Only 4 ingredients are needed for this simple No Knead Bread recipe, which bakes up fluffy on the inside with a golden and bubbled crust.

No Knead Bread Loaf - On a Wire Cooling Rack

Okay, so obviously you know how to boil water.  But the point is, this recipe is absurdly easy.  I know a woman whose 4 year old son made it.  Yeah.  So you can DEFINITELY make it too.  There’s no starter or sponge, no kneading to the windowpane stage, none of that stuff.  Just mix some flour, yeast, salt, and water before you go to bed, then in the morning form the dough into a ball, wrap it in a towel for 2 hours, then plop it in a pan and bake it.  Pretty awesome.  Make it for your friends and family, and impress them =)

Before you go to bed, mix together the dough. It will look like a shaggy mess:

No Knead Bread Dough - In a Mixing Bowl

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit overnight on the countertop (and for up to 20 hours).  When you wake up, the dough should look like this:

Risen No Knead Bread Dough with bubbles

Bubbles on the surface, and very sticky and wet.  Lay out a kitchen towel, then get your hands nice and wet (and re-wet as needed, to keep the dough from sticking to you).  Pick up the dough mass, and form it (more or less) into a ball.  Place it onto the towel:

Shaped Ball of Overnight Dough

Wrap it up, and let it rise for 2 hours.

Towel Wrapped Bread Dough for Rising on Counter

After one more rise, it’s ready to bake! The key is to bake it in a pot, which traps in the moisture and give it a great crust.

Dutch Oven Baked Bread Loaf - Fully Golden and Caramelized Crust in Pot

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No Knead Bread

Servings: 8
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 14 hours 50 minutes
Only 4 ingredients are needed for this simple No Knead Bread recipe, which bakes up fluffy on the inside with a golden and bubbled crust.
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Ingredients

  • 3 cups bread flour
  • 1/4 tsp quick rise yeast
  • 1.5 tsp sea salt
  • 1.5 cups warm water
  • cornmeal to sprinkle on the bottom of the pan

Instructions 

  • Before you go to bed, mix all the ingredients in a big bowl until combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit overnight on the countertop (and for up to 20 hours).
  • Lay out a kitchen towel, then get your hands nice and wet (and re-wet as needed, to keep the dough from sticking to you). Pick up the dough mass, and form it (more or less) into a ball. Place it onto the towel, wrap it up, and let it rise for 2 hours.
  • Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F, and stick a dutch oven into the oven so it gets very hot. Once the oven is preheated, take the pot out and sprinkle cornmeal in the bottom so the bread doesn’t stick. Lift the towel up and dump your dough ball into the pot, and give it a shake so it sits flat on the bottom of the pan. Put the lid on, and bake the bread for 30 minutes. Then take the lid off, and bake for another 15 minutes, until the bread is golden brown. Take the bread out of the pot and cool on a wire rack.

Nutrition

Calories: 186kcal, Carbohydrates: 37g, Protein: 6g, Fat: 1g, Sodium: 223mg, Fiber: 1g

Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.

Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Author: Fifteen Spatulas