I have a bit of a kitchen confession to make, and that is that Iāve never made traditional bread. Iāve made croissants, Iāve made cornbread, Iāve made cakes, muffins, and the like, but Iāve never made a straight-up old-fashioned loaf of fluffy and crusty bread. This is especially lame since I actually spent an intensive few days at King Arthur Flour headquarters a couple years ago learning to do just that, but just never carried through on making any once I got back home. But now, all that has changed. Yes, the years of storing away random bread facts and knowledge have finally come to fruition in the form of these beautiful loaves from the Model Bakery Cookbook.
The next day you add more flour, water, and salt to the levain to make the actual bread dough. There is a process of folding the dough, once every 20 minutes, for 1 hour. The dough is then transferred into a banneton and allowed to rise for another 2 hours before baking. A banneton is another word for a proofing bowl, which is the last container bread dough is allowed to rise in before baking. Traditional bannetons are made from wicker that is shaped into a spiral and heavily floured, which is where the bread gets its swirly pattern from. Once the bread has finished proofing, you can pop it in the oven onto a baking stone. Baking stones help bread and pizza retain a firm crust and similar baking environment to a professional baking oven, lending extra heat to the normal home oven. Just make sure to put the stone in the oven *before* you preheat it.
Homemade Bread | Pain au Levain
This is a traditional recipe for homemade bread that involves creating a yeast-based started that ages overnight. This develops the gluten within the dough and creates a deep and rich flavor that rushed bread recipes just don't have. The overnight rest is worth it, I promise!
Ingredients
Levain
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tablespoon yeast
- 2/3 cup bread flour
Bread Dough
- 3 1/3 cups water
- 5 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons bread flour plus more as needed
- 2/3 cup whole-wheat flour
- 1 1/2 tablespoons fine sea salt
Tools
- 2 8-inch bannetons
- baking stone
Instructions
Levain
- The night before baking, begin making the levain. Mix the water and yeast together in a small bowl. Add the flour and stir to make a thick batter. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 8 to 12 hours.
Bread Dough
- The next day, combine the water and the levain in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment at low speed until combined. Add the flours, a little at a time, until a sticky dough forms. Turn off the mixer but do not remove the paddle from the dough. Cover the bowl and allow the mixture to rest for 20 minutes.
- At low speed, add the salt until incorporated. Turn off the mixer and remove the paddle. Cover the bowl and allow to rest for 20 minutes.
- As the flour absorbs more of the water, over time it will begin to look firmer. With wet hands, pull up one corner of the dough (still in the bowl), stretching it about 10 inches tall and fold it over the top of the dough. Repeat, once quarter of the bowl at a time. Cover the bowl and allow to rest 20 minutes.
- Repeat the folding process and 20 minute resting period two more times.
- Empty the dough from the bowl onto a well-floured work surface using a dough scraper. The dough will be tacky and ire, do not punch the dough down. Cut the dough in half and place one of the halves in front of you. Cupping your hands a bit, tuck down the sides around the dough, tucking them underneath the now round dough. Repeat with the other half of dough.
- Generously flour 2 (8-inch) bannetons, or line 2 (8-inch) colanders with linen and flour them. Turn each dough ball upside down and place it in the banneton. Cover loosely and allow to rest until the dough has risen but has not quite doubled, about 2 hours.
- Place your baker's stone in the oven on the lower 3rd rack. Fill a large casserole pan 3/4 with water and place it on the bottom rack of the oven. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit.
If you have a baker's peel, you can dust it with semolina flour and gently turn one loaf out onto the peel, then transfer the loaf from the peel to the baking stone. Or you can turn the loaf out directly from the banneton to the baking stone, but this has to be done quickly so as not to let all the heat out of the oven. Bake for 20 minutes, then lower the oven temperature to 450 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for another 20 minutes.
Remove the loaf and allow it to cool on a wire rack. Repeat this process with the other loaf. The bread can be wrapped in aluminum foil and stored at room temperature for up to 1 day, or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
I think homemade bread baking is my favorite thing on the planet. I just love this.
Thank you Katrina! I couldn't agree more, homemade bread is awesome š
This bread looks AMAZING. Just straight up devourable and gorgeous. This and a little cultured butter and I am done.
