Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups warm water

• 2 ¼ teaspoons active quick yeast (or 1 yeast packet)

• 1 ½ teaspoons fine grain salt

• 3 ¼ cups all-purpose or bread flour (you can use whole wheat, but the bread will need to rise for 12-18 hours)

 Directions

In a large bowl, whisk together the warm water (1.5 cups), yeast (1 packet/2.25 teaspoons), and table salt (1.5  teaspoon), until yeast and salt are fully or almost dissolved.

 Add the flour (3.25 cups) to the bowl all at once and stir together until a sticky dough forms. Don't worry about mixing it too much, just make sure everything is uniformly wet. It will be messy and sticky. You can scrape what's left on the spoon with a silicone spatula.

Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel.  Leave it for 2-3 hours to rise in a somewhat warm place until it's doubled in volume. (you can use whole wheat flour in this step, leave the dough overnight 12-18 hours, until doubled in size).

30 minutes to an hour before you are ready to bake, preheat your oven to 450 degrees F. Place your Dutch Oven in the oven, with the lid on while the oven is preheating. You want the dutch oven to get hot.

Once the oven is ready, scrape the dough with a rubber spatula onto parchment paper that has been dusted in flour.

Then, use the edges of the parchment paper to flip the loaf over so the floured side is on top and the loaf is in the center of the parchment paper. Don't worry about it looking beautiful or smooth on top. Use a very sharp knife or clean razor blade to cut a few slits across the top of the loaf about 1/2" deep, across the entire top. I did this in a cross shape for mine.

Take out the preheated Dutch oven and take off the lid, carefully! Grab the parchment from the sides and place the loaf in your Dutch oven.

Place the cover back on the Dutch oven and place in the preheated oven on the center rack. Bake for 35 minutes at 450 degrees F. Remove the lid and bake for another 5-10 minutes, until a golden brown color forms, longer if necessary.

Remove the loaf from the oven & the pan (grabbing the sides of the parchment paper works well here) and place it on a wire rack or cutting board to cool for at least 20 minutes (preferably 30 minutes - an hour, if you have time) before slicing.