My favorite bread recipe, period. It is so simple, fresh, insanely delicious, and the bonus is the wonderful aroma that fills the house! Homemade bread is now on the menu for an epic weeknight meal, or when you want to show off your kitchen skills to your dinner guests. The best part of this bread, besides it being so easy, is the chewy, crispy, crusty outside and soft, tender, pillowy inside, it is just heavenly!

With this bread being a staple in my home, my teenage son decided that he wanted to learn to make it, and now he’s my designated bread maker! We always make a generous sized loaf so the next morning we can have bacon and egg sandwiches, eat it toasted with homemade marmalade or raspberry jam, or use it to make the best sandwiches or croutons!

Why Organic Unbleached Flour vs. Conventional Flour

If you do a lot of home baking like do it’s important to choose your ingredients wisely, let’s unpack why I only buy and use organic unbleached flours when I bake.

Why Organic? Organic flour is milled from grains that have been grown without the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. By using organic flour in your baked goods, you are also increasing the nutrition found in the foods you create. Organic grains have higher levels of zinc, magnesium and protein than their conventional counterparts [1].

Why Unbleached? Bleached flour is refined, and that is enough reason to cut it out of your diet! During the processing of refined foods such as flours, sugars and oils, the key and essential nutrients get stripped away, yielding a product that is nutritionally void. Chemicals you say? Why yes! Bleached flours are full of chemicals, such as potassium bromide which has been shown to be a carcinogen linked to kidney and thyroid cancer [2].

So grab some organic unbleached flour and let’s get cooking!

The Easiest No-Knead Crusty Bread Ingredients

Serves 12-16

625g or 4 1/2 cups Unbleached Organic Bread Flour

1 tsp Fine Sea Salt or Pink Salt

1.5 tsp Active Dry Yeast*

490g or 2 1/4 cups Tepid Filtered Water (heavily treated water can alter the rise and taste)

* Not Rapid Rise

How to make The Easiest No-Knead Crusty Bread

1. In a large bowl add the flour, salt and yeast, mixing with a fork or whisk to evenly combine.
2. Add the water and mix together with a wooden spoon or spatula until a loose shaggy dough forms (I love my Danish Dough Whisk for this but you can use a wooden spoon or spatula).

3. Cover with plastic wrap and set in a draft free area for 8-12 hours until dough has doubled in size.

• Seasonal temperatures will effect the rise of the dough.
• In warmer temperatures, the dough may rise faster.
• In cooler temperature, the dough may rise slower and a little trick I like to use is to place the dough in the oven with the light on for 30-minutes then turn the light off leaving it in the oven until ready to bake.

4. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

5. Place a 3-quart to 5-quart Dutch oven into the oven to heat while the oven preheats. You will want this pot hot before adding the dough

If you don’t have a Dutch oven, use any oven safe pot with a lid but keep in mind the bread may not come out as chewy since the steam is what gives the bread that amazing texture.

6. Once the oven and Dutch oven are to temperature, carefully remove and sprinkle flour on the bottom or line with an over sized piece of parchment paper.

7. Carefully scrape the dough using a bowl scraper into the Dutch oven and sprinkle a little flour over the top if desired.

8. Cover and bake for 20-minutes to allow the bread to steam.

9. Remove the lid and bake for another 20-25 minutes until crisp and perfectly browned.

10. Remove from Dutch oven and parchment if you used it, and cool completely on a wire rack (remove parchment paper) before slicing.

11. Enjoy with your favorite soups, salads, for sandwiches or with a delicious cut of grass-fed butter.

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FAQs

FAQs

Q: Will the seasonal temperature impact the rise of the dough?

A: Yes it will. Warmer temperatures will result in a faster rise and cooler ones will result in a slower rise. Adjust rise time accordingly.

Q: What if I don’t have a Dutch oven?

A: Try to use an oven safe pot with a heavy lid to trap in the steam as best you can giving the bread it’s nice chewy-ness.

Q: How will I know when the dough is ready to bake?

A: The dough should have doubled in size and be nice and bubbly and airy.

I hope you enjoy this as much as my family does. – Amy

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