Oh man, cultured butter is just the greatest!! So tangy and creamy at the same time…
Incredible photography and a delicious looking bread recipe. I am dying to try it!
Thank you Tori, highly recommend it!!
Ah this looks so delicious. I just finished reading how to make country bread in Tartine Book 1 and I cannot wait to try it in my own kitchen. After seeing this, I am so excited to give it a try myself.
Beautiful photography, as always.
Cheers!
Thanks so much Ice!! I just bought the ebook of Tartine Bread, I've been wanting it for SO long and am really excited to try out some of their recipes. I've been to their bakery once when I was in San Francisco and it was ridiculously wonderful.
This is such a beautiful bread! And it looks so fluffy and perfect!
Sues
Thanks Sues!!! š
it looks million times better than a store-bought!
Awwwww thank you Maryna, I am blushing!!
Now that the guy and I are settled in our new little house, we both want to get back into bread baking real bad. I made some awesome rolls for Thanksgiving, but this big ol' loaf is something I have to try! I love how you got those lines from the banneton on the crust so well.
The banneton is kind of my new favorite thing ever. The lines on the bread just look solo beautiful and fancy, but you really do have the flour it super well to keep the bread from sticking. My first loaf got a little stuck to it and so the loaf ended up being a bit warped on one side when I tried to turn it over and it was stuck in one small place. Definitely recommend getting one though, that design is lovely and perfect for proofing bread š
I have just started getting into bread making and Iād love to get the same kind of banneton. Which one is this one? Your presentation and pictures are beautiful by the way.
Oh wow! It came out perfect. Frankly I think you're just showing off now ;).
Thanks for sharing this beautiful recipe and these amazing pictures. Really loved this post š
K
Hahaha, don't worry I certainly had my troubles with it! I had some issues with the dough sticking to the banneton the first time 'round š And thank you so much! I am so glad you liked it!
You have to love a serious loaf of bread. This looks so delicious!
Thanks so much, Eileen!! It was very tasty š
Whoa….this is gorgeous! Bread is gorgeous and so is this post. I'm actually learning sooo much about bread these days and I feel like there's so much more to know. I never have seen a baking stone–not to my knowledge at least–and now I see how those cool little spirals come about! And I really hope to try this someday soon because I'm obsessed with homemade everything, especially bread. I'm sure you wouldn't mind this being pinned, right? š Hehe
Haha, feel free to pin away!! If you're looking to get into bread-making at home, I'd definitely recommend investing in a banneton and a baking stone, those will help you a ton with baking. And if you're ever in Vermont, stop by the King Arthur Flour shop there because they have really amazing baking classes and know a ton about making bread. Aldo, instead of buying a bread cloche to make the bread moist while you're baking it, you can just fill up a pan with water and have it sitting on the bottom shelf of the oven while you're baking, the evaporating water from the pan will keep the bread just as moist! š
Love this bread! absolutely beautiful!
Thank you Gloria!
I love that swirly pattern! This bread looks like a piece of art, almost too pretty to eat š
I've never made bread either and I loooooove a good crusty loaf. This turned out stunningly beautiful.
So gorgeous! Come winter bread baking is my favorite thing to do.
That bread is absolutely gorgeous! You should be super proud. My first loaves of bread were nowhere near that pretty or nuanced. Will definitely have to try this recipe the next time I'm craving fresh baked bread!
Hi there! Found you via Pinterest the other day, love your website! I am making this bread as I type, it is in the bannetons proofing. I don't know why but after the resting stages in the mixer bowl, I turned the dough out onto the counter and it was very thin. It starting spreading like hot lava LOL! I do believe I saved it though by incorporating another 1 1/2 cups of bread flour by hand until it was manageable but still tacky. Do you have any thoughts as to why this might have occurred? I live at sea level and was wondering if the difference might be altitude? Best, Ani in Wilmington, NC
Hi Kitty! Thanks so much! And it sounds to me like the bread may have risen too long or in too warm of a location. or a combination of both, when a dough rises too much it tends to get really tacky and sticky. Was it in direct sunlight or on a warm heating vent?
Hello. No, it was away from any heat, probably just too much rising time. The bread turned out well and tastes delish!
Just came across your recipe looking for a technique to make this rather moist dough into rolls. Try making this with dark rye flour instead of whole wheat and add a couple tablespoons of rye to the initial starter
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