No-knead Dutch oven bread
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A crusty four-ingredient loaf: stir, let it rise, and bake in a hot Dutch oven. No kneading needed.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups warm water (about 100 degrees F)
- 1 packet yeast (active dry, instant, or quick rise- 2.25 teaspoons)
- 1 ½ teaspoons fine grain salt (preferably not iodized; up to 2 teaspoons if you like it salty)
- 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour or bread flour more if needed, plus more for dusting
Equipment
- mixing bowl
Directions
- Whisk the warm water, yeast, and salt in a large bowl until (almost) dissolved.
- Dump in all the flour at once and stir until you have a sticky dough with no dry patches. If it is too wet, add 1-2 tablespoons flour at a time. If it is too dry, add water in the same way.
- Cover with a towel (or a partly open lid) and let the dough rise in a fairly warm spot for 2-3 hours, until doubled.
- Bake right away, or refrigerate it (covered loosely for the first two days, then airtight; keeps up to 7 days). If you like, chill it about 30 minutes before shaping, since cold dough is simpler to work with.
- Put the Dutch oven with its lid in the oven 30 minutes to 1 hour before baking and heat it to 450 degrees F; when it hits 450, keep heating for another 20 minutes.
- Scrape the dough onto floured parchment and use a silicone spatula to shape it into a loaf. Turn it over so the floured side faces up, and center it. If you like, cut slits about 1/2″ deep.
- Take off the hot lid, lower the loaf into the pot by its parchment, put the lid back on, and bake on the center rack at 450 degrees F for 35 minutes (40 if the dough was cold).
- Take off the lid and bake another 5-10 minutes, until golden brown.
- Lift the loaf out by the parchment and let it cool for at least 10 minutes (ideally 30-60) before you slice it.
Notes
Prep 5 minutes, rise 2 hours, bake 40 minutes. Keeps about 2 days at room temperature in a plastic bag or airtight container; after that, freeze (2-3 months airtight). A whole frozen loaf takes about 12 hours to thaw.
Nutrition
Serving: 53g | Calories: 188kcal | Carbohydrates: 39g | Protein: 5.6g | Fat: 0.6g | Saturated Fat: 0.1g | Trans Fat: 0g | Cholesterol: 0mg | Sodium: 444mg | Potassium: 63mg | Fiber: 1.6g | Sugar: 0.1g | Vitamin A: 0IU | Vitamin C: 0mg | Calcium: 8.2mg | Iron: 2.4mg
Nutrition is an estimate per serving from USDA FoodData Central, for 8 servings; yeast (active dry (the first choice counted), all-purpose flour or bread flour (the first choice counted). Brands and portions vary, so use it only as an approximation.