No Knead Bread

Yummy note: Let me first state, I love bread. I do not own a bread machine, as I think the fun part about bread is the kneading it and getting your hands messy. I enjoy the hand care that goes into something, such as when you bake at home, maybe I'm a bit old-fashioned when it comes to that, so if I have a chance and time allows it, I will make a loaf of bread. Well, what happens when you have a no knead bread, where the bread just kind of hangs out all day? I think it felt neglected, lol, compared to other bread doughs I've made in my kitchen. haha.. but it did all right. Pretty good, actually... The bread recipe I used was from Amy and Zach's blog originally called Adventures in Marriage, but it appears they just recently renamed it to What's Brewing in the Kitchen. By the way, what cute blog wallpaper they have on their site as well.. wink, wink... ;)  So this no knead bread was my recipe of choice with the Secret Recipe Club. This bread ended up becoming this nice crispy crunchy hard crust on the outside and soft, yet just a little chewiness on the inside. This no knead bread was great for toast, french toast, sandwiches, and of course, croutons when it got to be closer towards the end of its shelf life. Next time I can't wait to try this recipe of Amy and Zach's with the bread - a nice bowl of corn chowder!  So my husband and I really liked this bread, and the texture was tender and delicious.  However, when I made the kids their grilled cheese with it, I got the "this isn't the same white bread" remark, as I was suspiciously trying to mask this new bread with gooey cheese. I thought it made a darn yummy grilled cheese, too bad she didn't... oh, the woes of a 5 year old. So, what are you waiting for, and try a hand at this easy recipe, just be prepared to be a little patient to get the results from this yummy bread. 

No Knead Bread

Ingredients: 
3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting (I did a mix, but I'm sure you could experiment with the proportions to get different results.)
1/4 tsp instant yeast
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups water

Directions: 
In a large bowl, stir the flour, yeast, and salt together. Add water and stir until blended. Dough will  become sticky and what Amy called "shaggy."  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Then this is the hard part... let the dough rest AT LEAST 12 hours, preferably about 18 hours, at room temperature. 

After 12 hours, you could perhaps peek at the dough and see what it looks like. The dough should be fine to use, once it is looking more airy and you can visibly see some bubbles or bubble-like formations towards the top. Lightly flour a board or area, and place your wet sticky dough on it.  Sprinkle your mass of dough with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice, just so it deflates a bit. Then cover loosely with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and let it rest about 15 minutes.

Next, add a bit more flour to keep the dough from sticking to the work surface or to your fingers, and gently and quickly shape the blob of dough into a ball shape. Sprinkle with flour, and cover again with your towel or plastic wrap, and let it rest once again for another 1-2 hours. Halfway through this rise, check the note below about preheating your oven. The dough is ready once it is doubled in size. 

While bread is in the last rise, preheat your oven to 450 degrees and put a 6-8 quart heavy covered pot (like a cast iron, Pyrex, or ceramic pot) in oven as it heats up. After the dough has finished with the last rise, carefully remove the hot pot from oven. Tip dough over into the pot and cover with lid and bake 30 minutes. 

Then remove the lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is a golden brown. I added on a few dots of butter at the last few minutes also to create more of a golden color and buttery top of my bread, too. (This is optional though.) Cool on a rack before cutting.

Check out all of the other wonderful posts in this month's Secret Recipe Club!