“Easy”Artisan Bread- Instant Pot to Oven

I love bread! There is no denying and I will never give it up even on my new intermittent fasting lifestyle. Anyway my family loves bread too.  This “Easy” Artisan Bread – Instant Pot to Oven recipe tastes like if came from a bakery. Seriously, if you can use a spatula and mix something in a bowl you can do this! No kneading necessary!

What is even better is you can even speed up the traditional long (12-24 hr) Artisan bread making process. How? By using Instant pot!

Mix, rise and bake!

I thought this recipe was too good to be true. There are lots of them out there all very similar. In less than 5 minutes i had a dough mix thatI did not have to do anything else other than mix, let rise and bake!  Mix, let rise and bake, that’s it! No knead? Really. It’s true! It’s for real! It was the answer to our prayers because we love bread so much. I am not ashamed of it.


Have an Instant pot?

It gets even better and faster if you have an Instant Pot.

Normally it’s a 5 minute mixing time and you let the dough rise 12-18hrs and bake for 45 minutes.  So you can prepare the mix before bed and let rise overnight for dinner the next evening. We all know bread dough needs to rise and it takes time. Super easy right? But wait…what if I can tell you this process of about a 13-16 hr prep to table can be cut to only 5 hrs…..keep reading.

You can bake in the instant pot? What?

Well no but here is where the Instant Pot comes into play. You can cut the rising/proof time down to 3.5 hours with your Instant Pot.  Who knew? I know you are asking where is the proof/dough button, right? Well, there isn’t one but the magic button that works is the Yogurt button. So even if you don’t make yogurt (I have never) you now have a use for it. It gives the dough the perfect temerpature to proof. So in less than 5 hours prep to table you have a fresh loaf of delicious, beautiful homemade Artisan bread!
If your Instant Pot does not have this function you will need to let it rise the traditional way.

I usually mix up the dough in the morning, letting is rise in the instant pot while I am at work (it’s ok if the timer goes off and it sits in there until you get home) and baking when I get home. Perfect timing and no fuss. Anyone can do this, trust me, I love cooking but I am not as great of a baker.

What do I need?

There are a few pieces of equipment you will need and I am sure most of you can find these in your kitchen. First I am writing this to include the Instant pot but if you do not have one it’s perfectly ok. You would just do the normal counter top rise process.

You will need a Cast Iron pot deep enough to let bread rise up to bake or Dutch oven with lid, preferably 5 qt or bigger. If you do not own a cast iron pot you can use a pizza stone, stainless pot with lid, stoneware and Pyrex. Be sure it has a lid and that your bake ware can withstand oven temperatures up to 500°.

I prefer cast iron and have not tried it in any other bake ware.

You will also need a bowl or pot insert that fits inside your Instant pot to put the dough in. I use a glass Pyrex bowl that fits inside my 8qt Instant Pot.

Shopping list:

There are only 4 ingredients and I bet most of you have them in your pantry already. All purpose flour (not self-rising), Rapid or Instant yeast, Kosher sea salt and water.

About yeast. This recipes calls for Rapid or instant yeast. I have only made it with this type. Active yeast requires it to be activated in warm water first then added to you mix.

Why didn’t my bread rise- Tips that can help

Another tip about bread making. There are many factors that can sabotage your bread and prevent it to rise. Always make sure you are using fresh yeast. If its been in your fridge a while it might be bad. Make sure you are preheating your oven with the pot in it and place the dough in the hot pot. Over mixing can also lead to dense bread. With this recipe you really don’t have to mix much, just until all the ingredients are incorporated into each other. Scoring the top of the bread dough before you bake it will help it rise in the middle. I have made this recipe about 10 or more times and its come out the same everytime.

Be Creative!

Once you get the basic bread recipe down you can get creative. You can also choose variations to your loaf using items such as fresh herbs such as rosemary or basil, cheese like Asiago, roasted garlic, olives, and sun dried tomatoes. For these you would add them in the first step, the mixing of ingredients.

Ready for some Instagram worthy Artisan Bread?

So if you want to cook some amazing bread, follow this recipe. In no time you will have yourself an Instagram worthy loaf of crusty Artisan bread. You might want to make 2, it goes quick! See printable recipe below.

First Whisk the flour, salt, and yeast in your bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon until all the water is incorporated. You can certainly do this in your Kitchen Aide Mixer as well. Form it into a rough ball. It will be a sticky mess but be careful not to overwork the dough. If you do you will not get the air pockets in your loaf. Air pockets are good! Otherwise it will be a dense flat loaf of bread.( been there done that) So just work it until it comes together.

