No Work No Knead Bread Recipes

WORLD'S EASIEST YEAST BREAD RECIPE - ARTISAN, NO KNEAD

Steps:

• Mix Dough: Mix flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Add water, then use the handle of a wooden spoon to mix until all the flour is incorporated. Dough will be wet and sloppy - not kneadable, but not runny like cake batter. Adjust with more water or flour if needed for right consistency (see video at 17 sec, Note 5).
• Rise: Cover with cling wrap or plate, leave on counter for 2 - 3 hours until it doubles in volume, it's wobbly like jelly and the top is bubbly (see video at 24 seconds). If after 1 hour it doesn't seem to be rising, move it somewhere warmer (Note 6).
• Optional - refrigerate for flavour development (Note 9): At this stage, you can either bake immediately (move onto Step 5) or refrigerate for up to 3 days.
• Take chill out of refrigerated dough - if you refrigerated dough per above, leave the bowl on the counter for 45 - 60 minutes while the oven is preheating. Cold dough does not rise as well.
• Preheat oven (Note 7) - Put dutch oven in oven with lid on (26cm/10" or larger). Preheat to 230°C/450°F (220° fan) 30 minutes prior to baking. (Note 8 for no dutch oven)
• Shape dough: Sprinkle work surface with 1 tbsp flour, scrape dough out of bowl. Sprinkle top with 1/2 tbsp flour.
• Using a dough scraper or anything of similar shape (cake server, large knife, spatula), fold the sides inwards (about 6 folds) to roughly form a roundish shape. Don't be too meticulous here - you're about to deform it, it's more about deflating the bubbles in the dough and forming a shape you can move.
• Transfer to paper: Slide a large piece of parchment/baking paper (not wax paper) next to the dough, then flip the dough upside down onto the paper (ie seam side down, smooth side up). Slide/push it towards the middle, then reshape it into a round(ish) shape. Don't get too hung up about shape. In fact, lopsided = more ridges = more crunchy bits!
• Dough in pot: Remove piping hot dutch oven from oven. Use paper to place dough into pot, place lid on.
• Bake 30 minutes covered, then 12 minutes uncovered or until deep golden and crispy.
• Cool on rack for 10 minutes before slicing.

JIM LAHEY'S NO-KNEAD BREAD

Steps:

• In a large bowl, stir together the flour, yeast, and salt. Add the water and mix with a spoon or your hand until you have a shaggy, sticky dough. This should take roughly 30 seconds. You want it to be a little sticky. (Many people who bake this bread find the dough to be sticker than other bread doughs they've worked with. Even though it's not what you're accustomed to handling, it's perfectly fine.)
• Cover the bowl with a plate, towel, or plastic wrap and set it aside to rest at warm room temperature (but not in direct sunlight) for at least 12 hours and preferably about 18 hours. (Ideally, you want the room to be about 72°F. In the dead of winter, when the dough will tend to rise more slowly, as long as 24 hours may be necessary.) You'll know the dough is properly fermented and ready because its surface will be dotted with bubbles. This long, slow fermentation is what yields the bread's rich flavor.
• Generously flour your work surface. Use a bowl scraper or rubber spatula to turn the dough onto the surface in one blob. The dough will cling to the bowl in long, thread-like strands and it will be quite loose and sticky. This is exactly what you want. Do not add more flour. Instead use lightly floured hands to gently and quickly lift the edges of the dough in toward the center, effectively folding the dough over onto itself. Nudge and tuck in the edges of the dough to make it round. That's it. Don't knead the dough.
• Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran, or cornmeal. Place the dough, seam side down, on the towel and dust the surface with a little more flour, bran, or cornmeal. Cover the dough with another cotton towel and let it rise for about 2 hours. When it's ready, the dough will be double in size and will hold the impression of your fingertip when you poke it lightly, making an indentation. If the dough readily springs back when you poke it, let it rise for another 15 minutes.
• A half hour before the dough is done with its second rise, preheat the oven to 450°F (232°C). Adjust the oven rack to the lower third position and place a 6- to 8-quart heavy pot and its lid (whether cast iron or enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in the oven as it heats.
• When the dough is done with its second rise, carefully remove the pot from the oven and uncover it. Also, uncover the dough. Lift up the dough and quickly but gently turn it over into the pot, seam side up, being very careful not to touch the pot. The blob of dough may look like a mess, but trust us, everything is O.K. Cover the pot with its lid and bake for 30 minutes.
• Remove the lid and bake until the loaf is beautifully browned to a deep chestnut color, 15 to 30 minutes more. Use a heatproof spatula or pot holders to carefully lift the bread out of the pot and place it on a wire rack. Don't slice or tear into it until it has cooled, which usually takes at least an hour.

