No Knead Bread

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This is the easiest no knead bread recipe out there. Seriously. And looks so impressive no one will believe that you made it in less that 20 minutes of hands on time.  It’s crunchy on the outside and softy and fluffy on the inside.  Just how all good breads should be. 

I can’t tell you how happy I am to have revisited making bread at home. I had the tried the bread machine thing.  I’m normally a big fan of kitchen appliances (KitchenAid mixer, Instant Pot, Vitamix) but this one failed me hard.  Sure, it would mix the dough nicely.  But every time the bottom would be burned.  I mean every time. Burned. Burned and gross. The little machine was unreliable and for me that was unacceptable.  The thing had to go.  Plus, it took up way too much counter space anyway. 

No knead, no problem

So many kitchen-fresh breadless days and years went by.  Sad times they were.  We would buy “French” bread loafs from the big box store bakeries for dinners.  But we knew we weren’t fooling anyone, especially ourselves. That wasn’t fresh bread. Fresh bread doesn’t spring back to shape like a stress ball.  

Then, one Fall day and quite out of the blue, Nathan declared “making bread can’t possibly be that hard and we are going to figure it out.”  He had recently learned out how to re-wire an outlet without burning the house down, so I was on board with his enthusiasm. “Woo hoo! Bread makin’ time!”

Well. Turns out that awesome no knead bread is super easy to make.  Bread is more chemistry than intuition. There is no theory, just technique. And oh boy, is this technique easy. Also, it you can have this yummy bread ready to eat in under five hours!  It is the perfect, “I’d like some fresh bread with (or for, let’s be honest) dinner tonight” bread.  You start it in the early afternoon.  Wait a bit and then bake. I hope you love this as much as I do.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups All Purpose Flour, plus a little more when shaping it
• 1 tsp of Salt
• 2 tsp Sugar
• 1/4 tsp Dry Active Yeast
• 1 1/2 cups hot Water, DO NOT boil- should measure in at 125-130F

Required tools:

• Dutch oven

Instructions for the perfect Artisan No Knead Bread

Combine the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Make a little well in the center of the mixture with your finger and place the dry yeast inside. Heat up your water to 125-130F. We actually use a digital temperature gun instead of a normal thermometer ( I prefer to use this especially in other recipes when heating up oils for frying). Pour in the heated up water and stir until well combined and mounding in the center of the bowl.

Cover with plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for a minimum of 3 hours.

After waiting at least 3 hours the dough will become puffy with some small holes in the top (that’s the yeast doing its job).

Transfer the dough to a floured surface. I love my pastry board for this part.

Sprinkle the dough with a little flour and using a pastry scraper, fold over the dough 8-10 times and shape into a ball. Next, place parchment paper into a separate bowl and put the dough ball into it. Cover with a kitchen towel for 30-35 minutes while you preheat your oven to 450F with your dutch oven inside. Make sure that your dutch oven has a oven safe lid.

After the 30-35 minutes are up, score a X on the top of the dough with a sharp knife or lame. This allows the bread to expand a bit while baking and also give it a real appeasing look. When your oven is heated to 450F, take the dough still in the parchment paper and place it into the heated dutch oven. Place the lid on top and bake for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, take the lid off the dutch oven and continue to bake for about 8 minutes (times may vary, so keep an eye on it). This will give it that final crunchy crust and golden color.

Remove the whole thing from the oven and take the loaf out along with the parchment paper and place on a cooling rack or cutting board. Let cool at least 15 minutes before slicing into the bread as it is still finishing cooking.

A word of warning: this no knead artisan bread will become something that you must have in your life at all times. So don’t be surprised if you’re suddenly eating fresh bread. Oh, and as a bonus it can be frozen for later.

If you like this recipe and love bread, then you should try our Banana Bread or Monkey Muffins.