One Hour Bread Recipe

This one hour bread recipe is crusty on the outside and soft on the inside. It will become a family favourite!

Prep time: PT35M

Cook time: PT25M

Total time: PT60M

Rating

3.74 stars (60 reviews)

Keywords

crusty bread, one hour bread

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup warm water (not hot)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 package instant yeast
3 cups all-purpose flour (or bread flour)
1 teaspoon salt

Cuisine

American

Steps

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Drizzle olive oil on a baking pan. Set aside.
Combine water, sugar and yeast in a medium sized bowl. Give it a quick stir and then let it stand for a few minutes to allow the yeast to foam up. This step is very important, if your yeast foams it's still good and you'll have some amazing bread on your hands.
Add the flour and salt, stir until combined well. You can use any method that makes you happy. I did one by hand and one in my stand mixer just to see if there was much difference. There was not.
Now you can mix and stretch by hand, Donna refers to this as air kneading. You basically just pick up the dough, hold an edge of it in each hand and pull it so it stretches out. It's going to get really stretchy, and likely tear, but just keep stretching, turning and folding until it smooths out. I added a little olive oil to one of mine and it seemed to really help me work the dough nicely. I turned it onto the counter and hand kneading it for a few minutes. Once it's smooth you can form it into a ball, set on the sheet and wrap it in plastic wrap. Then allow it to rise for 30 minutes in a warm spot.
Once the dough is puffy, unwrap and lay on the baking sheet. Score the top with a knife as desired. You can also drizzle a little more olive oil or butter on top if you like.
Place in the oven and cook for about 20 to 25 minutes. It's ready when the top is brown and the bread makes a hollow sound if you thump it. This is not an invitation to beat the tar out of bread, just give a slight whack with your knuckle, otherwise you'll be eating croutons instead of bread.
Remove from oven and allow to cool on a rack. Good luck with this step. I don't think our bread has ever gotten the chance to cool completely in this house.
Serve with a big old bread loving smile.

Nutitrion

Serving Size: 1 serving
Calories: 195 kcal
Carbohydrates: 38 g
Protein: 5 g
Fat: 2 g
Saturated Fat: 1 g
Sodium: 294 mg
Sugar: 2 g
Unsaturated Fat: 2 g

Reviews

Bev U on 2024-07-05 (5 stars):
Wasn’t sure how this would turn out. Wasn’t bad for my first time. Sprinkled everything but the bagel and Italian seasonings on top.
lori l clines on 2024-03-19 (5 stars):
Perfect. Can I make it in two loaf pans?
Sara on 2022-03-06 (5 stars):
Made this today. My first ever attempt at homemade bread. It turned out amazing! Quick, easy and delicious! Thank you
Pierce on 2019-03-07 (4 stars):
The bread recipe itself is really good and its my first kneaded bread recipe. I love the crumb and bread overall, but while cooking i noticed a burning smell. I checked and turns out, Extra virgin olive oils smoke point was less than 400 degrees, and the bottom of my loaf was way darker than the top. The baking sheet i used was awful to clean, but the bread was awesome! i would definitely use virgin olive oil or ghee next time. I'm doing my next loaf with doubled amounts and ghee. Great job, but specify which type of olive oil please!
Elisabeth on 2018-08-31 (4 stars):
Hey! I have a question about some of the wording in your recipe. In step 2, you said to grease a baking pan with olive oil yet, in step 6, you said to lay the dough on a baking sheet. I assume you mean pan, but I wouldn't want get the recipe wrong because that would be a waste. (just a side note: my friend recommended this recipe to me after she made a loaf for a potluck) Thank you!
JoyfulDoris on 2018-03-25 (5 stars):
This bread is fantastic! It has become a go-to when we want a fresh loaf of bread but didn't plan enough in advance to have more time for the rise. This for us is to say most of the time LOL. Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe.
Kate on 2018-03-11 (5 stars):
Quick and delicious. This has become my go-to recipe when I make homemade bread. Thank you!
Kimberly on 2018-01-07 (5 stars):
Absolutely love this bread recipe. We have made it several times and it always turns out perfect! It is our go-to loaf bread recipe whenever we need a quick and delicious loaf! Thank you!