No-knead Dutch Oven Bread
No knead bread - easy, delicious and ready to bake in two hours. The easiest bread recipe you will ever make - get ready to brag about homemade artisan bread even if you have never baked before!
Servings: 1 loaf
Calories: 2260kcal
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 ½ cups (570g) white bread or all purpose flour plus extra for dusting and worktop
- 2 tsp instant yeast (rapid rise yeast) see notes if using dry active yeast
- 2 cups (500ml) lukewarm water
- 1 tbsp runny honey or sugar
- ½ tbsp salt sea salt or Kosher salt
- olive oil as needed, for greasing
Instructions
- Mix the flour and instant yeast together in a large bowl.4 ½ cups (570g) white bread or all purpose flour, 2 tsp instant yeast (rapid rise yeast)
- Add the water and honey and mix together with a wooden spoon or dough whisk until you have a shaggy, very sticky dough. Add the salt and mix it in to distribute into the dough.2 cups (500ml) lukewarm water, 1 tbsp runny honey, ½ tbsp salt
- Transfer to a bowl or pyrex dish greased with a little olive oil. Cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rise for 1 ½-2 hours, or until almost doubled in size.olive oil
- Dust your worktop with flour. Tip the dough on it and sprinkle with a little flour - it will be sticky (that's how it should be). Line a bowl or banetton basket with baking paper and dust with flour.
- Use a pastry scraper to fold the edges over towards the centre to create a round loaf.
- Carefully cup the loaf in your hands and transfer into the prepared bowl seam side down. Loosely cover with a plastic bag.
- Preheat the oven to 420F (220°C) and place a Dutch Oven on low shelf to preheat for 30 minutes while the bread is having its second rise.
- Score the top of the loaf using a sharp knife or lame. Carefully remove the pot from the oven (it will be very hot so use oven mitts or pot holders).
- Lift the bread out of the bowl using the baking paper and drop into the pot. Cover and bake for 30 minutes.
- Take the lid off. bake for 10 more minutes then take out of the Dutch Oven and bake directly on the oven shelf for 5 minutes for extra crisp crust. Leave the bread to cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes before slicing.
Video
Notes
- USING DRY ACTIVE YEAST Combine 1/4 cup (60g) of the water specified in the ingredients and the honey in a measuring jug. Add the yeast, stir together and leave for 5-10 minutes until bubbly (if the yeast doesn't bubble up it might not be active any more!). Stir the flour, salt and rosemary in a large mixing bowl, add the remaining water and then the activated yeast. Mix well until a sticky dough forms and proceed with method.
- NO DUTCH OVEN? You can use a cast iron skillet to bake the bread instead of a Dutch oven. The bread will have a slightly different shape, a bit more spread out, but will still taste just as delicious!
- Prepare the dough as per instructions up to the first rise. Oil your cast iron skillet and sprinkle with a little semolina. Shape the loaf and transfer into the skillet for the second rise (30 minutes) while you preheat the oven.
- Slice the loaf. Place a roasting tray on the lowest oven shelf and the skillet on a shelf above it. Throw a handful of ice cubes into the roasting tin you placed on bottom shelf. Place the skillet on shelf above. The steam created by the melting ice cubes will help your bread to rise. I found that the bread baked quicker in a skillet, needing 30-40 minutes overall.
Nutrition
Calories: 2260kcal | Carbohydrates: 475g | Protein: 68g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 3514mg | Potassium: 831mg | Fiber: 23g | Sugar: 36g | Vitamin A: 63IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 110mg | Iron: 27mg
