Herbed Bread baked in a Dutch Oven

Ingredients (1 loaf of bread)

• 20 ounces, weight bread flour (~4 cups)
• 8 ounces, water
• 4 ounces, melted butter
• 1.5 Tbsp chopped thyme
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp active or instant yeast (if using active yeast, sprinkle yeast over the water to let it start to work before mixing it in)

Instructions

Combine all ingredients together in the KitchenAid stand mixer with the dough hook (it can be done by hand…it just takes longer).

I mixed them together for about 10 minutes or so until I could successfully achieve a windowpane with the dough. This is where you can pull off a small chunk of the dough you’re kneading and stretch it gently to see if it is somewhat translucent. If you can do this without it tearing, it’s ready.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

After the dough starts rising, it should be kneaded for a minute or two so that the yeast can redistribute. Form it into a dome and place in a covered cast iron pan after coating it with olive oil and a sprinkling of kosher salt. Cut a large ‘X’ into the surface of the bread dough so it can bloom!

Bake on the center rack of your over for 30 minutes with the lid on, them remove the lid to finish it off for another 15 to 30 minutes.

Recipe adapted from The Pioneer Woman