No Knead Bread is the easiest way you can bake your own bread at home! This fool-proof method requires no elbow grease and only a handful ingredients to get you the perfect loaf every time! This method yields a bread with a gorgeous, soft crumb and a crusty outer layer. Perfection, in my opinion!
I have always been an avid baker. Since I was a little girl, my favourite thing to do was to help my mom bake cookies in the kitchen. Anyone who ever grew up with a parent or grandparent who loved to be in the kitchen baking up a storm probably has fond memories of those times. I was blessed in this way and developed a love for all baked goodies.
Of all the baked goodies that I have made over the years, the one thing that has always made me a bit apprehensive is baking bread. I’ve had some successes over the years but also many failures. After an only “okayish” attempt at a loaf, I felt a bit dejected. Talking to my sister in law, who is also an avid baker and has had similar experiences with breads, she told me about her success every time with making no knead bread, I decided to give it a try. Boy am I glad I did! Although I have made some changes to the recipe to suit my tastes and yield a better result, I have always had success with this no knead breads.
No knead bread is virtually error proof. As long as you follow the steps outlined below, you will almost always get a perfect loaf of bread in the end. If I can do it, so can you!
Fool Proof Method for No Knead Bread
The recipe outlined below is very easy to do and requires no elbow grease. No kneading is required, after all. To begin, you start by mixing salt, yeast, and flour in a large bowl. Then you add warm water and stir it with a wooden spoon until a sticky, wet dough forms. Cover the dough and let it rise overnight or for at least 8 hours before proceeding with the next step. It will double in size overnight.
After letting the dough rest overnight, you heat a dutch oven in a 450F oven. Meanwhile, you flour a parchment paper and your hands generously. After puncturing the dough and pushing down slightly, you begin to pull it away from the sides of the bowl and transfer it to the parchment paper. Form it into a ball and cover it again with plastic wrap.
While the dutch oven is heating, let the dough rise again on the parchment paper. After 30 minutes, transfer the dough and parchment paper into the dutch oven and let it bake covered for 35 minutes. Uncover it and bake for an additional 20 minutes.
That’s it! Remove it from the dutch oven and let it cool. Then slice in and enjoy! Bon appetit!
No Knead Bread
Ingredients
- 3/4 teaspoon dry active yeast
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 3 cups flour
- 1 1/2 cups warm water
Instructions
- Mix the yeast, salt and flour in a large bowl. Add the warm water and stir with a wooden spoon until it forms a sticky dough. If the dough is too dry, add a little warm water at a time. The dough should look a bit wet and be sticky to the touch. Cover with plastic wrap and a clean tea towel. Leave it in a warm place to rise overnight or for at least 8 hours. It will double in size overnight.
- Preheat oven to 450F and place a 4 quart dutch oven inside to heat for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, generously flour a parchment paper. With well floured hands, unwrap the dough and push down to deflate it slightly. Ensuring your hands are still well-floured begin to pull the dough away from the sides of the bowl and then transfer it to the parchment paper. Form it roughly into a ball and sprinkle with flour. Recover it with plastic wrap and let it rise again for 30 minutes (while the dutch oven is heating in the oven).
- Remove the dutch oven from the oven and remove the plastic from the dough. Quickly transfer the dough and parchment paper (leave the parchment under the dough) into the dutch oven and cover with the lid. Bake for 35 minutes. After 45 minutes, remove the lid and bake for an additional 20 minutes or until the bread is cooked through and a nice golden brown on top.
Note: Metric ingredient measurements are provided as a courtesy using a third-party calculator and are rounded to the nearest unit. The recipes provided on this site have not been tested with metric measurements and their accuracy cannot be verified.
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided is based on third-party calculations and is an estimate only. Accurate nutritional facts will vary based on the particular brands used, portion sizes, measurement accuracy and more.
Question… all-purpose flour or bread flour?
If all-purpose, do you think whole wheat pastry flour could be used ? Or a combination of ww & white unbleached.
Thanks
Hi Carole,
I use all-purpose flour for this recipe. I haven’t tried whole wheat pastry flour but don’t see why it wouldn’t work! I was planning on subbing it in for half of the flour in my next loaf. It should work just fine! 🙂
-Cathy