My No Knead Bread Recipe

This recipe I have been using for a long long time, and is a recipe many of my friends know me for. While at university, I would make this bread at least once a week, and sometimes with my friend Pamela (who would like making it her own version with other types of flours and seeds ;) and other flatmates). 

This picture is my bread from 2016 - in my second year at university

For a long time, I have decided to not have too much yeast because I can't easily digest it and it bloats up my stomach if I eat too much. I tried many other recipes before I found this one, and I didn't want to go full Sourdough bread (no yeast at all) because of all the patience of making a Sourdough starter, feeding it everyday (a huge disadvantage with lots of travelling) and waiting a few days for the bread to actually be ready. This bread only using 1/4 teaspoon of yeast (one out of four ingredients including water!), and you let it ferment for 10-12 hours, which helps the gluten become more easily digestible. Oh, and it is called 'No Knead", because you don't need to knead the dough like traditional bread recipes. So less work :D

Bear in my mind, this bread will need to be started a day before you would like it to be ready.

My famous No Knead Bread

So, onto the recipe. The ingredients I use are: 3 cups strong bread flour (you can mix it up with a wholemeal flour, I also use strong flour to make a fluffier bread), 1 teaspoon salt (good quality if you can find it), 1/4 teaspoon dried yeast and 1 1/2 cups water. You could also add some seeds or nuts if you wanted to, like Pamela. 

Before you begin, let's discuss what oven dish you have to use for cooking the bread. The recipes I first followed told you to use a dutch oven type oven dish with a lid on it. I use a small heart-shaped dish my friend  Pamela got me for a Secret Santa gift one Christmas. I would recommend using a heavy-based dish with a lid, like a Le Creuset kind of dish. 

So, once you have everything ready, let's begin with making the dough a day before you want the bread to be ready. 

1. Add 3 cups strong flour (if you can't get strong, plain will do)

1. Add 3 cups strong flour (if you can't get strong, plain will do)

2. Add 1 heaped teaspoon salt 

2. Add 1 heaped teaspoon salt 

3. Add 1/4 teaspoon yeast

3. Add 1/4 teaspoon yeast.  

Stir it up abit, and then add lukewarm water. I tend to add 1 cup first and mix it in. If the dough is still floury and not mixed together then add the rest. 

Mixing in some of the water

Sometimes I add a wee bit more water if it is still not mixed in properly. You should then be able to see it bubbling up a bit and stodgy like some porridge. 

After you are happy with the dough all being mixed together, put some clingfilm over the top and leave it in a relatively warm place (if you have a place like that). I leave it on the washing machine, but once I forgot to take it off when I did a wash, and just remembered to take the bowl off the machine in time before it fell to the ground!!

Dough fermenting

Leave the dough to self-isolate and ferment for 10-12 hours (depending on how long you can wait). I try to leave it for 12 hours, but sometimes I need the bread done before that. Bear in mind that you will still have to fold it and leave it for another two hours after that before you can start baking it (takes around 1 hour to bake).

This is what it should look like after letting the dough ferment. I love seeing all the bubbles <3 

The next step is to clear workspace and flour the surface. Get a spatula, and pour the dough out onto the workspace. 

Then fold the dough a couple of times to fold in the flour. See the pictures below for how to fold. 

Step 1. Slide the spatula under one side of the dough.

Step 2. Pull the dough up and over to the opposite side of the dough. 

Push it down, so that it is folded properly.

Continue to do the folding until the dough has been folded a few times and has absorbed the flour on the workspace. Oil, butter or putting baking paper in the bowl, then put the folded dough back in the bowl. Leave it for 2 hours to rise.

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Half an hour before the 2 hours is up, grease your oven dish well (don't forget the lid). Then preheat the oven dish and oven to the maximum temperature your oven dish can go to (it should say on the bottom of the dish).

This is what the dough should look like after the 2 hours. 

When the 2 hours have passed, and the oven is preheated, pour the dough into the preheated oven dish. Put the lid on, and place in the oven for 35 minutes. 

When the 35 minutes are up, carefully take the lid off. Leave the bread in the oven for a further 30- 40 minutes (depending how crispy you want the crust). 

I left mine for 35 minutes, and you can see in the pictures it was golden but could have been left longer in the oven for a crunchier crust if that is what you prefer. 

Your bread is now ready!! I tend to double check by tapping the bread with my knuckles - If there is a hollow sound it is ready :D 

Place it out, cut it, and enjoy!! If you can wait, it is easier to cut when it's not completely hot, but if you can't wait go ahead and cut it. There is nothing like freshly made bread smothered with butter!! 

Cutting the bread

Freezing the other half - it works best to freeze most of it, because it doesn't last too long without getting crunchy.  Toasting the bread then gives a lovely just-out-of-the-oven feel :)

Let me know how you go making your own bread!! Feel free to comment with any questions or comments on how you went. Here is the link to the original recipe I used way back when I started: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/11376-no-knead-bread

Happy Baking!!

Laura xoxo