No Knead Bread
I was gearing up to put together some chicken piccata for dinner and realized that I had run out of bread dough. I make big batches of it and keep in the fridge for quick little loaves that I bake in the toaster oven.
WOW! I was faced with chicken piccata without fresh Italian bread! Who ever heard of such a thing? So I scratched my bald head a little and thought, what the hell, just charge on and throw together a wee ball of dough and take a shot with it.
Making the Dough
I set the oven at 450°F and whisked some yeast and a little salt in a small bowl of warm water.
Then used a fork to whisk and stir in the flour until I had the dough. I put the bowl on the back of the stovetop so it would get some warmth from the oven heating up to speed up the rising process.
Baking
When the oven had gotten hot – about five minutes – the dough had just barely started to get the slightest bit puffy. I spread a little cornmeal on the pizza stone that is always in our oven. But, putting a sheet pan or a cast iron skillet in the oven when you start it heating up will work.
I stretched the ball of dough a little, laid it out on the pizza stone and cut a slit on the top. After about twenty minutes it looked like this. I tapped the bottom of the loaf and got that hollow sound that tells that the loaf is ready. It’s not ready to slice up and serve until you get that hollow sound.
Then I sliced up our No Knead Bread and had more than we would eat in one sitting. So I put the extra in a zip-loc in the freezer. I’ll zap a slice or two in the toaster oven when we need it.
I might not make my bread dough any other way from now on.
No Knead Bread - Super Easy and Fast
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup warm water appx
- 3/4 tsp dry yeast appx
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 cup flour appx
Instructions
- Turn the oven on at as high a setting as it has. If you don't have a pizza stone in the oven just put a sheet pan or a cast iron skillet in the oven when you turn it on. Sprinkle some corn meal or flour on the spot where you are going to put the bread dough. Warm up the bowl under running hot water. Put about 1/2 cup of warm water. Just a little bit warmer than body temp. Not too hot or you'll kill the yeast. Add the yeast and a pinch of salt and whisk it all together.
- In portions of about a quarter of a cup at a time add the flour. Whisk and stir with a table fork until you have a ball of dough.
- Put the bowl with the dough on the back of the stove top. When the oven has reached it's max temp. Take the dough in your hands and tug it into an oval or a loaf shape and lay it on the corn meal or flour.
- Bake it for about 15 minutes. It is done when you tap on the bottom of the loaf and get a hollow sound.
Glad you liked it Elliot. Thank You!
Very impressed. Was super easy and quick for that homemade restaurant bread taste! Will definitely keep this and double recipe next time for more.
Nice job!!!
Excellent!
I doubled the recipe and made one longish loaf. I lost count on the number of 1/4 cups of flour I added to the water mixture so my loaf had either 1/8 cup too little or too much flour but it came out great! Baked at 475 F for 17 minutes. Two more minutes may have made the crust a little crispier.
Thank You! I’m glad that you like it. Also try my recipe focaccia bread recipe. It is so good it is almost addictive Here it is. https://poppopcooks.com/italian-focaccia-bread/
I’ve made this bread many times and each time has been wonderful. Its amazing and quick to make too!! I love this receipe so much!
How does it get that white floor look on top? Does it cook and form that or is that something you put on it after
Yes I have doubled it and it works fine, I don’t add sugar and yeast does not need sugar to work. I have heard of it being added when the water being used does not taste good.
Have you done double the recipe? And I am surprised there isn’t sugar in the starter with the yeast. I thought yeast always needs a little bit of sugar for rising?
In a word, Yes. Both will work very well.
So I am about to make this, but am curious if I could use Bread flour and fast acting yeast?
Thank you! Glad that you like it Katie. WE also keep some of the dough in the fridge and break off a wad and put it in the air frier for some “hot out of the oven” bread on a busy weeknight.
My husband and I loved this recipe! The bread was soft with a great crust. We will definitely make this again! Thank you poppop!
Good point. Thank you.
You really should have included the steps you typed out specifically into the recipe rather than just the text before
Thank you, Leigh Things that would cause it not to rise..1. Turn your oven on first. – 2.The bowl that you are going to make the dough in needs to be warmed up under hot running water before you add the warm water. 3.Water for the dough not warm enough. Test it as it’s coming out of the tap with your fingers. It should be warmer than body temp but not so hot that you can’t keep you finger there.4 not enough yeast or old dead yeast. — Put the dough on the back the stove top where the oven vents out to get a quicker rise. hope this helps ask again if i can help.
Thank you so much for this recipe! even though mine did not rise, the bread came out pretty good for something so quick.
Thank you Joan! Make it!
Love it!!
It just had about 10 minutes in the situation that I found myself in and it turned out real good. It had just a little bit of puffiness on the top surface and it still turned out great. Traditional recipes say that until it doubles in size (1-2 hours). When I used to make big batches and then keep it in the fridge I would let it sit overnight and then put it in the fridge in a Tupperware with the lid on it. But i’m doing it like this from on.
How long should the dough rise?