No Knead Artisan Bread
A basic recipe that is great for beginners to practice with, and can be modified to suit individual tastes.
Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 3¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ tablespoons salt Any kind will do. I use Kosher salt.
- ½ tablespoon yeast Regular or rapid rise will do
- 1½ cups hot tap water NOT BOILING
Instructions
- Place flour and salt into a large mixing bowl and whisk all the ingredients together.
- Put yeast in a separate mixing bowl and add hot water to activate the yeast. (Not boiling water as it will kill the yeast. Hot tap water will do.)
- Mix the flour mixture into the water and yeast.
- The dough will be a little sticky. If it’s too sticky, add a little extra flour. If it’s not sticky enough, add a little more water.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and let it rise for 2-3 hours. (Make sure there is plenty of room in the bowl for the dough to rise.) It should double in size and have tiny air bubbles on the surface of the dough.
- When the dough has risen, turn it onto a well-floured surface using a dough scraper or spatula. Flip the dough over several times to form a loose ball. (You can either make one big loaf or cut the dough in half and make two smaller loaves.)
- Pick the dough up and using your hands, fold the dough underneath to form a ball until it is shaped into a round loaf with smooth edges.
- Place onto a lightly greased cookie sheet or a pizza stone. (Some people cook this dough in a cast iron Dutch oven lined with parchment paper. If find it easier to use the cookie sheet.)
- Using a sharp knife, make an X in the middle of the uncooked dough. (You can also make three or four lines.) You just want to allow the steam to escape while baking so the bread doesn’t crack.
- Place a metal baking pan into the bottom rack of your oven. (When you bake your bread, this will hold water so your dough will steam and form a thick crust.) Make sure you have one rack in the middle for your dough. Pre-heat your oven to 450 degrees.
- While your oven is preheating, let the dough rise on your cookie sheet or pizza stone for another 30-40 minutes.
- When the oven is ready (450 degrees), add 2-3 cups of water into the metal pan on the bottom rack of the oven then place the cookie sheet or pizza stone with dough onto the middle rack,
- The larger loaf will bake for 25-30 minutes. Both the top and bottom should be a golden- brown color. If you opted to make two smaller loaves, decrease the cooking time by 10 approximately minutes.
- When it’s golden brown, remove from the oven and let it cool.
Notes
Eat. Enjoy.
