I like to bake bread and have made sandwich loaves for years.  You know the drill…warm the milk, get the temperature precise, knead, rise for two hours, knead, rise again and then finally, BAKE!  I have wanted to up my “bread game” and try to create the more sophisticated loaves that I can buy at the corner bread shop.  I have poured through recipes and learned that this type of bread is the result of longer fermenting times.  So instead of two hour rise times, use less yeast but let the dough rise (or ferment) for 18-24 hours.  I found a recipe that is so UN-labor intensive I figured there was no way the bread would turn out, but to my surprise, not only did it turn out but it is delicious (aka my 13 year old daughter ate almost the entire loaf in one sitting!).  It’s that good.

On my second loaf I added a sprinkling of kosher salt on the outside before cooking it (my husband’s idea!) and it resulted in a really yummy, crispy crust. I played with the recipe and found that the water needed ranges from 1 1/2 cup to almost two cups.  The dough might seem dry, but you will see after fermentation that it is quite wet.  Have no fear…it will taste delicious in the end!