I’m the girl that was straight panicking about making a bunch of loaves for gifts the other day. Well, here’s the first batch and they came out great!

This is the first batch for the week, and they came out pretty close to perfect (the bottoms burned slightly but it’s whatever). I took y’all’s advice and did the ice cube method while baking, allowed it to cool COMPLETELY before cutting, and baked them with the lid on for a longer time and the lid off for a shorter time. They came out great, 3 out of the 4 browned nicely (we kept the blonde one, it’s the one in the photo) and the crust is thin and crisp with a good chew. I initially thought I overproofed the dough, but they came out great.

Thanks to everyone who helped me calm down and stop taking it so seriously! I’m really glad that I pushed through and didn’t have a breakdown…over bread. Y’all are the best and happy holidays to everyone!!

Btw, I used the same recipe because I was too scared to change it up at the last second and waste a bunch of ingredients by having the dough fail.

Here’s the recipe:

150g starter

350g water

500g KABF

8g salt

Directions:

1.) Mix it all together until it forms a shaggy dough and cover and let set for an hour.

2.) Do 4 sets of stretch and folds, waiting 30 minutes in between each set, and cover and rest on countertop for 4-6 hours or until doubled in size.

3.) Shape and place into floured towel-lined bowl or banneton and refrigerate overnight for cold proof.

4.) Place Dutch oven in oven and preheat to 450°. Put shaped dough on parchment paper and score and put into Dutch oven with 2 pieces of ice (not touching the loaf) and bake for 30 minutes with the lid on and 10-15 with the lid off.

5.) Allow to cool completely before cutting.