Recipe: Rustic No-Knead Bread
This is one of my favorite and most reliable baking recipes.
Bread, in its most basic form, is a mixture of three ingredients — flour, water, and yeast — that is exposed to heat until it’s cooked all the way through. But there’s so much more to it .
Bread made from wheat flour has a wonderful texture that is simultaneously tender and springy. That texture comes from something called gluten. Gluten is the main protein found in cereal grains (like wheat). Technically, gluten is made up of two distinct proteins — glutenin and gliadin — and when combined with water they form long, elastic chains that mix and mingle to form a kind of web. As the yeast ferments in the dough, it releases carbon dioxide, which gets trapped in the gluten web and causes the bread dough to puff up and expand. This is the basic science behind why wheat flour bread has such a sturdy yet soft texture.
Once wheat flour comes in contact with water, gluten production begins. The fastest way to speed up gluten development is to knead bread dough; the movement agitates those long, elastic chains and forces them to mix and mingle in a shorter amount of time. Kneading isn’t hard, but it does take some physical effort, and a certain amount of skill that comes with practice; or, a stand mixer, a piece of kitchen equipment that usually costs a few hundred dollars.
Luckily for us, kneading isn’t necessary when baking bread.
Once flour and water are mixed, gluten development begins and continues, kneading or no kneading; it just takes longer for the gluten chains to form completely on their own. That’s why this bread recipe calls for an overnight rest. And that’s probably the only downside to no-knead bread: it does take some planning ahead. But as long as you account for the one-day lead, you can have fresh-baked bread on the table in less than two hours.
The first step to baking no-knead bread is mixing the ingredients. Be sure to use a bowl or container that’s at least twice as large as the bread dough mixture, because the dough is going to expand as it ferments.
Mix together your dry ingredients — flour, yeast, and salt (and sugar if you’re using it) — then stir in the water.
The amount of water needed will vary from loaf to loaf. Stir in enough water to wet the dough until it looks sticky. If you see dry flour at the bottom of the container, add in one tablespoon of water at a time until no dry flour is left and the dough is uniformly wet and sticky looking, with no dry pockets in the middle.
The dough is thoroughly hydrated when it’s wet all the way through and there’s no excess water at the bottom of the container.
Now the fermentation begins!
Cover the container with a lid or towel and place in a draft-free area (a microwave or oven works great as long as you don’t need to use it). The dough needs to sit undisturbed for at least 12 hours so the gluten strands can fully form, but you can let it sit as long as 18 hours.
Think of this as an overnight loaf — prep on day 1, sleep while it ferments, bake on day 2.
After the 12 hours are up, the dough should look like this — bubbly, spongy, and at least doubled in size. The gluten has formed and the yeast is making everything delightfully airy. It’s time to prep for baking.
Before we bake, we have to shape the dough into a loaf. Cover your surface with flour and scrape the dough out of the container onto the counter. The dough will be very wet — don’t be afraid to add more flour so you can work with it.
We don’t want to overwork the dough because it will deflate, but we do want a nice round shape. This article from King Arthur Flour is a wonderful primer for shaping a round loaf of bread, but as long as you get your dough into a round shape, you’re good to go.
Next, the loaf needs to rest so it can puff back up and be ready for baking. Gently lift your loaf and place it, smooth side down, in a well-floured bowl or kitchen towel-lined basket. It helps if the bowl or basket has somewhat tall sides, to help shape the loaf as it rises. Again, don’t be afraid to use a good amount of flour! We don’t want the loaf sticking to its container.
Once the loaf is resting, it’s time to heat the oven. If you are using a dutch oven to bake your bread, place it in the cold oven (without the lid), close the door, and preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. If you don’t have a dutch oven, you don’t need to preheat your baking vessel. (No dutch oven? No problem. You can use a bread loaf pan, a tall-sided skillet, or a soup or stock pot instead.)
Once the loaf has increased in size again and is looking poofy, and once the oven is preheated, it’s time to bake.
Gently turn the loaf out of its bowl or basket onto a rectangle of parchment paper. The parchment paper is key as it keeps the bread from sticking to the bottom of the pot while baking. Carefully lower the parchment into your baking vessel (be extra careful if you preheated it in the oven!), cover with a lid, and place in the oven.
Bake, covered, for 30 minutes. (This helps the bread rise taller.)
When the 30 minutes are up, remove the lid from your baking vessel and bake another 15 minutes to finish the crust.
If you are baking in a container without a lid: reduce oven temperature to 425 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for 20-30 minutes or until the outer crust is deep golden brown.
When the bread is finished baking, carefully remove it from the baking vessel and place on a rack or cutting board to cool. I know it’s tempting to cut right in, but the loaf will actually taste better if the steam on the inside has a chance to settle back into the bread, so let it rest for at least an hour. But feel free to place your loaf on a windowsill by an open window to help it cool down faster, I always do.
And voilà, you have made fresh-baked, real yeast bread with no kneading. This bread is best when fresh, although it will keep up to a week in the fridge. Enjoy!
Rustic No-Knead Bread
Ingredients:
15 oz. All-Purpose Flour (or 3 cups using the spoon + level method)
2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Active Dry Yeast
1/2 tsp Sugar (optional)
1.5 cups Water, room temperature
Directions:
Mix the flour, salt, and yeast (and sugar, if using) together in a bowl or container.
Stir in water in increments. The dough should be totally wet with no dry patches, with no water left over at the bottom of the container.
Cover the container and let dough rest for 12 - 24 hours in a draft-free place. It’s easiest to mix up the dough in the evening, let it rest overnight, and then bake the next day.
Once the dough has fermented, turn it out onto a floured surface and gently shape into a round loaf using the folding method. Place loaf in a well-floured bowl or towel-lined basket to rest and rise before baking.
While loaf is resting, preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. If you are using a dutch oven to bake the bread you can preheat the dutch oven (without lid) as well.
When the oven is ready, gently turn out the loaf (smooth side up) onto a rectangle of parchment paper. Place the parchment in the baking vessel (carefully if using a preheated dutch oven), cover, and bake for 30 minutes.
If you are using a baking vessel with a lid, remove the lid after 30 minutes and bake an additional 15 minutes.
If you are using a baking vessel without a lid, bake at 425 degrees for 20-30 minutes, until the crust is a dark golden brown or the Internal temperature registers 190 degrees Fahrenheit.
When the bread is done baking, carefully remove from the baking vessel and let cool on a rack or board for at least one hour before slicing.
Enjoy!