How to make no-knead Dutch oven bread

Cassie Sheets

With winter temperatures dropping, a day spent inside baking is the perfect way to escape from the cold. But if you’ve never baked bread before, all the kneading, shaping, and rising can seem little overwhelming. That’s where the popular no-knead Dutch oven bread trend comes in.

It’s Ridiculously Easy to Make

Non-bakers will love this bread recipe, outlined on Jessica in the Kitchen. Her version calls for just six ingredients, and one of them is water. To start, you’ll need:

  • 4 3/4 cups all-purpose flour + some extra for flouring
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast (about 1 packet)
  • 2 teaspoons sea salt
  • 2 cups very warm water (about 120°F/48°C)
  • 2 teaspoons maple syrup, agave or granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil or any oil

From there, you’ll simply whisk the dry ingredients together in a very large bowl and create a well in the center to add the warm water, maple syrup, and the oil. Then, stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients to form a shaggy but well mixed dough.

Jessica in the Kitchen then instructs you to “lightly grease the sides of the bowl and turn the dough over in it to grease the dough.” You’ll then cover your dough with a sheet of greased plastic wrap or light kitchen towel and let it rise until doubled in size (about 2 to 3 hours).

In the last 30-40 minutes of rising, your Dutch oven will come into play. You’ll need to preheat the Dutch oven in your oven at 450 degrees to prevent cracking. Then you’ll heavily flour a surface and pour the risen dough on top of it. Sprinkle another ½ tablespoon of flour on the top before scraping the dough off the surface and folding the dough on top of itself 6 to 12 times until it forms a shape.

On a piece of parchment paper, you’ll scoop the dough into a circle, then place the dough (on top of the parchment paper) into the pre-heated Dutch oven. From there, just bake for 45 minutes, then remove the lid and continue to bake for 15-20 minutes. And voila—no-knead, mess-free, foolproof bread.

Using a Dutch Oven for Baking

There’s a reason this no-knead Dutch oven bread is so popular—it’s as delicious as it is easy. If you’re cooking for the whole family or dropping off bread with a friend over the holidays, you can make a big batch of bread with little work in a Dutch oven and get the perfect crust all the way around with just 5 minutes of prep time. But you might be tempted to eat the whole loaf yourself.

Categories: Food