Place the mixture/dough into a clean bowl that fits inside your instant pot. Cover your bowl with plastic wrap. Place the rack inside your instant pot and place the bowl on top. Place the lid on the Instant Pot, hit the Yogurt button and set it for 3.5 hrs to proof /rise. If you do not have an instant pot just let it rise in the bowl on your counter for 12-18 hrs.

It will look like this when done. A bubbly wet sticky dough. Place your cast iron pot including the lid in the oven and heat your oven to 450° .

Dump the dough on a floured surface and use a spatula to get it out of the bowl. make sure you hands are well floured too. Form it into a ball and using a sharp knife score your bread in an X ( about 2 ” deep) which helps it rise in the center. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at least 15 minutes while your oven is heating up.

I like to put some parchment paper on the bottom of my pot. Place the dough in the pot and spritz or brush the top with a little water. This will give it a nice crusty texture. Bake for 30 minutes covered.

Once 30 minutes is up remove lid and place back in over for 10 minutes or until the top is nice an dark or until desired coloring. making crust darker will not hurt the inside of your bread but be careful not to burn it.

Remove bread and place on cooling rack and let cool. Enjoy your Crusty Artisan loaf of bread! Serve with some Instant Pot Pasta e Fagioli soup! Remember to check out my other Instant Pot Recipes here.

“Easy” Artisan Bread- Instant Pot to Oven

Create amazing crusty artisan bread quickly with the help of your Instant pot. No kneading required. Mix, rise and bake!

Course Bread
Cuisine American
Keyword Breads
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Rise time 3 hours 30 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 4
Author Daniella Schmidt

Ingredients

  • 3 cups Unbleached All Purpose Flour
  • 11/2 tsp Kosher Salt
  • 1/2 tsp Instant or Rapid Dry Yeast or active I make with with active dry yeast. You can choose to add warm water to activate but I have found it works the same as using instant.
  • 1 1/2 cups cool water

Instructions

  1. In a large bowl or mixer wisk together flour,salt and yeast . Add in water and mix until it starts to form a shaggy ball until all ingredients are incorporated. It will be sticky. Do not over mix.

  2. Place in clean bowl that fits into Instant pot. Cover with plastic wrap. 

  3. Place rack inside instant pot and bowl on top and cover with lid.

  4. Set Instant Pot by pressing the Yogurt button. Set it to 3.5 hrs.

  5. When done rising. Transfer dough( it will be sticky) to a well floured board. Make sure your hands are well floured too. Form into a ball. Cover in plastic wrap and let sit while oven is heating. Do not over handle dough or it will be dense, form it quickly.

  6. Place cast iron pot into oven and Preheat oven to 450 degrees in center rack.

  7. Once preheated place parchment paper on bottom. Be careful, its hot! Then add in your dough. 

  8. Score the dough with a sharp knife about 2 inches deep. This will help it rise.

  9. Spritz with some light water or use a pastry brush. ( this makes it crusty)

  10.  Cover and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes remove list and bake for another 10-15 until you reach the desired color of crust but be sure not to burn.

Recipe Notes

  • Be creative! You can also choose variations to your loaf using items such as fresh herbs such as rosemary or basil, cheese like Asiago, roasted garlic, olives, olive oil and sun dried tomatoes. For these you would add them in the first step, the mixing of ingredients.
  • If you do not have an Instant Pot just let dough rise the tradition way on counter covered  for 12-18 hrs.
  • This bread can be baked on a pizza stone with a lid or in a stainless steel pot and stoneware. Be sure it can withstand heat up to 500 degrees.
  • Can other flour be used? Probably but I have not tried so I do not know the outcome. 
  • Factors that could make your bread dense. Over mixing and handling, old yeast, not preheating cast iron pot, not scoring top of dough.
  • Active yeast usually works different than Rapid or Instant and it usually  needs to be  activated in 1/4 up of warm water first then added to mixture. You can choose to do this but  I do not and it works just fine. 
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One thought on ““Easy”Artisan Bread- Instant Pot to Oven

  1. Hello Daniella,

    Just wanted to say I followed your recipe and the bread came out great, smells so good and I feel it will be delicious…taking it over for Thanksgiving Dinner. Thank you so much and will use this recipe forever.

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