NO-KNEAD BREAD

Steps:

• In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour, sugar, salt and yeast. Add water and stir just until incorporated. Do not overmix. The dough will be shaggy.
• Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit on the counter, at room temperature for 8 to 24 hours. The dough will rise and have lots of air bubbles.
• The next day, lightly flour a piece of parchment paper. Place dough onto paper. With floured hands, shape into a ball. Cover with plastic wrap.
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Adjust rack to lower position. Place Dutch oven inside. Preheat for 30 minutes.
• When oven is ready, carefully place the parchment paper with dough inside the Dutch oven. Cover with Dutch oven lid and bake for 30 minutes. Remove lid and bake 7 to 10 minutes more or until the top is golden brown, has cracks.
• Carefully remove Dutch oven from oven. Remove parchment paper with bread and place on a wooden cutting board. Let cool completely.

NO-KNEAD BREAD

Steps:

• In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 1/2 cups/345 grams water and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
• Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.
• Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
• At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is OK. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

NO WORK NO KNEAD BREAD

Steps:

• 1. Before you go to bed, stir together 1 cup flour, 1 cup water, and the packet of yeast in a large mixing bowl. Don't worry about lumps. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside. Let the yeast do its work while you sleep.
• 2. In the morning, stir in the remaining three cups flour, salt, olive oil, and the second cup of water. Try to get most of the lumps out. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside. Let it do its work while you do your morning activities. In a coupla-few hours, the dough swells to at least double its size. It may reach the plastic wrap. If it's a cool day, do this in the oven with the light on to make a warm place.
• 3. Remove the plastic wrap and "stir down" the dough. It will lose about half it's size. Flop the dough into a pan lined with parchment paper. (The loaf of bread in the picture was made in the kind of oval roaster one might use to cook fish, but I've used everything from bread pans to salad bowls. The most important thing is the parchment paper because the bread will stick like concrete to anything else.)
• 4. Let the dough grow again until it almost doubles. Do not cover it with plastic wrap as pulling off the wrap will make it collapse again.
• 5. When it has grown, preheat the oven to 440F and put a rack in the middle. When the oven is hot, put the pan of bread in the center of the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
• 6. After 20 minutes, lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue to bake for an additional 40 minutes.
• 7. Remove from the oven and flop the bread out of the pan and paper. Optionally, put it back in the now turned off oven for a few minutes to crisp up the sides and bottom further. Cool set up on a rack or just balanced on the pan it cooked in as shown in the picture.

NO-KNEAD BREAD

Steps:

• 1. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, salt, and yeast. Add the water and, using a wooden spoon or your hand, mix until you have a wet, sticky dough, about 30 seconds. Make sure it's really sticky to the touch; if it's not, mix in another tablespoon or two of water. Cover the bowl with a plate, tea towel, or plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature (about 72 degrees F), out of direct sunlight, until the surface is dotted with bubbles and the dough is more than doubled in size. This will take a minimum of 12 hours and (my preference) up to 18 hours. This slow rise-fermentation-is the key to flavor.
• 2. When the first fermentation is complete, generously dust a work surface (a wooden or plastic cutting board is fine) with flour. Use a bowl scraper or rubber spatula to scrape the dough onto the board in one piece. When you begin to pull the dough away from the bowl, it will cling in long, thin strands (this is the developed gluten), and it will be quite loose and sticky-do not add more flour. Use lightly floured hands or a bowl scraper or spatula to lift the edges of the dough in toward the center. Nudge and tuck in the edges of the dough to make it round.
• 3. Place a cotton or linen tea towel (not terry cloth, which tends to stick and may leave lint in the dough) or a large cloth napkin on your work surface and generously dust the cloth with wheat bran, cornmeal, or flour. Use your hands or a bowl scraper or wooden spatula to gently lift the dough onto the towel, so it is seam side down. If the dough is tacky, dust the top lightly with wheat bran, cornmeal, or flour. Fold the ends of the towel loosely over the dough to cover it and place it in a warm, draft-free spot to rise for 1 to 2 hours. The dough is ready when it is almost doubled. If you gently poke it with your finger, making an indentation about 1/4 inch deep, it should hold the impression. If it doesn't, let it rise for another 15 minutes.
• 4. Half an hour before the end of the second rise, preheat the oven to 475 degrees F, with a rack in the lower third position, and place a covered 4 1/2-5 1/2 quart heavy pot in the center of the rack.
• 5. Using pot holders, carefully remove the preheated pot from the oven and uncover it. Unfold the tea towel, lightly dust the dough with flour or bran, lift up the dough, either on the towel or in your hand, and quickly but gently invert it into the pot, seam side up. (Use caution-the pot will be very hot.) Cover the pot and bake for 30 minutes.
• 6. Remove the lid and continue baking until the bread is a deep chestnut color but not burnt, 15 to 30 minutes more. Use a heatproof spatula or pot holders to carefully lift the bread out of the pot and place it on a rack to cool thoroughly. Don't slice or tear into it until it has cooled, which usually takes at least an hour.

