Easy No-Knead Artisan Bread

by | Apr 3, 2020 | Bread and Rolls

I’ve been wanting to try a no-knead overnight bread recipe for months but never tried it until Dee’s sweet newly-wed friend made us a loaf.  I could kick myself for not trying this sooner!!  I love artisan bread – the fermented flavor of it, the crisp chewiness of the outside crust and soft, delicious inside.  Smother a piece of that bread with butter and jam and I’m in complete heaven.

This Easy No-Knead Artisan Bread is SO quick to throw together and requires simple ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry.  Just flour, salt, yeast and water!  The hardest part is letting it do it’s thing for a minimum of 4 hours but up to 24 hours.  (Every recipe I have read says the best flavor starts with at least 12 hours of counter time.)  Best practice for me is to just mix the ingredients together the night before you want to eat it, cover in saran wrap and leave it to do it’s thing till you are ready to bake the next day!

Is it bad that it’s becoming a habit to mix this up every night before we go to bed?

 

Ingredients:

  • 3-1/4 cups AP or bread flour
  • 2 tsp instant yeast
  • 1-1/2 tsp salt
  • 1-1/2 cups warm water

Instructions:

  1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, yeast and salt.  
  2. Add the warm water and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined.  (It will look pretty shaggy.)  
  3. Cover with saran wrap, (I throw a towel over the top too), and let it sit for 4-24 hours in a non-drafty place.  (I keep mine in the empty microwave.)

When ready to bake:

  1. Flour a good sized square of parchment paper.
  2. Turn your dough out on to the parchment paper, keeping as much of it in the middle as you can.  
  3. The dough is loose, so flour up your hands and then fold the dough into itself to create a ball and flip it over. 
  4. Cut an X in the top of the loaf with a sharp knife and let it rest for 30 minutes. 
  5. Meanwhile, place a Dutch oven pot in the oven with the lid on and preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Let the Dutch oven sit in there and heat for the 30 minutes the bread is resting.
  6. Carefully remove the Dutch oven from the oven and remove the lid.  
  7. Dust off any extra flour from the parchment paper and pick up the ball of bread by the edges of the parchment paper and carefully place the entire thing in the hot Dutch oven.  
  8. Brush or spray it with a few squirts of water.  
  9. Replace the lid, (don’t forget how hot it is), and place the Dutch oven back in the oven.
  10. Bake for 30 minutes. 
  11. Open the oven, remove the lid and bake an additional 5-10 minutes, or until the loaf is golden brown.
  12. Remove the Dutch oven from the oven and transfer the bread to a cooling rack.  (I use the parchment paper to help get it out.)  
  13. Try to let it cool at least 30 minutes before slicing with a serrated bread knife!
 
Here are a couple of pictures of the dough at various stages if it helps!
 
Bread dough
When you first mix up the dough – looking shaggy.
bread dough
How it looks after sitting overnight before you turn it out.
Artisan Bread on a checkered towel
Artisan Bread on a checkered towel

Easy No-Knead Artisan Bread

Source: donuts2crumpets
Easy No-Knead Artisan Bread takes just flour salt, yeast and water. It's easy bread baking, just mix and let it sit up to 24 hours before baking in a Dutch oven.
Servings: 8
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Rest Time 12 hours
5 from 8 votes

Ingredients
  

  • 3-1/4 cups AP flour
  • 2 tsp instant yeast
  • 1-1/2 tsp salt
  • 1-1/2 cups warm water

Instructions
 

  • In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, yeast and salt.
  • Add the warm water and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined. (It will look pretty shaggy.)
  • Cover with saran wrap, (I throw a towel over the top too), and let it sit for 4-24 hours in a non-drafty place. (I keep mine in the empty microwave.)

When ready to bake:

  • Flour a good sized square of parchment paper.
  • Turn your dough out on to the parchment paper, keeping as much of it in the middle as you can.
  • The dough is loose, so flour up your hands and then fold the dough into itself to create a ball and flip it over.
  • Cut an X in the top of the loaf with a sharp knife and let it rest for 30 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, place a Dutch oven pot in the oven with the lid on and preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Let the Dutch oven sit in there and heat for the 30 minutes the bread is resting.
  • Carefully remove the Dutch oven from the oven and remove the lid.
  • Dust off any extra flour from the parchment paper and pick up the ball of bread by the edges of the parchment paper and carefully place the entire thing in the hot Dutch oven.
  • Brush or spray it with a few squirts of water.
  • Replace the lid, (don’t forget how hot it is), and place the Dutch oven back in the oven.
  • Bake for 30 minutes.
  • Open the oven, remove the lid and bake an additional 5-10 minutes, or until the loaf is golden brown.
  • Remove the Dutch oven from the oven and transfer the bread to a cooling rack. (I use the parchment paper to help get it out.)
  • Try to let it cool at least 30 minutes before slicing with a serrated bread knife!

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5 from 8 votes (8 ratings without comment)

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