Description
This artisan no-knead yeast bread recipe offers a simple and forgiving approach to homemade bread, requiring minimal effort yet delivering a crusty, golden loaf with a chewy, fluffy crumb. Perfect for beginners and busy bakers alike, it uses a slow rise method and baking in a Dutch oven to create professional-quality bread without kneading.
Ingredients
Scale
Main Dough Ingredients
- 3 cups (450g) bread or plain/all purpose flour
- 2 tsp instant or rapid rise yeast
- 2 tsp cooking or kosher salt (not table salt)
- 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) very warm tap water (up to 55°C/130°F)
Dough Shaping
- 1 1/2 tbsp flour, for dusting
Instructions
- Mix Dough: In a large bowl, combine flour, yeast, and salt. Add the warm water and mix thoroughly using the handle of a wooden spoon until all the flour is incorporated into a wet, sticky dough. It should be wet and sloppy but not runny; adjust water or flour slightly if necessary.
- Rise: Cover the bowl with cling wrap or a plate and leave it on the counter at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours until the dough doubles in volume, becomes bubbly on top, and has a wobbly, jelly-like consistency. If no rise is seen after 1 hour, move the dough to a warmer spot.
- Optional Refrigeration for Flavor: At this point, you can either proceed to bake immediately or refrigerate the dough for up to 3 days to develop deeper flavor.
- Bring Dough to Room Temperature: If refrigerated, allow the dough to come to room temperature for 45 to 60 minutes while preheating the oven to ensure optimal rise and texture during baking.
- Preheat Oven and Dutch Oven: Place a Dutch oven with its lid inside the oven (at least 26cm/10″ diameter) and preheat to 230°C/450°F (220°C fan) for 30 minutes prior to baking to ensure even heat distribution and steam effect.
- Shape Dough: Lightly dust your work surface with 1 tablespoon of flour. Scrape the dough out of the bowl and dust the top with 1/2 tablespoon flour. Fold the dough inward about six times using a dough scraper or a similar tool to deflate bubbles and shape it roughly into a round.
- Transfer to Parchment Paper: Place a large piece of parchment paper next to the dough, flip the dough seam-side down onto the paper, then gently push it towards the center and reshape it into a loose round shape. Imperfect shapes result in more crusty, crunchy ridges.
- Load Dough into Dutch Oven: Carefully remove the hot Dutch oven from the oven and transfer the dough along with the parchment paper into the pot. Cover with the lid immediately.
- Bake Covered and Uncovered: Bake the bread covered for 30 minutes, then remove the lid and bake uncovered for an additional 12 minutes or until the crust is deep golden and crisp.
- Cool Before Slicing: Remove the bread from the oven and cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes before slicing to allow the crumb to set properly.
Notes
- Use bread flour for a chewier, fluffier crumb and longer freshness; all-purpose flour also works but texture differs slightly.
- Wholemeal flour can be used by starting with 30g less and adjusting as needed to maintain dough consistency.
- If using table salt instead of kosher salt, reduce amount to 1 1/4 tsp to avoid overly salty bread.
- Water temperature is critical; it should be warm enough to sit in comfortably but not hot enough to kill yeast (up to 55°C/130°F).
- Dough consistency can vary based on flour brand and humidity; adjust with small amounts of flour or water to achieve a sufficiently wet but not runny dough.
- Rising time will vary with room temperature; if dough is not rising at 1 hour, move it to a warmer place to encourage yeast activity.
- Preheat the oven while dough is rising or resting after chilling. A hot Dutch oven creates steam for a crispy crust.
- If no Dutch oven, use a metal baking pan and create steam by adding boiling water to the pan placed beneath the dough during baking.
- The recipe is adapted and halved from the New York Times no-knead bread recipe with added tips for ease and reliability.
- Bread slices yield about 10 servings per batch.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice (approx. 1/10th of loaf)
- Calories: 160
- Sugar: 0.1g
- Sodium: 380mg
- Fat: 1g
- Saturated Fat: 0.2g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0.8g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 33g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 5g
- Cholesterol: 0mg
