Earlier this week, my husband asked me if I had ever heard of "no knead bread". I had not, so I went online and rummaged through recipes for this type of bread. I found the recipes all very similar in ingredients and directions. The method is so simple and straightforward (no kneading required), I decided to give this homemade bread a try. Boy, am I ever glad I did! It was SO EASY to prepare and the bread turned out absolutely perfect! It's light and fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside. Several friends asked me for the recipe, so I am sharing it on here with you today! Enjoy!
Ingredients
3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1 2/3 cups lukewarm water
Directions
In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, dry yeast, and water. Stir the ingredients with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together.
The dough will look ragged and messy, just like this.
Cover the bowl with cling wrap and let the dough sit, untouched, for 15-20 hours.
After 15 hours, the dough will look like this - sticky and bubbly.
Sprinkle flour on your counter top and empty out the dough (using a wet spatula) onto the floured surface. With floured hands,shape the dough into a ball, and with seam side down,
Place the dough ball in a a large bowl lined with a clean tea towel.
Fold over the tea towel to cover the dough. Let the dough sit for another 2 hours.
After 1 hour and a half, place an empty, covered dutch oven in a cold oven.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Let the pot sit in there for 30 minutes.
Once dough has sat for two hours, uncover it.
Remove pot from the oven. Empty the dough from the tea towel into the preheated pot.
Wiggle the pot to even out the dough. Cover with lid and bake in the 450F oven for 30 minutes.
Now remove the lid and bake for 15 minutes longer. The crust should be a golden brown and crisp. Remove pot from the oven.
Carefully remove the bread from the pot onto a cooling rack.
Cool for several minutes (if you can stand the wait!).
Slice the bread and serve warm...
...slathered with oodles of yummy butter!
And that's it! Isn't it wonderful? So simple to make, and so good!
Have any of you baked this type of bread before? Do you bake bread at home? If you plan to give this recipe a try, please let me know what you think. I always love reading your comments!
Looks fantastic! I am going to try it over the weekend!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Patricia! It really is fantastic! You will love it! I promise!
ReplyDeleteRosinda, did you check to see if the knob on the lid of your Dutch oven could take that high a temperature? I've been wanting to try this bread but my Lodge brand Dutch oven knob couldn't tolerate that high of heat. It looks fabulous!!! Thanks for your recipe.
ReplyDeleteHello Pat! Thank you for visiting and leaving a comment. The dutch oven I used to bake this bread is made by Le Creuset and yes, the knob on the lid is oven-safe for 450 degrees F. I thought that most dutch oven knobs were made to withstand high heat. Thanks for pointing that out.
DeleteWhat an interesting recipe! Seems to me that's the way they make a starter for breads. Then the bubbling gloop is added to more flour and turned into bread. And they hold onto some of the gloop and keep adding to it, and it becomes the "mother" for breads that some places keep for years and years. It creates a stronger yeasty tang. My mother had this thing called a cloche, made of clay, had a base and a dome (just like those metal cloches used in restaurants to cover some fancy dish) anyway, she'd heat that and use it similarly to how you used your dutch oven. I don't know if she made no-knead bread tho. I've made many breads and haven't kneaded that much because making it in a Cuisinart or the Kitchen Aid, the bumping around it does is plenty. Your bread looked fantastically delicious! I figure tho if you're gonna take 15 hours, maybe you should make 2 loaves because one would be gone in an instant. I don't know how safe my knob is. I got my cocotte at Sur La Table. I liked it because of the cranberry color. Anyway I loved seeing your bread. And I wish I had some right now! Happy bread eating holidays!! ♥
ReplyDeleteThank you, Nancy! Wish I could send you a hot slice! I won't be making two loaves, unless it's to give one away. One loaf is quite enough for the four of us to share. The more I make, the more we will eat. lololol Happy holidays! xoxo
DeleteRosinda, I love making bread and have made this bread many times. I think it is quite good and is a favorite at our home. It reminds me of bread baked in a french oven. I never buy bread at the bakery and always bake our bread at home. This is a bread I like to make in the winter as it warms the kitchen up so cozy! Merry Christmas to you and yours! xoxo ♥
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas to you and your family, Martha Ellen! How lovely that you bake all your bread at home! What a special treat for your family! The smell of just baked bread is heavenly and it certainly warms up the kitchen! Happy holidays! xoxo
DeleteHi Rosinda, This looks so delicious! I can practically smell it from here! Is there anything better than the smell of break baking in the oven? I don't think so! : ) Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe. Who knew it could be that easy! I am going to definitely try this soon!
ReplyDeleteHope you are having a good week! Only 8 more sleeps until Christmas!!! ♥ xo
PS LOVE your dutch oven and tea towel! Very nice!
Thank you, Danielle! Nothing beats the smell of homemade bread! This recipe is so easy. I've made it twice now and my husband wants me to make it again. Can you believe it's almost Christmas? WOW! This month of December is flying by! Happy holidays, sweetie! xo
DeleteThis is so fantastic!!!!!!!!!! You know I can't eat wheat but I will certainly make it for my family!! What a treat!! Did you put anything into the dutch oven....like butter before putting the dough into it?
ReplyDeleteOh goodness.....gotta run!! xoxo
Hello Joann! I know you can't eat wheat, but I also know that you still bake for your family/friends. You will love this bread recipe! I'm sure Rod will appreciate it, too! No, you don't have to grease or flour the dutch oven. The bread easily comes loose after baking. Thank you for visiting! It's always so nice to "see" you here! Happy holidays! xo
DeleteWow, your bread looks fantastic! There is nothing better than bread fresh out of the oven. p.s. Thank you for stopping by my blog :)
ReplyDelete