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Easy Homemade Bread Recipe with Just 4 Ingredients

Seriously Easy and Delicious!

By Moriah Holland December 23, 2023

If you've ever wanted to try making homemade bread, but were intimidated by the time and equipment required, you'll love this simple recipe using just four pantry staples: flour, yeast, salt, and hot water.

The process is easy enough for your kids to join in on the fun too. You'll have some great family time, and as a bonus they'll get some practice with math and measuring! 

My whole family enjoys this recipe so much I just had to share, it takes virtually no time to make and the results are delicious. Guests will think you've put in hours in the kitchen for this bread! We love making an olive oil dip for ours.


At Macaroni KID, we skip the fluff and get straight to the good stuff. No need to scroll through pages of unnecessary content — our recipes are easy to find. Now let's get cooking!


Easy Homemade Bread

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (1 packet)
  • 1 1/2 cups hot water (about 120-130°F)

Directions:

  1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt, and yeast.
  2. Pour the hot water into the bowl and stir until all the ingredients are well combined and a sticky dough forms.
  3. Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let it sit in a warm place for 2-3 hours or until the dough has doubled in size.
  4. Preheat oven to 450°F.
  5. Place Dutch oven and lid in oven for 30 minutes to preheat.
  6. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and shape it into a round loaf. (Optional) add baking paper to Dutch oven.
  7. Place the loaf into the preheated Dutch oven, put lid on, and bake for 30 minutes.
  8. Remove the lid from the Dutch oven and bake for an additional 12 minutes.
  9. Remove the bread from the oven and let it cool for at least 10 minutes on a wire rack before slicing and serving.

Enjoy your freshly baked bread!