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No-knead Dutch oven bread

Course Bread
Cuisine American
Keyword artisan bread, crusty bread, dutch oven recipe, four ingredient bread
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Servings 8 servings
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

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.