Who doesn’t love bread? That undeniable smell of a fresh loaf of bread in the oven is one of many little joys in life. While my ultimate goal is making my own sourdough bread from scratch (more to come!), I have been making no-knead bread because 1) eating bread fresh out of the oven is the best thing ever! and 2) it helps me reduce waste that comes with most prepared and processed foods. Check out my other make at home recipes for cold brew coffee and kombucha.
This is great for those who are looking for a simple, no-fuss recipe. It only takes about 12 hours start to finish with only 4 ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry. Recipe from Jo Cooks
Here Is What You Will Need
- Whole wheat or white flour (bread made with whole wheat flour will be more dense)
- Water
- Dry Active Yeast*
- Salt
- Dutch Oven (4 or 6 quart capacity). I use my Staub 6Qt dutch oven for this.
* Make sure you refrigerate your yeast once you open it! Yeast is a living organism and its activity will reduce with time. To check if your yeast is still alive, mix with a bit of warm water. If it does not foam after 10 minutes, it is probably time to get some new yeast.
No-Knead Bread (White Flour)
- 5 Cups White All Purpose Flour
- 2.5 cups water
- 1 tsp dry active yeast
- 1 tsp salt
No-Knead Bread (Whole Wheat Flour)
- 4 cups Whole Wheat All Purpose Flour
- 2 cups water
- 3/4 tsp dry active yeast
- 1 tsp salt (Jo Cooks recipe asks for 2 tsp but I found it a little too salty for my liking)
Instructions
- Mix dry ingredients (flour, yeast and salt) together then mix in water until fully combined.
- Cover with a kitchen cloth and let it rest for at least 12 hours (I have tried resting for 16 to 18 hours with similar results)
- Once you are ready to bake, place dutch oven in the oven and preheat to 475°F.
- Remove dough from the bowl. It will be very sticky so make sure you lightly flour the dough, your hands and a clean surface to form into a ball.
- Once the oven has been preheated, lightly dust the bottom of the dutch oven and place the dough inside.
- Bake for 30 minutes with the lid on then remove the lid and bake for an extra 15 minutes until golden brown
- Let the bread rest for 15 minutes – it will be hard to resist but it’s worth it!
Note: A 4 quart dutch oven (or any other pot that you can put in the oven with a lid) would create a rounder loaf. I only have a 6 quart dutch oven so it turned out flatter as pictured.
And that’s it! That is how simple it is to make your own bread at home. Great for entertaining or just enjoying yourself with a bit of hummus or vegan butter 🙂
TL/dr – flour, yeast, salt, water and a little bit of time (no kneading required) are all that is needed to create awesome crusty bread at home!