No-Knead Bread
If you love homemade bread but don’t like kneading dough, then this No-Knead Bread is perfect for you! The dough comes together in minutes. The crust is super crunchy, and the inside is perfectly soft and moist. A recipe you will find yourself making over and over.
Have you ever made No-Knead Bread? It took me a long, very long time to finally give it a try. I’m a baker, and I am used to kneading my dough.
The first time I heard about no-knead bread was when my cousin was raving about this bread he made. He told me that he didn’t knead the dough and that it was so easy and quick and delicious. I couldn’t believe my ears and had a hard time believing him. But somehow, I couldn’t forget about this mystery bread.
The more I thought about it, the more sense it made. Since you don’t knead the dough, you have to let it rest for a long time. This long resting time will form the gluten strands (that’s what the kneading usually does), giving the bread its texture. And, since you let it rest for so long, it only needs a small amount of yeast. Anyways…enough with the boring theory ☺️
It took me about 12 years to finally give it a try! Now I wonder why it took me that long because No-Knead Bread is delicious and super easy to make!!
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Dutch Oven
I highly suggest you use a Dutch oven to achieve a perfect crust. The cast-iron works like a stone oven; it keeps the heat very well and gives you an evenly baked bread with the perfect crunchy crust.
I have this Le Creuset dutch oven and absolutely love it!! Bonus, it comes in lots of different colors!
How to
All you need is a large mixing bowl, a wooden spoon, a few simple ingredients, and some patients. Put all the ingredients into the mixing bowl, mix it well with the wooden spoon, and voilà! Cover up the bowl and let it sit at room temperature for 18-24h. I usually mix it in the afternoon and bake it the following morning.
After 18-24h, take the bowl with the risen dough and scrape down the sides. The dough will “deflate,” but that’s ok. Next, carefully fold the sites up with your hands or a scraper to make a nice, round loaf. This is a wet, sticky dough that is not as workable as other kneaded bread doughs.
Drop the dough onto parchment paper and place it (with the parchment paper) back in the bowl (I usually clean my bowl before putting it back in).
In the meantime, preheat the oven and place a Dutch oven (with a lid) inside. You will bake your bread inside the pan; it needs to be nice and hot when adding it.
Baking
Once the oven is preheated and the 40-60 minutes of resting time for the bread is up, carefully take the Dutch oven pan out of the oven. Place the risen bread into the pan by lifting it out of the bowl with the parchment paper. Work very carefully since the pan is extremely hot! Cover it up with the lid and put it in the oven for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, take the lid off and reduce the oven temperature. Finish baking the bread for about 30 more minutes, or until it is nicely browned and sounding hollow if you flip it over and knock on the bottom.
E Guete (Bon appétit)!! Don’t forget to share some pictures with me and tell me how you liked this No-Knead Bread. It would make my day if you tag @mirjamskitchenyodel on Instagram, share on Facebook or pin on Pinterest.
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No-Knead Bread
Ingredients
- 500 g Whole wheat flour
- 500 ml Wasser
- ½ tsp Instant dry yeast
- 1½ tsp Salt
- 50 g Sunflower seeds
- 70 g Pecans chopped
- 70 g Cranberries
Instructions
- Add the flour, yeast, salt, sunflower seeds, chopped pecans, and cranberries to a large bowl and stir to combine.
- Pour in the water and mix with a wooden spoon until everything is well incorporated.
- Cover the bowl with a bowl cover or a wet kitchen towel.
- Let the dough sit at room temperature for 18-24 hours.
- After 18-24h, take the bowl with the risen dough and scrape down the sides. The dough will "deflate," but that's ok. Next, carefully fold the sites up with your hands or a scraper to make a nice, round loaf. This is a wet and sticky dough and not as workable as other kneaded bread doughs.
- Drop the dough onto parchment paper and place it (with the parchment paper) back in the bowl (I usually clean my bowl before putting it back in).
- Cover up and let rest for another hour.
- Preheat the oven to 482°F or 250°C and place the Dutch oven pan with the lid inside while it's preheating. You need a hot pan for the dough.
- Carefully remove the hot baking dish from the oven, take off the lid and gently place the risen dough with the parchment paper into it.
- Cover and bake for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, lower the oven temperature to 392°F or 200°C and remove the lid from the dutch oven.
- Bake for another 30 minutes or until the loaf is golden brown.
- Remove the loaf from the baking dish and let it cool on a rack before you cut into it.