No Knead Bread

No Knead Bread
This is a bread that you start on Day 1 and finish on Day 2.
(Adapted from Taste of Home)

✎ Print Recipe

Ingredients

1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 3/4 cups water (The original recipe says 70° to 75° F, but I have more success proofing my yeast from 100° to 105° F)
3 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons salt

Directions

1. In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in water. In a large bowl, whisk 3-1/2 cups flour and salt. Using a rubber spatula, stir in the yeast mixture to form a soft, sticky dough. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for about an 1 hour.

2. Punch down the dough (with wet hands because it's sticky). On a lightly floured surface (or in you hands) fold the dough over itself three times. Place in a greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise another 1 hour.

3. Punch down dough and repeat the folding process. Return dough to bowl, cover and refrigerate overnight.

4. The next day, take your dough out of the refrigerator and place in a buttered pan and cover with a buttered piece of plastic wrap. Let it rise in a warm place for one hour.

5. Preheat your oven to 500 F. Make a few slashes across the top of loaf. Cover the pan tightly with greased foil. Bake on the lowest oven rack for 25 minutes.

6. Reduce the oven setting to 450 F. Remove the foil and bake the bread 25 minutes longer or until it's a deep golden brown. Let the loaf cool on a wire rack, keeping it in the pan.

Note: I keep the loaf uncovered as it cools so that the crust stays nice and crusty, then I wrap it with foil for the first day, and plastic wrap after that. It goes stale quickly though, so it's good to eat it all up within 3 days.

Note 2: DON'T use any kind of oil to grease your pan or your bread will stick!