Faster No Knead Bread
This quick and easy yeast bread requires no kneading! Baking in a Dutch oven is what gives this loaf a beautiful crusty exterior and deliciously soft and chewy interior.
If ever there was a rock star bread recipe no-knead bread is it. Made with just flour, yeast, salt, and water, no-knead bread is the easiest, and best you may ever make, and it even looks like an impressive high-end artisian bread from a bakery.
The recipe is from Jim Lahey the owner and head pastry chef of Sullivan Street Bakery in New York City. The recipe was published in an article by Mark Bittman in the New York Times in 2006, creating a home- bread-baking movement. He made a three-minute video that shows how easy it is to make this bread. The version I am sharing here actually comes from another less likely celebrity, Jenny Jones.
In case daily talk shows weren’t your jam in the 1990s, Jenny Jones hosted a chatty style talk show called the Jenny Jones Show during the ’90s, the topics ranged from serious current events to Springer style paternity tests. The show was canceled in 2003, and honestly, I am not sure what happened to Jenny during the next 10 years, but in 2013 she showed up again, this time as a food blogger.
I first ran across Jennycancook.com when I was searching for dutch oven bread recipes, and the faster no-knead bread caught my eye. I mean who really wants to wait 12 hours for bread?
Jenny’s version of no-knead bread is nearly identical to Jim Lahey’s although to speed things along, she starts with warm water, and while I am sure the bread flavor doesn’t develop as much as if it had 12 hours to ferment, it still results in an amazing loaf of bread.
How Do You Make Faster No-Knead Bread
- Mix all the ingredients to make a wet shaggy dough. You don’t even need to break out the KitchenAid Mixer! This bread can be mixed entirely by hand. The dough will not look like your traditional yeast bread dough, it will be sticky, rough, and bit shaggy, so don’t worry.
- Let the dough rise. The original version of no-knead dough requires an overnight rise. Jenny Jones’ recipe starts with warm water waking the yeast up, to get a jump start on the process! While the dough is rising, make sure it is covered and in a draft-free, room-temperature area.
- Shape the dough into a ball on parchment paper, but don’t get too worried about “perfect” loaf shaping. Shaping the dough into a round loaf on a piece of parchment paper makes it easier to load and unload the bread from the oven. If you shape the loaf in a tighter round you will get a more compact loaf with a higher rise.
- You will need a Dutch oven to bake this bread. There is a lot of science behind baking in dutch ovens, that involves steam, and even temperatures all around the loaf, so it is worth digging your dutch oven out. If you don’t have a Dutch Oven the Lodge Brand has a decent Dutch Oven at a very reasonable price.
How Do You Store No Knead Bread
No Knead Bread is best if eaten shortly after baking, but l
Faster No Knead Bread
This quick and easy yeast bread requires no kneading! Baking in a Dutch oven is what gives this loaf a beautiful crusty exterior and deliciously soft and chewy interior.
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon yeast, active dry or instant
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups hot water, about 125-130° F
- extra flour for shaping
Instructions
- Combine flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Stir in water until it’s well combined.
- Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature for 3 hours.
- After 3 hours dough will become puffy and dotted with bubbles. Transfer it to a well-floured surface and sprinkle dough with a little flour. Using a scraper fold dough over 10-12 times & shape into a rough ball.
- Place in a parchment paper-lined bowl (not wax paper) and cover with a towel. Let stand on counter top for about 35 minutes.
- Meantime place Dutch oven with lid in a cold oven and preheat to 450° F. My oven takes 35 minutes to reach 450°.
- When oven reaches 450° carefully, using oven gloves, lift the parchment paper and dough from the bowl and place gently into the hot pot. (parchment paper goes in the pot too) Cover and bake for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, remove lid and parchment paper. Return, uncovered, to oven and bake 10 - 15 more minutes. Let it cool at least 15 minutes before slicing.
Notes
Leftover bread can be stored wrapped in plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 3 days. It can also be tightly wrapped in plastic wrap and foil and frozen for up to 3 months.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 228Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 267mgCarbohydrates: 48gFiber: 2gSugar: 0gProtein: 7g
Even though I try to provide accurate nutritional information to the best of my ability, these figures should still be considered estimates. Please see my Nutrition Disclaimer for more information.
I have a 7 qt. dutch oven. Is that too big to use with this recipe? Thanks
Hello, silly question but I made this bread last week and it was amazing and so quick. I want to make the same to take to a brunch in the morning but don’t have the time. If I prepared the dough tonight wound it matter if I leave it for 12 hours instead of 3?!
Hi Ashlea,
You can totally let the bread dough go overnight! Just use room temperature water instead of warm water, cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and let it rest for 12-18 hours at room temperature.
Sorry that comment was supposed to ask, can you use something else instead of a Dutch oven?
Can you send see something else instead of a Dutch oven?
I make bread often usually weekly, have done so for decades and I do so using my KitchenAid. Maybe s recipes use at last 2 teaspoons of yeast I usually use 2 1/4 or 2 1/2. I wanted to give this bread a try and I don’t mean to be difficult this recipe calls for only a 1/4 teaspoon of yeast which doesn’t seem like enough? Just wanted to check and make sure it’s not a typo? Thanks
It does seem like an impossibly small amount of yeast, doesn’t it? But it works! 🙂 Letting the dough ferment for an extended amount of time also allows you to use much less yeast than what is tradionally used in bread recipes.
@Jennifer Morrisey, I do hope you trynormhavebtried this recipe using only 1/4 tsp..works like magic!
The hardest thing for me is getting the water temperature!!
This is an amazing recipe!,
How do you get that wonderful cracked crust?
What if I don’t have parchment paper?
After many attemps at making bread that turned into brick, I decided to quit. Then I came across your no nead bread and thought what the heck. I didn’t have a dutch oven so I ordered one thinking if it doesn’t work I can always sell it. I’m so happy to say the bread was perfect. But for know I will put away the dutch over and wait for fall and winter. at triple digit weather it can wait
Thank You for a great and easy recipe
After the bread rises, can it be separated into smaller sections to make bread bowls?
@Linda, if you go to the original source, the Jenny Can Cook website she answers all these questions x
I used a corningware dish with aluminum foil as the “lid” and my family enjoyed it but I’m wondering if it’s best to use a Dutch oven? May invest in one. Thank you for the easy recipe!
I have made this many times and love the results. I always add a little extra salt.
Have never made bread..made today using this recipe
Very easy to follow ..turned out amazing!
I know have a new love in baking!❤️
When do you put the water in?