Five minutes from scratch bread

Does the smell of baking bread make you feel comforted, content, and giddy with anticipation? It does me, but the idea of making it without a bread maker or prepared dough used to seem like too much trouble for something that couldn't possibly turn out like the "artisan" bakery bread I wanted. Then I came across a recipe that sounded too good to be true, and I had to try it. "Five Minutes A Day for Fresh-Baked Bread", claimed the article from Mother Earth News. We'll see about that.

So I went out and invested in some bread flour and yeast, thinking that I would need to experiment a bit. I have now made this recipe at least five times and it's nothing less than delicious. Impressive. A wonder. It's soft and chewy inside with a delightful, crisp, brown crust. The longer you leave in the fridge before cooking, the more sour-doughy it tastes. It does, however, take longer than five minutes. I'm not Harry Potter (hate to admit it, though). Here's the real time breakdown, most of which is just letting the dough sit and "rest" or rise; there is no kneading.

5 minutes - dough mixing
2 hours - time sitting at room temperature (after this point, you will be able to store your dough in the fridge or bake it)
40 minutes - resting time prior to baking
30 minutes - baking time

If you want to have fresh bread with dinner every night, just mix this dough up on the weekend and leave it in your refrigerator in a lidded container. About an hour before dinner, take some dough out and preheat the oven. While you cook dinner, you can let the dough sit on the counter and rest, then put it in the oven. You'll have everyone rushing in to dinner in no time, and all the neighbors will be jealous!

3 cups water, a little warmer than body temperature
1.5 Tbsp. granulated yeast (1.5 packets)
1.5 Tbsp. coarse salt
6.5 cups all-purpose flour or 6.25 cups bread flour for chewier bread
cornmeal or bran (optional)

In a large mixing bowl that has a lid, add yeast and salt to warm water. Mix in flour by gently scooping it up, then leveling the top of the measuring cup with a knife. Mix with a wooden spoon or the dough attachment of a mixer, until uniformly moist. Cover loosely and allow to rise at room temperature until it flattens on top or begins to collapse, about two hours. You can leave it up to five hours without any harm. Then put it in the refrigerator for up to a week!
On baking day, take out a piece of dough about the size of a grapefruit. With well floured hands, shape the dough into a ball by gently stretching the surface of the dough in four directions and folding it under, gathering it in a point that will be the bottom of the loaf. You can also cut off pieces the size of dinner rolls (keep in mind that they will expand a little). If you like, sprinkle your baking stone with cornmeal or bran to prevent sticking before you place the dough on it. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit with a rack in the middle and a shallow dish for holding water on the bottom rack. Let it rest while you cook something else for 30-40 minutes. Then dust it liberally with flour and cut slashes about 1 cm deep in the surface to help the bread expand during baking. When you put it in the oven, quickly but carefully pour a cup of hot water in the dish you left on the bottom rack. Bake for 25-30 minutes, less for rolls. Cool on a wire rack.