Do I have any other panini lovers out there? Ever since receiving this little gem* as a gift a couple of months ago, paninis have made a happy appearance for dinner at least every other week, if not weekly, in our home. Something about pressing a sandwich together to form a gooey, hot, mess of panini goodness makes a regular grilled cheese feel absolutely dinner-worthy. In fact, I’ve gone so panini crazy that I even put together a panini spreadsheet, if you will, to make the panini options even more user-friendly. I like to refer to this as my Make-a-Panini model. And yes, I have spreadsheet-love issues. It’s ok. I’ll seek out therapy eventually.
The only hangup with paninis is you have to have the right bread. I hate paying 4-5 bucks a loaf for bread I know I can make for pennies at home so I went on the search for the perfect panini bread.
And this is it! Rustic crusty bread. And you won’t believe how easy it is. Not only is it no-knead, but you don’t need a stand mixer, electric mixer or any kind of mixer to make it. Just a bowl and a spoon. From start to finish, it is ready to bake in about 2-3 hours, and I promise, it is some of the most delicious, crusty, golden brown, perfect bread to ever come out of my oven.
Not only have we used it for paninis, but I’ve sliced it up for garlic bread or just served it plain (think: tear off chunks as you go!) with a wide variety of meals. I like to bake up both loaves of bread the same day and pop one in the freezer for easy access next time we get the hankering for delicious, crusty bread.
Read below for the recipe and for step-by-step photos. I promise, you’ll feel like a bread rockstar after making this loaf!
*If you don’t have a panini press but want to get in on the panini-love, no worries! For years I just used my skillet and weighed down the panini sandwich with another heavy, smaller skillet. Anything that presses the sandwich while it cooks in a hot skillet will work great!
Note: look at the last paragraph of the recipe for variations to baking if you don't have a baking stone. Also, check below the recipe for step-by-step pictures.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 tablespoons instant yeast
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 6 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting dough
Directions
- In a large bowl mix yeast and salt into 3 cups lukewarm water (about 100 degrees). Stir in flour, mixing until there are no dry patches. Dough will be quite loose. Cover lightly with a kitchen towel but don't seal the bowl airtight. Let the dough rise at room temperature 2 hours (or up to 5 hours).
- Bake at this point or refrigerate, covered in an airtight container, for as long as two weeks. When ready to bake, cut off a grapefruit-size piece with serrated knife (I have only ever made two loaves out of the batch of dough so I just divide the dough in half to form my first loaf). Turn the dough in your hands to lightly stretch the surface, creating a rounded top and a lumpy bottom. Put the dough on a piece of parchment paper set on a pizza peel or a rimmed baking sheet turned upside down. Let the dough rest for 40 minutes for room temperature dough; if you have used the dough out of the refrigerator, let it rest for 1 1/2 hours. Repeat with remaining dough or refrigerate it.
- Place a broiler pan on the bottom rack of the oven. Place a baking stone on the middle rack and preheat oven to 450 degrees. Heat the stone at that temperature for 20 minutes before baking.
- After the dough has rested and is ready to bake, dust the dough lightly with flour, slash the top with serrated or very sharp knife three times. Slide the dough (with the parchment paper) onto the baking stone. Pour one cup of hot water into the broiler pan and shut the oven quickly to trap the steam. Bake the bread until well browned, about 24-28 minutes. Cool completely.
- If you don't have a baking stone, try turning a rimmed baking sheet upside down and heating it in the 450 degree oven for 10 minutes prior to baking. When ready to bake, slide the parchment paper with the dough on it directly onto the overturned baking sheet and bake according to the recipe. You can also stretch the rounded dough into an oval and place in a greased loaf pan. Let it rise for 40 minutes if fresh (add an extra hour if the dough has been refrigerated). Bake in the loaf pan in the 450 degree oven, watching the time carefully - check after 20-22 minutes.
*Click HERE for a printable PDF file of the below step-by-step instructions*
I made this today and it was delicious! Thank you so much for sharing.
I tried making the bread first time today. After 2 hours it had almost reached the top of the bowl, but I wasn’t ready to bake yet, so went away for 2 more hours. When I got home it had shrunk back to about half the height of the bowl and was like soup. I added about 1 1/2 cups more flour and still no way could I shape it. So I spooned it into a buttered pie pan and baked it. It was delicious but flat. Where did I go wrong? The temp in the house was about 75 degrees and we are at sea level (Florida)
To Judy Lipofsky:
I am not sure what technically happens, but I do know that there is a window of time where the bread is ready to be baked and if you overshoot that, the yeast dies or something, and it will do exactly what your bread did.
If you want to make the dough and then bake it more than a couple of hours later, then you must refrigerate it. It’s the temperature that determines the speed the yeast develops its gas and lives it’s lifetime.
I have made this dough, baked one loaf and refrigerated (in a bowl with plastic wrap on top) the remaining dough and baked another loaf the next day (after letting the dough come to room temperature).
Successfully baking bread is based on time and temperature as you are using a living organism (the yeast) to produce the “lift” in the dough that gives you fluffy and tasty (also dependent on the yeast) bread.
Hope this helps and you will have a better experience next time!
Hi Judy – bread can be a fickle thing. If left to rise for too long, it will do exactly as you described and collapse. With this particular bread recipe, where the dough isn’t as stiff as other yeast bread doughs, I can see how it could get kind of soupy upon collapse. Just like the other advice, if you think you’ll be gone during the prime rising time, refrigerate the dough to slow down the rising.
