Rustic No-Knead Bread Recipe

I wasn’t planning on posting 2 recipes this weekend, but when I shared a photo of my homemade Rustic No-Knead Bread recipe – I knew you guys would give me no choice 🙂

Honestly, I have been making this very simple, very basic bread ever since I watched the YouTube video by Mark Bittman of the New York Times back in 2006. In this video, Mark is learning this no-knead technique from Jim Lahey, owner of the Sullivan Street Bakery in New York.

He shows how anyone, even a 4yr old, can make this beautiful loaf of bread at home using just 4 basic ingredients – flour, salt, yeast, and water.

So this recipe is more of a technique, rather than a recipe because it’s how he does it – that makes it so easy.

Normally, you have to knead your dough either by hand or with a good stand mixer to develop those yummy strands of gluten. Gluten is important as it traps the gas from the yeast, allowing the dough to rise and forming those giant air bubbles in what is known in baker-speak as ‘the crumb’.

But gluten will also form naturally over time, which is what makes this particular recipe so easy. Just mix up the dough and let it sit. Time will do the rest.

So as you might have guessed, this is by no means a quick recipe. Plan on making a batch at night – and baking it in the morning – as you will need at least 12 hrs for the dough to work its magic.

The only other tool you will need is a good, heavy-duty, oven-proof pan with a lid. I use my 6qt enameled Dutch Oven by Lodge and it works great. Just make sure whatever you use is oven-proof and it has a lid.

Here is the one I use and I’ll include my Amazon Affiliate link. As an Amazon Affiliate, I do earn from qualified purchases but at no additional cost to you.

Rustic No-Knead Bread Recipe

Rustic No-Knead Bread | Brand New Vegan

In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, and yeast together (see recipe box below for amounts). Make sure it’s well mixed, and form a well in the center and add the water.

Using a wooden spoon, mix until a loose, shaggy dough is formed.

Don’t overmix it – just until all the loose flour has been incorporated into the dough.

Now cover it – and wait at least 12 hrs. That’s it. I let mine rest on the kitchen counter overnight.

The next morning it should look like this.

Carefully scrape the dough onto a well-floured work surface using a rubber spatula or bench scraper.

To form the dough into our loaf, simply take the edges and fold them into the center. It won’t be perfect, but that’s ok. Keep some flour handy and sprinkle some whenever it gets too sticky to handle.

Finally, lay out some parchment paper or a clean kitchen towel and coat that with a sprinkling of flour as well. Gently gather your dough and place it on the paper/cloth with the seam side down.

Cover the dough one last time and let it rest while we preheat our oven.

Place your oven-proof pan and lid in the oven and pre-heat it to 450° F. They say 500° on the video but I find 450° works fine.

When it’s ready, CAREFULLY remove the pan and lid, and plop your dough in with the seam side UP.

Be extremely careful: this pan AND lid are extremely HOT.

Replace the lid and bake for 30 minutes. Carefully remove the lid and bake for an additional 20 – 30 minutes.

Place your bread on a cooling rack and try to let it rest for a short while before cutting into it. I know – the temptation is REAL!.

Serve with your favorite soup, stew, or simply a smear of your favorite jam or jelly.

See? Not too hard and once you do it a few times it will become second nature to make your own. Nothing smells as good as freshly baked bread and without any of those weird ingredients or oil that we see in storebought.

Enjoy your week and we’ll see you next time.

Happy baking.

Print

Rustic No-Knead Bread Recipe

★★★★★ 5 from 1 reviews

• Author: Brand New Vegan
• Prep Time: 720 min
• Cook Time: 60 min
• Total Time: 13 hours
• Yield: 1 Loaf
• Category: Breads
• Method: No-Knead, Oven
• Cuisine: American, Vegan

Print

---

Description

I wasn’t planning on posting 2 recipes this weekend, but when I shared a photo of my homemade Rustic No-Knead Bread recipe – I knew you guys would give me no choice 🙂

---

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp instant yeast
• 1 1/2 cups cold water

---

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients
2. Make a well in the center, and slowly add water
3. Mix until all the flour in incorporated and you have a loose, shaggy dough
4. Cover and let rise 12 hrs
5. Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface
6. Form into a loaf by folding edges in
7. Place onto a well-floured cloth or parchment paper – seam down – and cover
8. Preheat oven AND an oven-proof pan and lid to 450° F. 
9. CAREFULLY remove pan and lid and place dough inside, seam UP
10. Replace lid and bake covered for 30 minutes
11. Remove lid and bake uncovered – an additional 20 to 30 minutes
12. Let cool and serve

---

Notes

Tips Are Always Welcome

Keywords: no-knead bread

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @brandnewvegan on Instagram and hashtag it #brandnewvegan