Prep 15 min

Ready 13 hours.

Servings 4-6

The weather here has been awful. If it’s winter, I prefer snow on the ground and cold temperatures rather than rain, gray skies, and mud. Yuck! However, on the positive side, it’s perfect weather for enjoying soups and bread. I recently made homemade chicken noodle soup from a free-range local chicken. I even made homemade egg noodles for the soup as well as a loaf of no-knead bread. I have been making several different artisan loaves of bread lately, and I have found that this no-knead round rustic bread is one of the simplest to make. It takes very little effort – just a little time waiting for the fermentation. Then it’s ready to bake. It is worth the wait because the end result is a super crunchy, crusty bread that is delicious with soup or just by itself with butter and preserves. Give this one a try. It’s delicious.

Ingredients

• 3 cups bread flour (I used King Arthur which I highly recommend.)

• 1 1/4 tsp. salt

• 1/4 tsp. instant or other active dry yeast (I buy it in bulk and freeze it.)

• 1 1/3 cups room temperature water

• Flour, for dusting

Equipment needed:

A 4 to 6-quart heavy pot or Dutch oven (I used a five-quart Le Creuset Dutch oven.)

Directions

1. In a medium-size bowl, mix together the flour, salt, and yeast.

2. Add the water (room temperature) and stir together with a wooden spoon or your hands. I first mixed with a wooden spoon then used my hands after lightly dusting them with flour. The dough will be super sticky so having your hands dusted is mandatory.

3. Cover the bowl with a towel or plastic wrap and let it sit for at least 12 hours to ferment. Overnight is a perfect solution.  I placed the covered bowl in our oven because our kitchen is quite cool at this time of the year. The dough should double in size. Just remember to not make a frozen pizza for a snack after placing it in the oven ; ).

4. Place a large piece of parchment paper on your work surface and lightly dust it with flour.

5. Remove the dough from the bowl. It is easier to have your hands lightly dusted. Place the dough seam side down onto the parchment paper. Form the bread very lightly into a ball. Do not knead the dough at this time.

6. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it rest an additional 1/2 hour.

7. Heat the oven to 450 F. Place your Dutch oven on the bottom 1/3 rack and let it heat at least 1/2 hour.

8. I sliced three slits on top of the bread and gave it a light coating of olive oil (optional).

9. Very carefully lift the corners of the parchment paper and place the paper and bread in the Dutch Oven. Be careful to not burn yourself because the pot will be very hot.

10. Cover the pot and bake for 30 minutes.

11. After 30 minutes remove the lid and bake an additional 10-15 minutes or until the bread turns a dark golden brown.

12. Remove from the oven and let it rest for half an hour before serving. I lightly dusted it with flour (optional).

This bread was the perfect choice with the homemade soup. It was also awesome with Irish butter and marmalade the next day. It was eaten in two days! The last small piece was fed to the birds which are flocking to our back yard bird feeder. The blue jays and house sparrows loved it as much as we did. Stay warm!

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Artisan No-knead Bread

Course Side Dish

Keyword artisan bread

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 13 hours

Ingredients

• 3 cups flour bread flour
• 1 ¼ tsp. salt table
• ¼ tsp. yeast instant/dry
• 1 ⅓ cups water room temperature
• flour for dusting

Instructions

1. In a medium-size bowl, mix together the flour, salt, and yeast.

2. Add the water (room temperature) and stir together with a wooden spoon or your hands. I first mixed with a wooden spoon then used my hands after lightly dusting them with flour. The dough will be super sticky so having your hands dusted is mandatory.

3. Cover the bowl with a towel or plastic wrap and let it sit for at least 12 hours to ferment. Overnight is a perfect solution.  I placed the covered bowl in our oven because our kitchen is quite cool at this time of the year. The dough should double in size. Just remember to not make a frozen pizza for a snack after placing it in the oven ; ).

4. Place a large piece of parchment paper on your work surface and lightly dust it with flour.

5. Remove the dough from the bowl. It is easier to have your hands lightly dusted. Place the dough seam side down onto the parchment paper. Form the bread very lightly into a ball. Do not knead the dough at this time.

6. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it rest an additional 1/2 hour.

7. Heat the oven to 450 F. Place your Dutch oven on the bottom 1/3 rack and let it heat at least 1/2 hour.

8. I sliced three slits on top of the bread and gave it a light coating of olive oil (optional).

9. Very carefully lift the corners of the parchment paper and place the paper and bread in the Dutch Oven. Be careful to not burn yourself because the pot will be very hot.

10. Cover the pot and bake for 30 minutes.

11. After 30 minutes remove the lid and bake an additional 10-15 minutes or until the bread turns a dark golden brown.

12. Remove from the oven and let it rest for half an hour before serving. I lightly dusted it with flour (optional).

Recipe Notes

This bread was the perfect choice with the homemade soup. It was also awesome with Irish butter and marmalade the next day. It was eaten in two days! The last small piece was fed to the birds which are flocking to our back yard bird feeder. The blue jays and house sparrows loved it as much as we did. Stay warm!