My mom gave me a 2.75 quart Le Creuset pot to make this bread in, which by no means suggests you should fork over such money to make this bread. That said, you will need a good, heavy oven-safe pot to cook this bread in. I recommend something ceramic. It needs to be oven safe, meaning don’t put in your nice pots with the plastic handles, folks. If you have a lid, great, but make sure it’s oven safe too. If not, a piece of tin foil can be substituted for the lid if necessary.

no knead bread

3 cups of bread flour
1/4 tsp yeast
1-1.5 tsp salt
1 2/3 cups luke-warm tap water

Whisk together the dry ingredients.

Add the water and stir until well mixed. Your dough will be VERY wet. Don’t stress. It’s supposed to be that way. Work the dough well to ensure that all the flour is absorbed. Chunks of raw flour in the middle of your bread are unsightly and gross.

Cover the dough with well greased plastic wrap.

If your house is cold like mine, you can microwave a glass of water until it’s very hot and then put the bread in the microwave overnight. The heat from the steam will keep the microwave warmer than the ambient air. If your house is 70 degrees or more, just leave it on the counter and it will be fine.

Let sit for 12-18 hours. (I have found 18 hours to be a little too long – I always aim for closer to 12 hours). Your dough should have risen substantially and be very bubbly.

Pour your dough out on a floured cutting board and fold in on itself a few times so that it’s less of a blob and more of a ball. Since the dough is so wet, I just use a rubber spatula to lift one edge and flop it into the center. Then I do the same in a circular motion.

Cover with a clean towel and let sit for 1 hour. The dough will probably flatten back out. Again, no stress folks. Remember – four year olds can make this!

After an hour, preheat your oven to 450 WITH THE POT INSIDE! That’s important enough to warrant all caps. :) Once it’s preheated, let your pot sit in there for another half hour. You want the pot to be so very hot that the dough will cook instantly when it touches the pot. Otherwise, the dough will stick to the pot and you’ll never get your loaf out in one piece. Been there, done that, and it’s not pretty. Very, very hot is the goal.

Working quickly, pull your pan out of the oven, sprinkle some flour on the bottom, and dump your wet dough into the pan. It’ll look ugly. That’s okay. Put the lid on it and put it back in the oven. Cook for 18 minutes.

Remove lid and cook for 12 more minutes or until golden brown.

Remove from oven and immediately remove bread from the pan. Let sit on a wire rack until cool.

Rip or slice into pieces and enjoy with butter or dip it in a homemade sauce. My personal favorite dipping sauce was created by my chef friend Dave Hutchings – simply mix olive oil, balsalmic vinegar, garlic, salt, and fresh orange zest for a stunning combination that will leave your guests asking what the secret ingredient is.