Faster No Knead Bread

Even if you’ve never baked before, you can make this amazing bakery-style crusty bread at home. It has a beautiful golden crust and it’s soft inside with lots of nice holes. In the video I used all-purpose flour but I also make the same loaf with 100% whole wheat flour and it’s fantastic.

No-knead bread isn’t new. The idea was invented by a baker named Jim Lahey and it originally was a much longer process than mine. You would mix up the dough the night before using cold water, let it rest overnight for up to 18 hours, and bake it the next day. The whole process took more than 20 hours. I know. I did it many times.

Sometimes, though, I didn’t think to start it the night before and I wanted homemade bread the next day. Now I can make it the same day and the only difference is instead of cold water, you use very warm water. It speeds up the process and you can have this amazing artisan bread any time you want without having to start it the day before.

This easy recipe is foolproof. All you need is a Dutch oven and about five minutes of hands-on time. There is no kneading. A pair of oven gloves is helpful because the pot gets very hot and an oven thermometer is also helpful because you need a very hot oven.

I used to buy bread from a bakery but not any more, not when I can have it fresh and hot right out of the oven. And it’s the only bread I use for my delicious garlic bread too. Anyone I have served this no-knead bread to says, “Wow! This is the best bread I have ever had. Where did you get it?” They can’t believe I made it myself. And you can too. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones

• 
• Tweet