Boule (Artisan Bread!) Recipe

This recipe may look frightening, but really it isn't. And even if it was, it would be worth it, cause this bread is AMAZING!!! :)





Special equipment needed:
A pizza stone
a 5 quart bowl with a lid (I believe Saran wrap would work too)
a pizza peel or a cookie sheet without a "lip" on it



3 cups water
1 1/2 tbsp granulated yeast (1 1/2 packets)
1 1/2 tbsp coarse kosher or sea salt
6 1/2 cups unsifted, unbleached, all-purpose white flour
cornmeal for pizza peel or flat edged cookie sheet


Mixing and Storing the Dough:

1. Heat water to just a little warmer than body temperature (about 100 degrees Fahrenheit).

2. Dissolve yeast and then salt in water in a 5 qoart bowl, preferably one with a lid.

3. Mix in the flour by gently scooping it up, then leveling the top off but don't pat it down. Mix with a wooden spoon, a high capacity food processor with a dough attachment, or a heavy duty stand mixer with a dough hook. If hand mixing becomes too difficult, use very wet hands to press it together. Don't knead it! This step is done in a matter of minutes, and the dough should be wet enough to conform to the container.

4. Cover loosely- do not seal. Gases need to be able to escape. Allow the mixture to rise at room temperature until it begins to collapse, approximately 2 hours. Longer rising times, up to about 5 hours, will not harm the result. You can use a portion of the dough anytime after this period. Refrigerated wet dough is much less sticky and easier to work with than room-temp dough. It is reccomended that you refrigerate the dough at least 3 hours before shaping a loaf.

On Baking Day:

5. Prepare pizza peel by sprinkling it liberally with cornmeal to prevent the loaf from sticking to it when you slide it in the oven.

Sprinkle the surface of the dough with flour, then cut off a grapefruit-sized portion with a serrated knife. (This should be about 1/4 of the dough.) Add more flour as needed to keep it from sticking to your hands. Gently stretch the surface of the dough around to the bottom on four "sides", rotating the ball a quarter turn as you go, until the bottom is a collection of four bunched ends. Most of the dusting flour will fall off; it doesn't need to be incorporated.

6. Place the ball on the pizza peel. Let it rest uncovered for 40 minutes.

7. Twenty minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 450 degrees with a baking stone in the middle rack. Place an empty broiler tray or casserole dish on the shelf below (this is for holding water).

8. Dust the top of the loaf liberally with flour and slash the top of the dough three times. This will allow the bread to expand during baking and the flour keeps the knife from sticking.

9. With a forward jerking motion of the wrist, slide the loaf off the pizza peel and onto the baking stone. Quickly but carefully pour about a cup of hot water into the broiler tray and close the oven door to trap the steam. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the crust is browned and firm to the touch.

10. Refrigerate the remaining dough in your lidded (not airtight) container and use it over the next two weeks. The dough can also be frozen in portions in airtight containers and defrosted overnight in the refrigerator prior to baking day.