat regular artisan bread, so I'm taking their word for it! My husband and his parents did polish off both loaves by Sunday afternoon, so it couldn't have been too bad!

Everyone agreed that they would definitely eat this bread again, so I will certainly be making more Artisan Bread in the future!

A few notes:

• Do not skip the water-in-the-broiler-tray step. This part is key to creating a crispy crust on your artisan bread.
• I used a buttered Pyrex dish instead of a baking stone or pizza peel and my bread still turned out fine. That step isn't as crucial as the steam.
• This bread is extremely easy to make, but keep in mind that it does take a bit of advance preparation. I recommend reading through the recipe directions before beginning!

Up next in May: Homemade Regular Hamburger Buns.