No-Knead Bread

I came late to the no-knead bread party. Several years late. It’s not that I didn’t believe that the method was worth trying; I just didn’t see the need for a shortcut in bread making. Kneading bread was a kind of meditation for me and I liked it.

Then the cutest baby boy on the planet--In my opinion, at least--entered into my life. Needless to say, becoming a Mom has left me with much less time in the kitchen. I still like to knead bread, but this recipe is a great way to have homemade bread when you have very little time on your hands.

This recipe was originally posted in the NY Times. Apparently, it created quite a stir when it was first published and you’ll find many versions and variations online. I feel it’s worth writing about here; it’s a great method.

This bread does take a little planning. You’ll need to start it the day before you want to eat it. Don’t worry, almost all of that time requires nothing of you. You'll need a covered vessel to bake your loaf. I prefer a cast-iron dutch oven. If your dutch oven happens to be missing or if you don’t own one, any 4 to 5 quart covered vessel will do.

No-knead Bread

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
¼ teaspoon yeast
1 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
1 ½ cups room-temp water, filtered if your water is chlorinated
Extra flour, as needed
Course cornmeal, as needed

Method:

Put the water, salt and yeast into a large ceramic or glass bowl. Stir to dissolve. 

Add the flours and stir until combined. 

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rest for 12 to 18 hours. After 12 to 18 hours, it’ll look like this.

The dough will be sticky. Do not punch or stir down the dough. Remove the dough to a liberally floured cutting board or counter. Sprinkle with flour and fold the dough over itself once or twice. 

Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rest for 15 minutes. Once rested, quickly shape the dough into a ball by pulling up the edges and flipping over.

Place on a clean kitchen towel sprinkled with coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle more cornmeal on top of the dough and cover with another clean kitchen towel. If your towel is large enough, just use the other end. Let rise for 2 hours.

30 minutes before the 2 hours is up, put your cast-iron dutch oven (or other covered vessel) into the oven and preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.  

Remove the cast-iron dutch oven from the (real) oven and remove the lid. Place your hand under the towel and dough ball. Flip the dough into the dutch oven, so that the bottom of the dough is now on top, and shake the pan a few times to evenly distribute the dough. 

Put the lid back on and place the dutch oven back in the (real) oven. Bake for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, remove the lid and bake for another 15  minutes. Remove bread from the pan and cool on a cooling rack. 

Although you’ll be tempted, don’t cut in to the bread until it’s cool. I know, I know...but, it smells so good. Trust me, wait.

This rustic loaf is great slathered in butter, dipped in olive oil, with soups, cut in to cubes for fondue or dressing, or as toast.