No Knead Bread

So I’ve heard alot of about this no knead bread recipe that’s been going around, seems like everyone’s making it!  I love bread and have been baking lots of bread recently.  I’ve never made an artisan type of bread before and thought it would be a bit complicated.  This recipe has got to be the easiest recipe ever.  I don’t think I’ll be buying my bread from now on!  I made this last week and served it along side with lasagna and we pretty much ate up the whole loaf!  Let me tell you, nothing taste better than a fresh loaf of bread out of the oven.  The only thing is that the proofing time takes a bit of time but you really don’t have to do much while it’s just sitting on your counter.  I highly recommend this bread and once you try it, you’ll never buy bread again!

I saw this recipe on Steamy Kitchen and it was titled, No Knead Recipe so easy a 4 year old can make it!  It had pictures of her son making the bread step by step you should definitely check her page out!

No Knead Bread Recipe from Steamy Kitchen

No Knead Bread Recipe is adapted from Mark Bittman of NY Times who got it from Sullivan Street Bakery. When the recipe first came out, it was the blogging community who took the bread to new heights, especially Rose Levy Beranbaum, author of The Bread Bible. I followed Rose’s experiments through the weeks and learned from her recipe adjustments and the why’s of how this bread works.

Yield: one 1 lb loaf

3 cups bread flour (I like Harvest King bread flour)
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
3/4 tablespoon kosher salt (or 1 teaspoon table salt)
1 1/2 cups warm water

Covered pot (five-quart or larger cast iron, Pyrex, ceramic, enamel…something that can go into a 450F oven.)

1. Mix dough: The night before, combine all ingredients in a big bowl with a wooden spoon until the dough just comes together. It will be a shaggy, doughy mess. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit 12-20 hours on countertop.

2. Shape & preheat: The dough will now be wet, sticky and bubbly. With a wet spatula, dump the dough on a floured surface. Fold ends of dough over a few times with the spatula and nudge it into a ball shape. You can use your hands if you like, just keep your hands wet so that the dough does not stick. Generously dust a cotton towel (not terrycloth) with flour. Set dough seam side down on top of towel. Fold towel over the dough. Let it nap for 2 hours. When you’ve got about a half hour left, slip your covered pot into the oven and preheat to 450F.

3. Bake: Your dough should have doubled in size. Remove pot from oven.  Holding towel, dump wobbly dough into pot. Doesn’t matter which way it lands. Shake to even dough out. Cover. Bake 30 minutes. Uncover, bake another 15-20 minutes or until the crust is beautifully golden and middle of loaf is 210F. Remove and let cool on wired rack. If not eating right away, you can re-crisp crust in 350F oven for 10 minutes. Best way to eat it? Smear a warm slice with some good butter (Kerrygold and Lurpac are both found in your grocery stores, usually on top shelf)

Texture is great..chewy crust, soft interior.

The nice big holes are the results of the long proofing time...yum!