Pleasantly dense, light enough to soak up stew or soup, this forgiving bread is ridiculously easy to make. It takes just three ingredients and some patience. The prolonged resting time, rather than kneading, encourages the dough to rise. Caveat: Do not use self-rising flour, which makes the bread glutenous and weirdly chewy.
No-Knead Bread
For a fresh loaf daily, mix tomorrow’s dough while today’s bread bakes, doing the second step in the morning and baking in the afternoon or evening.
Excellent on its own with some good butter, a terrific foil for soup or stew, and superlative as toast the next day.
Ingredients
- 3 cups flour (not self-rising)
- 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups warm water
Directions
Step 1: Whisk together the flour, yeast and salt. Add water and stir, using a spoon or spatula to form a rough, sticky lump of dough. It’s supposed to look like this. Cover with plastic wrap, and leave alone at least 12 hours.
Step 2: When it puffs a little and is speckled with bubbles and pockmarks, turn the dough onto a well-floured work surface. With wet hands, fold the ends of the dough to the middle. Flip onto a floured cotton (not terry cloth) towel, tucking loose flaps underneath. Let it rest for at least 2 hours.
Step 3: Thirty minutes before baking the bread, put a covered pot -ceramic, glass, metal; at least 4 inches deep – into the oven, lid and all, and heat the oven to 450 degrees. After the pot has heated for 30 minutes, remove it carefully, using a pot holder to remove the lid. Dump the dough into the hot pot, and cover again. Return the pot to the oven. Bake for 30 minutes, and then remove the lid. Bake for another 10-15 minutes or so, and remove the pot. The bread should sound hollow when tapped.
