No Knead Artisan Bread

If you want to wow your family with almost no effort, make this bread!  It's so good, especially warm from the oven, and yet it takes literally 5 minutes of your time...with no kneading or large mixer...just a bowl and a spoon!!!  And since it's this easy, who can say they don't have time to make bread for their family?!  So simple!  And NO chemicals, preservatives, dyes, or anything that I can't pronounce or don't know what it is!  :)

You do need to plan a little ahead though, as it needs to rise for 12-24 hours...although I'm pretty sure you could let it rise for just 2 hours and it would work...but if you let it rise longer it gets a lovely slightly sourdough flavor to it!  If you do a shorter rise, I would probably use quick-rise yeast.

The directions call for a cast iron dutch oven, which I do not have...so I used a different technique...see both below.

Also (sorry for all the notes!), you can add different things to this dough to add flavors!  I haven't tried them yet, but I saw online that you can add herbs, cheese, berries, lemon/orange zest, jalapenos, etc.  I think I will try jalapenos and cheddar soon!  Not sure about leaving it out for 24 hours with cheese in it though, even though people say you can with no problems.  Will probably try that with a quick rise (and quick rise yeast of course!)...

No Knead Artisan Bread

3 cups flour (I use half all-purpose, half white whole wheat)
1 3/4 tsp salt
1 teaspoon yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water

Directions:
1.  In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flours, salt, and yeast.  Add water and mix until it fully comes together.  Add a tiny bit of extra water if needed to get all the ingredients damp.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for 12-24 hours.

2.  If using a dutch oven, please see #2 below.  Otherwise, heat a stone dish in the oven to 450 degrees (I used a pie dish, but could really use any shape of stone).  Below the stone dish, place an aluminum baking pan of any size.  

3.  Meanwhile, as it's preheating, pour dough onto a heavily floured surface, a pizza peel is ideal (you can use flour or cornmeal) and shape into a ball.  Cover with plastic wrap and let set while the pot is heating. 


4.  When the stone is preheated, push the dough onto the hot stone and return to the oven.  Place about 2 cups of hot water into the aluminum pan and shut oven door immediately.  Cook for about 30 minutes until golden brown.


Dutch Oven Directions:
2.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  When it has reached temperature, place a cast iron pot with a lid in the oven and heat the pot for 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, pour dough onto a heavily floured surface (use flour or cornmeal) and shape into a ball.  Cover with plastic wrap and let set while the pot is heating. 

3.  Remove hot pot from the oven and drop in the dough.  Cover and return to oven for 20 minutes.  After 20 minutes, remove the lid and bake an additional 5-10 minutes.  Remove bread from oven and place on a cooling rack to cool.