Hi Mel,
Just found your site, immediately made the bread and it was absolutely perfect! I was a little worried when it was so sticky but it came out amazing. Thank you for the great recipe, I baked the entire thing and am going to dry some of it out to make stuffing!
Hi Mel,
I’m making these into rolls for our pulled pork sandwiches tonight and am excited to see how they turn out. The reason for my post, though, is to tell you how much I enjoy your blog. I’ve been reading it faithfully for 3.5 years. Yours is my favorite blog — for your sweet personality, great writing, down-to-earth style, and self-deprecating sense of humor. I’ve tried so many recipes, and several have become family favorites (angel food cake with chocolate whipped cream, sweet and sour meatballs, cornbread, and oven-baked chimichangas). Thanks so much for your efforts. You rock! Have a Happy New Year.
Hi Mel,
This bread is absolutely, unbelievably amazing. So good that I made it three times this holiday season. I just couldn’t believe that only four ingredients could produce such magic. Everyone loved it! We even joked that I should open a bakery, selling only this bread and we’d be rich, haha.
The first two times I made this, my loaves were much much flatter than yours. I think a few other have commented on this. The flavor and texture were still amazing, btw! The third time I used more flour until I felt that I had a dough that would hold together better, while still leaving the sticky residue on my fingers. Bingo! That was the key. Now I know how to make those perfect looking loaves like you have in the photo. Thanks for another great recipe!
I don’t get it. You copied the NY Times recipe almost word-for-word. That’s not plagiarism? If you were an HONEST content creator, you would have simply linked to the recipe instead of copying it. Shame on you.
A Content CREATOR – there is a full link crediting Jeff Hertzberg and the NY Times for their recipe so please don’t accuse me of something I haven’t done. I wish you the best at creating the best content you can! I’ll do the same.
You are my hero! I’ve been making recipes from this site like crazy ever since I discovered it recently and they’ve all been such a hit with my family! I made this bread the other night and it was AMAZING. I froze half the dough though instead of baking them both (I was all baked out)…how do I handle the frozen dough to bake it now?
Hi Valerie – I would let the dough come to room temperature (either in the refrigerator or on the counter, the counter method will take less time, obviously) and then shape it into a loaf and let it rest/rise according the recipe and bake it. It’s pretty simple, really, you just need to defrost the dough and you’ll be good to go! Glad you are enjoying the recipes, thank you!
I also had my dough rise beautifully after 2 hours then shrink and turn runny by the time I was ready to cook it 3 hours later. In the future, I will let it rise for 2 hours, no more!
[...] once a week. True story. (Featured below: a loaf of rustic, crusty bread. You can find a recipe here.) I think in the long run I’m looking for a more neutral colored box but until I find one we’ll [...]
This is fantastic! I make this every time I cook pasta! Has any one tried making this in a whole wheat version?
[...] recipe I’ve been using is from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe. It’s turns out perfect every time. One thing I do that she doesn’t mention in her [...]
I think that the problems some of you are hav ing is because the recipe tells you to add the salt to the yeast then add water. Everyone I know that makes bread is aware that adding salt directly to the yeast will kill at least half of the yeast. It’s best to mix your salt into the flour therefore encorporating the salt gently to the yeast and you’ll have a much happier bread experience.
This is awesome!! I have made three batches in the last two days. I am a single dad with two teenage boys with me all the time. They love fresh made bread … I love the no-knead ease of the whole process. It is so easy to integrate into all of the other things I am doing. I will be making some dough batches to rise on my lunch this week so I can bake them when I get home from the office. I need to train my boys to prep the loaves a little before I get home. I haven’t had a chance to read all of the comments, so I apologize in advance if I am repeating at all, but the bread comes out so much nicer if you let the dough rise for 5 hours. Also … I am looking forward to picking up some green onions (I have several bricks of Asiago in the fridge) to make my favorite bread that is produced at the local grocery chain in Salt Lake that bakes artisan bread. I definitely will enjoy not paying $5.00 a loaf!!! Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful and easy recipe.
Yumm!! Loved it! Never buying bread from the store again!
This is in the oven as I type! I’m very excited about this bread and I hope mine comes out as lovely as yours looks. I think my dough was a lot on the sticky side… but hopefully it still comes out good! Thanks for the great recipe!
I’ve been trying for years to find a good and easy bread recipe. I usually stick with bread machine dough, but with my bread maker stuck in California, I had an excuse to try something new. Thank you for this wonderful recipe. I’m making bread twice a week now, and not buying any at the store!
[...] posted about this Rustic Crusty Bread yesterday in my Beef Stew post. I raved about how it was the most delicious bread ever! And it [...]
Just a follow up to my previous post… The bread came out GREAT and is by far the best bread I’ve ever made! Thank you!
[...] received this bread recipe from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe. She provides a great step by step pictoral of how to make this [...]
This bread is incredible. I was a little wary that it would turn out the way I wanted it to (or the way yours did Mel), but with all the great reviews, I knew I had to try. I was not let down one bit. In fact, it surpassed all my expectations. I thought I had added too much flour and messed it all up, but my loaves baked up beautifully. I have a feeling this is a recipe that would be hard to mess up! I am going to make this all-the-time!
I have tried this recipe twice, and each time I have found that the dough is too dry to incorporate all of the flour. I am wondering if I am not mixing long enough or is it ok to add more water? Thanks!
Kerry – I would decrease the amount of flour if you are having trouble incorporating it. Try using 1/2 cup less and see how that goes.