NO-KNEAD ARTISAN STYLE BREAD

Steps:

• Combine the flour, yeast, and salt in a large bowl and mix to combine. Add the water and herbs, if using, and mix well. The dough will be very sticky and shaggy-looking. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature for 18 to 24 hours.
• Generously flour a work surface. The dough will have risen and will be covered in bubbles. Transfer the dough to the work surface and dust it with flour. Fold the dough in half, and then form the dough into a ball by stretching and tucking the edges of the dough underneath the ball.
• Liberally flour a kitchen towel (do not use terrycloth). Place the dough ball on the floured towel. Cover with another floured towel. Let the dough rise for about two hours [see footnote].
• Preheat an oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Place a lidded Dutch oven or deep heavy duty casserole dish (with lid) into the oven to preheat.
• Carefully remove the hot baking dish from the oven. Remove the lid and gently turn the dough ball into the ungreased baking dish, seam-side up; shake the dish so the dough is more evenly distributed.
• Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake until the crust is golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the loaf from the baking dish and let it cool on a rack before slicing.

NO KNEAD BREAD

Steps:

• Find yourself a suitable container that will fit in your fridge over night such as a largish Tupperware sandwich box (it will all make sense later)
• Pour 360ml warm water into the box and add the sachet of yeast and stir until dissolved
• Add 500g white bread flour and the salt, stir with a fork until all the flour has been incorporated, flatten with the back of the fork
• Pop the lid of your box on top but don't close tightly, you don't want it to explode!
• Leave it on the work top for about 2 hours for the yeast to do its thing
• After 1 1/2 to 2 hours it should have doubled in size, it's now time to put it to bed in the fridge overnight..
• After 24 hours or so take out the dough and tip onto a floured surface and fold onto itself a couple of times with floured hands, there's no need to do more than this
• Shape the dough and put onto a baking tray to rise a second time, approx 1 hour depending on the warmth of your kitchen, score the top
• After half an hour preheat your oven to 200 c
• When you're ready to cook your loaf add a cup full of water to the tray in the bottom of the oven and bake your bread for half an hour, it should sound hollow to the touch when tapped and be a lovely golden brown
• This dough can be left in the fridge for up to a week

NO-KNEAD LOAF BREAD

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, yeast, salt, and sugar or honey, if using.
• Use a whisk or spoon to blend well.
• Slowly add the water and stir with a wooden spoon or your hands, until well mixed.
• Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set in a draft-free place to rise for 4 hours.
• Grease an 8-by-4-inch loaf pan with butter.
• Scrape the dough out onto a well-floured surface, such as a silicone mat, parchment paper, or a cutting board.
• With floured hands, shape the dough into a rough rectangle about 8 1/2 inches by 12 inches. Add small amounts of flour, if needed, to keep it from sticking to the surface. Try to handle the dough gently so it doesn't deflate too much. You want lots of little air bubbles through the loaf.
• Gently fold the ends to form a rough loaf shape. Drop it into the prepared pan.
• Cover the pan loosely with a clean, lightweight dish towel, and set in a draft-free place for 1 hour, or until it is approximately double in size.
• Heat the oven to 425 F. With a sifter or fine-mesh sieve, dust the risen loaf with a little more flour.
• Bake the loaf for 25 minutes, until it's a deep golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped.
• Remove from the oven and turn the bread out onto a rack to cool completely before slicing.
• Enjoy!