Seriously Crispy No Knead Bread (2024)

Forget getting out the mixer or thebread maker in order to achieve perfect homemade bread! This seriously crispy no knead bread requires no mixer, no dough hook nor any time to knead by hand! Magic happens quite simply with just a fewpantry ingredients!

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I may be a bit late to the No Knead Bread band wagon. I saw this on my friend Jo’s site, Jo Cooks and was instantly inspired. As I have mentioned many a times before that I am not much of a baker, a kneader or a baker. Did I mention I am not a baker? I like things from the oven that are simple, delicious and most importantly difficult to screw up!

So I knew anything that had the words “No Knead “in it, would be perfect for me. This bread requires so little skill that the munchkin (who is 4 by the way) stood on my kitchen chair right next to me and easily made it herself practically…and pretty much mess free may I add.

When we took this no knead bread out of the oven, I was unsure who was beaming with more pride: myself or the munchkin. Its golden crust and incredible aroma was a true testament to a recipe that was truly fool-proof and ridiculously simple!

The Technique

This recipe is absurdly simple because of the amount of time that the bread is allowed to rise. This bread rises for 18-24 hours. By allowing the bread to rise for this longyou essentially end up with a bread that has a crispy crust, tender inside and a superb flavor. The other part that makes a huge difference is using a Dutch Oven. This increases heat through radiation (which allows for a crispy crust) and it increases humidity which leads to a tender and chewy middle.

There is a GREAT deal more science behind this method but I will leave that to the pros. Just know that this recipe is simple and it WORKS.

1. Mix:In a measuring cup, you combine WARM water and yeast. In this recipe we are using active, dry, yeast. I am always paranoid that my yeast is dead and it is not going to make my bread rise. So I start the (or test) the yeast in my warm water. Within 5 minutes there should be bubbles in the cup and THAT’s fermentation baby! And then you add it to a bowl with your flour and salt and mix either with a rubber spatula or a wooden spoon.
2. Once everything is nice and combined into one smooth mass. Cover it up with plastic wrap and place it in a warm place. I simply placed mine next to the stove so that it constantly stays warm. Leave it there for 18-24 hours. And once that time is up you will have a gorgeous dough with bubbles!
3. Place some flour onto a board or any other surface. When I work with dough I like to use my rubber bench scraper to scrape out the dough so that I get all of it from the bowl.
4. I kneaded it into a bowl for exactly 30 seconds, I placed it on parchment paper so that it is easier to place it into the Dutch oven. I then covered it with that same plastic wrap to rest a bit.
5. In the meantime take a 3.5 qt Dutch oven and place it into a 450-degree oven. Leave the Dutch oven in there for 30 minutes WITH the lid on so that it heats up thoroughly. I say a 3.5 quart particularly because then the dough will rise vertically instead of horizontally. So you end up with a beautiful round loaf. Once the 30 minutes has passed, place the dough with the parchment paper INTO the Dutch oven and close it with the lid.
6. Let it bake for 30 minutes and after the initial 30 minutes take off the lid and bake it off for another 15-20 minutes. I actually like to use a thermometer to ensure the proper temperature. I took it out at 205 degrees and it was perfect.

I had serious trouble allowing this glorious no knead bread to cool until I could consume it. But once it was cool enough to cut munchkin and I slathered pieces of bread with butter and within 20 minutes more than half the loaf was gone.

The next day the munchkin and I sat down to eat our lunch of Avgolemono Soupand she nicely demanded that I give her another piece of bread to dip into the soup. That’s my girl 🙂 This really is the ultimate soup dipper!

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