Amish no-knead bread recipe made with just flour, yeast, salt, and water, the bread is the fastest, easiest, and best you may ever make.
The secret is the Dutch oven that locks in moisture and gives the bread its crusty texture.
Ingredients
- 3 cups bread flour plus more for the work surface
- 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
- 1 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/3 cups warm water
Directions
- Put warm water in mixing bowl. Add yeast and cover. Yeast should bloom in about 10 minutes. I add 1 teaspoon sugar to the water to feed the yeast. This is optional.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, and salt with the yeast and water. Add the water and mix with a spoon to create a shaggy, sticky dough. The dough should be a little sticky.
- Cover the bowl with a towel and let rest at warm room temperature for 12 to 18 hours.
- The dough is properly fermented and ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. This long, slow fermentation is what yields the bread’s rich flavor.
- Generously flour your work surface. Use a bowl scraper or rubber spatula to turn the dough onto the surface.
- The dough will cling to the bowl in long, thread-like strands and it will be quite loose and sticky. This is exactly what you want. Do not add more flour.
- Use a scraper to lift the edges of the dough in toward the center, folding the dough over onto itself. Fold in the edges of the dough to make it round. Do not knead the dough.
- Place the dough in a bowl and cover. Let rise 2 hours.
- A half hour before the dough is done with its second rise, preheat the oven to 450°F (232°C).
- Place your Dutch oven in the oven to heat. A hot Dutch Oven is essential.
- When the dough is done with its second rise, carefully remove the Dutch oven from the oven and uncover it. Line the dutch oven with parchment paper.
- Dump the dough onto the parchment paper.
- Place the cover on the Dutch oven and bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove the lid and bake an additional 15 to 30 minutes more.
- Remove from oven and place the loaf on a rack or plate to cool. Let cool half an hour before serving.