I looooove homemade bread and there is no better method for producing the perfect loaf at home than your cast iron Dutch oven. You got a sneak peak of this bread in my last Leftover Gourmet post, where I served it alongside Spicy Sweet Potato Peanut Soup. This is a wonderful multi-purpose bread, great for accompanying soups and salads, for French toast, or even for sandwiches.

Baking in a Dutch oven is a simple method and it takes a lot less time than traditional at-home bread baking. You've recently watched me take advantage (several times) of the convenience of a bread machine, but THIS is my preferred method. I originally learned it from Zoë François and have tweaked it a bit based on what works for me.

Start with a simple recipe. This French bread recipe will yield 2 long baguettes or 2 loaves or 24 dinner rolls or 18 fat breadsticks or 24 skinny ones. I  love a baguette from time to time, but when I've got my Dutch oven in mind, there's only one shape that will work: the classic boule.

French Bread Dough (vegan!)

1 1/4 cups warm water
2 Tbsp canola oil
1 1/2 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
4 cups bread flour, unsifted
2 tsp yeast


In a large bowl, combine salt and flour thoroughly. Make a well in the center and carefully pour in your warm water. Add yeast and sugar to the water, and stir lightly to wet them without pulling in any of the flour from the sides. Allow the mixture to sit for about 5-10 minutes, until frothy.

Add oil to the yeast mixture and, with a wooden spoon, begin incorporating flour from the sides of the bowl, a little at a time until it's all combined. Stir with the spoon until a loose dough begins to come together. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and knead 10-15 times. If you're making boules or baguettes, divide the dough into two equal pieces. If you want to save half for another day, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and store in the fridge for 3 days or in the freezer for up to a month.

For the dough you're baking today, cover with a towel and allow to rise until doubled (45-60 minutes).
Punch down the dough and knead again, 10-15 times. Shape into ball, sprinkle with flour, and make a few diagonal slashes along the top of the loaf (usually 3-4) or slash around the sides in a square shape. Transfer the loaf to a piece of parchment paper about twice the size of the loaf, cover with a towel, and allow to rise again for 1 hour.

After your dough has been rising for 40 minutes, it's time to get your oven ready. Place your cast iron Dutch oven with lid in the center rack and preheat to 500°F. Once the oven reaches temperature (about 20-25 minutes), carefully remove the lid of the Dutch oven and lower your shaped loaf, along with the parchment paper, into the Dutch oven. Replace the lid and bake 15 minutes. This is the perfect amount of time to steam the loaf and create a beautiful crackly crust.

Remove the lid, reduce the oven temp to 450°F, and bake an additional 15-20 minutes, depending on the size of the loaf. You can test a loaf for done-ness by lifting it up with a wooden spatula and tapping on the bottom. If it sounds hollow, it's done.

Transfer the loaf to a cooling rack. I like to leave my Dutch oven in the oven while it cools, so it can return to room temperature slowly. This prevents damage to the enamel coating (if yours has one, like mine) and prevents you from having to dance around a 450°F piece of cast iron on your kitchen counter!