Artisan Bread- in a crockpot!

So it's been preeeeeetty hot this week! We changed our 4th of July plans because of the heat, and ended up staying at my in-laws house (w/ central air!) for the rest of the week! It was so nice to sleep in comfort and not worry about keeping the kiddos cool! Now we're home and trying to cool down our house that feels more like an oven! When we got home Friday night, we turned on our window units, barricaded all four of us in our room, and slept pretty well all night. But our house had to wait for cooler weather until it could catch up! We finally got a relief from the heat over the weekend!

I noticed I had a bunch of bread dough in the fridge. I'd made a couple loaves to take with us for the week, but we'd already eaten those up and wanted to use up the rest of the dough. My neighbor found this crockpot version of the artisan bread I shared on here a couple weeks ago, and I've been itching to try it.

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This heat wave has been the perfect opportunity! It been sooo hot and I was definitely NOT going to turn on my oven especially to 450 degrees, while we've been trying to cool our house down... So I decided now was the perfect time to try this crockpot version!

This is SO easy!

Form the dough into a ball
place on parchment paper
lower into crockpot and cover
set on high
wait an hour*

It was even quicker and easier than the already quick and easy baked version!
What I love about it being in a crockpot is that it comes out very soft, like a big roll! :)

I have to admit that it took me two tries to get this right! The first time was over the hot weekend! I ended up overcooking it because it just didn't look or feel done. It felt too soft on top so I thought it wasn't done and ended up leaving it in too long! We cut the bottom crust off and were still able to eat the rest. Other than a crispy bottom, it turned out fine. I think the top of the bread just looks lighter than I was expecting, but for more color on the bread or for more crispiness, just stick it under the broiler for a few.

Last night I tried again. I was determined to see if it would work! *It ended up taking closer to two hours, even though her recipe says 1 hour. There could be many reasons for this. One is the amount of dough used (i might've used a bit more than she did). Also, every crockpot is different. I had to get a new crockpot a couple months ago, and I notice that it doesn't cook as fast as my old one did. So keep an eye on your bread the first time, and let me know how long it takes your crockpot.

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So the crockpot bread was a SUCCESS, and we had it today for lunch! :) It's so much better for sandwiches than the baked version. The crustier, baked bread is still yummy, but can be a little too chewy for sandwiches at times.

I think I might slow-cook my bread more often than baking bread now!! :)
And one of the best things about it is..... you don't have to clean the crockpot!!!! whoo hoo!

Let me know what you think, and if you try it!