5 minute artisan olive oil bread is the one you need to learn how to make, no matter what type of bread you enjoy. The dough is easy to make, and versatile enough to be used for breads or pizza dough!
I thought that everyone within a 100 mile radius of me knew about “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day“, (affiliate link) By Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois, but I guess I was wrong.
When I first discovered the book a couple of years ago, I decided that everyone had to know about it. It was my go-to birthday gift for my foodie friends, so I bought about 6 copies that year alone. The theory is pretty simple – you make up a large quantity of dough, enough for about 4 loaves of bread, and leave it in your fridge.
Artisan bread
It stays good for about 2 weeks, so when you’re ready to make a loaf, grab a hunk of dough. You can make baguettes, pita pockets, or pizza with it, too. There’s no need for that pesky rise, punch down, knead, rise, repeat cycle.
Grilled pizza with pesto, ricotta and smoked mozzarella.
If I’m having a Mediterranean meal, I like to incorporate chopped kalamata olives and fresh rosemary to the dough. Of course, it’s always there for a fast pizza dinner, too.
This 5 minute artisan recipe makes two types of dough: the basic and the enriched dough.
King Cake from 5 minute bread dough.
The enriched dough has eggs, and lasts about 1 week in the fridge. If we’re having overnight guests, I make cinnamon rolls, King Cake, or pecan sticky buns with it!
before rising
after 2 hours
If you’re a bread lover, you really should buy the book.
Here’s the recipe for the 5 minute artisan olive oil dough.
- 2 3/4 C. lukewarm water Don't worry about the exact water temperature...just warm
- 1½ Tbl. yeast or about 1½ packets
- 1½ Tbl. kosher salt
- 1 Tbl. sugar
- 1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
- 6½ c. unbleached all-purpose
- Mix the yeast, salt, sugar, and olive oil with the water into a big 5 or 6 qt. container. Mix in the flour, use a spoon or a food processor to incorporate all the flour. Cover (not airtight), and allow to rest at on your counter for around 2 hours. (it will rise and then collapse) Now, just stick it in the refrigerator,covered, until you're ready to use it. The dough will be pretty soft and sticky looking as this point.
- When you're ready to bake, grab a hunk of dough, (you determine how much, depending on what you're planning on making) add enough flour to the dough so that it 's not sticky and form into a ball. I am making a basic "boule" or ball shaped loaf.
- Let it rest for about 45 min. on a pizza peel or baking sheet covered with cornmeal. The cornmeal helps the loaf slide easily off the peel and on to the stone in the oven.
- Don't worry if it hasn't risen as much as you think it should, it rises more in the oven.
- Heat pizza stone for 20 minute at 450*. Place an empty broiler tray on another shelf.
- Dust top of loaf with flour and slash a pattern into the top.
- Transfer loaf to pizza stone and add a cup of hot water to a pan on the rack below.
- This will make a lot of steam and give the loaf a crusty exterior. Bake for 30 minutes or until nicely browned and firm to the touch. It should sound hollow when you thump your finger on the bottom.
Some of the products I use for perfect pizza or bread are this pizza stone (affiliate link).
The pizza stone is perfect for both pizza and bread loaves.
This bucket is similar to what I use to both rise the dough and store in the fridge.
David Carroll Jr says
Looks Awesome!
linda emory says
Says mix everything except the water – when do you add the water ??????
Cynthia says
Linda, I’ve amended the recipe, I should have written mix everything including the water. Thank you for letting me know.
Cybele says
Should the flour be packed into the measuring cup or just scooped straight out of the bag? Do you know approximately how many ounces the flour should be?
Cynthia says
that’s a good question Cybele, with bread dough, a lot of it can be done by feel, so with this dough, especially since you’re making a big batch to store in the fridge, when you grab a hunk to make
pizza, if it’s too sticky, add some more flour to your board or cloth as you are working with it. Let it rest on the cloth, if it’s still too sticky, flour your surface and continue to roll. You will
love playing around with this dough because once you get the feel of it, you’ll be making artisan loaves, pizza dough, rolls and pita. Let me know if you have any more questions. It makes pizza night so
much fun!
christina says
I started making Jim Lahey’s no knead bread years ago and haven’t stopped! In fact, I have two bowls of rising dough sitting in front of me right now! One for bread and one for pizza/calzone. So simple, but I can’t imagine it lasting even ONE week in my fridge! haha! We love our bread!
Cynthia says
I wonder if the Artisan bread people got their idea from him or visa versa?
Kavey Favelle says
Oooh, I’m another one new to this — I’ve come across 5 minute (or no-knead / next-to-no-knead) breads but not ones where you make a large batch and can store in fridge for 1-2 weeks. That’s a great idea!
Elaine @ Dishes Delish says
There is nothing better than homemade bread. For reals! I love it. I have to check out that book! When I was first married, I made our bread for 7 years. And that means that I never bought any bread otherwise! So, this book is very intriguing!
Cynthia says
That’s pretty impressive Elaine!
Lucy @ Supergoldenbakes says
This sounds like a must have recipe – to be able to pull dough out of the fridge and bake it on demand sounds almost too good to be true. Thanks for sharing this gem.
Cynthia says
It’s pretty amazing Lucy!
Beth says
i LOVE homemade bread! 5 minutes? That doesn’t seem possible! I AM going to give this a try!
Cynthia says
Well the dough takes prep…but the premise is that if you keep it in the fridge, you can roll out pizza dough in a flash!
Helen @ Fuss Free Flavours says
I love using olive oil for dough. The ideas are endless for delicious bread dishes with your dough recipe. Always worthwhile making your own bread, always so tasty.
Cynthia says
I agree! This dough was life changing!
Jo says
How long must the dough be in the fridge before using? Can it be used immediately? Ie 2 hours on bench then in fridge and 10 mins later take a batch out?
Cynthia says
Hi Jo, actually you can use it right away (no need to refrigerate) or store it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Hope that helps!
Christi Caughey says
I am single with a small frig. Can I simply cut the recipe in half or more too make one loaf? Thanks
Cynthia says
absolutely! I’ve done that many times!
Cathy B. says
I have the AB in 5 book and make the olive oil dough frequently. According to the recipe in my book, it calls for 1/4 cup of olive oil whereas your recipe calls for 1/2 cup of olive oil? That seems like a lot of olive oil!