6 Steps to Make Easiest Homemade Bread Ever

What we love about no-knead bread is that it not only requires no actual kneading, but it’s completely foolproof making us crave home-baked bread every single time. This recipe is almost effortless to make because it requires no kneading. Instead, the dough is allowed to slowly rise over a long period of time. Then it is baked in a preheated covered bread pot or Dutch oven, which helps produce a crispy, bakery-style crust on the finished loaf.

JIM LAHEY’S NO-KNEAD BREAD

Ingredients:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon dry active yeast
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 3/8 cup water
• 2 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary
• 2 tsp. chopped lemon zest
• All-purpose flour or cornmeal, as needed

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, yeast, salt, rosemary and zest. Add 1 5/8 cups (13 fl. oz./410 ml) water and stir until blended; the dough will be shaggy and very sticky. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rest at warm room temperature (about 70°F/21°C) until the surface is dotted with bubbles, 12 to 18 hours.
2. Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface. Sprinkle the dough with a little flour and fold the dough over onto itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest for 15 minutes.
3. Using just enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to the work surface or your fingers, gently and quickly shape the dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel, preferably a flour sack towel (not terry cloth), with cornmeal. Put the dough, seam side down, on the towel and dust with more flour or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise until the dough is more than double in size and does not readily spring back when poked with a finger, about 2 hours.
4. At least 30 minutes before the dough is ready, put a 2 3/4-quart (2.75 l) bread pot or Dutch oven in the oven and preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C).
5. Carefully remove the pot from the oven. Slide your hand under the towel and turn the dough over, seam side up, into the pot; it may look like a mess, but that’s okay. Shake the pan once or twice if the dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. If desired, using a very sharp knife, cut three shallow parallel slits in the top of the dough. Cover with the lid and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and continue baking until the loaf is browned, 15 to 30 minutes more.
6. Transfer the pot to a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes. Using oven mitts, turn the pot on its side and gently turn the bread; it will release easily. Makes one 1 1/2-lb (750 g) loaf.

Adapted from Sullivan Street Bakery (New York City) and Mark Bittman, “The Secret of Great Bread: Let Time Do the Work,” The New York Times, Nov. 8, 2006.