No Knead Dutch Oven Bread
Not only is this No Knead Dutch Oven Bread the easiest bread you’ll ever bake, it’s also one of the best you’ll ever eat! It’s melt-in-your mouth soft on the interior with a super crispy, crunchy, almost flaky crust and tons of flavor to boot! So good, a little butter is all it needs…
This bread you guys… this bread! I can’t even find the words to describe how good it is.
I mean, I’m not big on bread and you know it, but who wouldn’t fall head over heels for a warm loaf of bread, fresh out of the oven, with a super tender, melt-in-your-mouth interior and a crust so crispy, so crunchy, it almost feels like flake pastry?
And who wouldn’t fall even harder if they could make said bread in the comfort of their own home, practically easier than they could whip up a bowl of oatmeal? Seriously, this bread, it’s THAT good, and THAT easy to make. So much so, you’ll want to make it all the time but will probably have to refrain from doing it, because you’ll want to eat the whole loaf to yourself and will have a very hard time controlling this urge.
Plus well, I’ll give it to you, white bread probably isn’t something that you want to eat too much of… at least not in one sitting! But hey, if you wanted to take away some of the guilt, you could very well use your beautiful homemade loaf to whip up one of those delicious Vegetarian Muffuletta!
Or slice it up, toast it up and eat it with your morning eggs! Talk about a beautiful start to your day.
Seriously though, you have to try your hand at making that bread at least once, if only for a special occasion or to brag a little, or even to impress yourself! You won’t believe you were the one to whip up this delicacy, and with so little effort, to boot!
Just keep in mind that your dough will have to rest for a minimum of 8 hours but no longer than 18 hours, so you do want to plan accordingly when you decide to make it.
The actual prep will only take minutes: in a large bowl, combine the flour, salt and active dry yeast and mix well with a whisk until thoroughly combined. Then, pour in a cup and a half of warm water all at once. Your water should be around 115°F — just slightly warmer than lukewarm.
Then, use a large spoon and stir until a thick and sticky dough forms. At first you may feel like there’s way too much flour and that it’ll never happen, but just keep stirring. That dough will form eventually, you’ll see.
All that’s left to do at this point is cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place for a minimum of 8 hours but no longer than 18 hours (although your dough won’t instantly turn sour or explode on you if you dare extend that by a few minutes, you know…)
As you can see, during the resting period, your dough will rise quite dramatically, flatten on top and develop lots of air bubbles. Don’t worry about it too much if parts of the dough stick to the plastic wrap; while it’s best if you can avoid it, it won’t ruin your bread if it happens…
When you are ready to bake your bread, preheat your oven to 450°F; once it’s hot, place a 3-quart Dutch oven and its lid on the center rack to preheat for at least 30 minutes.
If your Dutch oven was larger than 3 quarts, that’s fine too! There’s no need to go out and buy another one… 3 quarts would be the minimum size though. I wouldn’t recommend going smaller than that.
While your Dutch oven is preheating, degas the dough by punching it down with your your fist, then turn it onto a generously floured sheet of parchment paper.
With floured hands (that dough IS sticky) quickly shape the dough into a ball, then sprinkle the top lightly with flour. Cover your ball of dough loosely with a piece of plastic film and set aside to rest for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, carefully remove the preheated Dutch oven from the oven (it will be scorching hot, always bear that in mind!) and delicately transfer the dough to the Dutch oven, with or without the parchment paper beneath it.
Leaving the parchment paper underneath it might make it a tad easier to handle the dough, and help it keep its round shape, too. Ultimately, the decision is yours!
Put the lid back on the Dutch oven and return to oven; bake the bread for 45 minutes covered, then remove the lid and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes until the crust is all beautiful and crispy and golden brown.
Take the bread out of the Dutch oven (duuuuude, doesn’t the house smell amazing?) and let it cool for at least 10 minutes before slicing. Yeah, that’s 10 minutes. Tough, I know… but you can do it. Hey, that loaf is hot and it wouldn’t slice all that good if you were to go at it now. Plus, you’d run the risk of burning your fingers. Wait it out… be patient.
Trust me, all that patience is about to be rewarded!
No Knead Dutch Oven Bread
Ingredients
- 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp salt, (I use Himalayan salt)
- 1 tsp active dry yeast
- 1½ cups warm water, (about 115°F)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt and yeast and mix with a whisk until thoroughly combined.
- Pour the warm water in, all at once, and use a large spoon to stir until a thick and sticky dough forms.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place for a minimum of 8 hours but no longer than 18 hours; the dough will rise dramatically, flatten on top and develop lots of air bubbles.
- When you are ready to bake your bread, preheat your oven to 450°F; once hot, place a 3 quart (or larger) Dutch oven and lid on the center rack to preheat for at least 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, degas the dough by punching it down with your your fist, then turn it onto a generously floured sheet of parchment paper.
- With floured hands, quickly shape the dough into a ball, then sprinkle the top lightly with flour. Cover loosely with a piece of plastic film and set aside to rest for 30 minutes.
- Carefully remove the preheated Dutch oven from the oven and delicately transfer the dough to the Dutch oven, with or without the parchment paper beneath it.
- Put the lid on the Dutch oven and return to oven; bake the bread for 45 minutes covered, then remove the lid and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes until the crust is crispy and golden brown.
- Take the bread out of the Dutch oven and let it cool for at least 10 minutes before slicing.
Nutrition
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10 Comments on “No Knead Dutch Oven Bread”
Oh my goodness, this looks delicious. It makes my low carb mouth water. Haha! I have never tried a loaf of bread baked like this. I have made many loaves of whole wheat bread but never this type.
I noticed you did not use the parchment paper in the pan. I see lots of recipes that do. Your bread is so pretty. I love it golden brown not almost burned.
do you know if this would work using Gluten Free 1 to 1 flour?
I honestly have no idea, Amy… I’ve never worked with gluten free flours. Sorry I can’t be of more help!
For some reason my mind was on art. When I got to the part about punching down the bread, I wondered what Edgar Degas had to do with the recipe. Duh.
I pinned the recipe and copied it out. I will try it with spelt flour.
Hahaha! And when I started reading your comment, I wondered how art could even be related with my post!! If you do end up trying it with spelt flour, please report back, as I intended to do the same myself. Or some kind of whole grain version anyway!
If you didn’t have the pictures to prove it I wouldn’t believe this would work so beautifully!!! Wow! I’m going to practice and if this turns out for me, will serve for dinner with my husband’s boss.
I know, right? Just wait ’til you actually make it, Dana. You won’t even believe how easy it was, and how crazy amazing this bread is. Can’t wait to hear about your experience! 🙂
Can this be made in a stainless steel Dutch oven?
I’ve never used a stainless steel Dutch oven so I really can’t say for certain… sorry I can’t be of more help!
This is really good bread. I do use the parchment paper to transfer the bread to the Dutch oven. It just makes it so much easier. This is also a bit less in calories which I can appreciate compared to the other versions that only require a two hour rise time.