This is my first post to the blog and I decided to make it the easiest bread recipe ever! I was never much of a bread-baker before discovering fresh flour and it’s been a steep learning curve figuring out how to get the bread thing down. But we love this bread, it’s easy, no-knead, tasty and dense like sourdough, and incredibly flexible and versatile! You simply mix the ingredients after dinner, cover, let sit overnight, then shape and bake in the morning!
This is baked in a similar way as sourdough so you will need a covered baking dish. There are a lot of options, I am enjoying this Emile Henry loaf pan. It’s refractory ceramics and can go from freezer to a 500 degree oven without cracking. I ordered from Amazon and they arrived broken and had to be replaced, which Amazon did without question of course. I haven’t found this particular loaf pan in stock at any kitchen stores though. I should also mention that I am starting to see small cracks in the glaze, so I am reaching out to the company to see if it’s normal. Oh, and you could do this recipe in a round baking dish as well, like sourdough.
No-Knead Recipe:
400 grams hard white wheat
100 grams khorasan/kamut wheat (you could also use spelt, rye, einkorn, emmer, etc)
1.5-2 cups room temp water (depends on the grain type and added ingredients)
1.5 tsp salt
1/2 tsp instant yeast
1-2 TBS sweetener of choice (optional)
1 dollop of sourdough starter (optional but adds more flavor)
Additional variations: 1 cup of regular or mini chocolate chips, 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, other flavors you can think of! I also adjust the volume a bit, adding more flour and water when needed.
Mix dry ingredients together, then add wet ingredients and mix until there’s no dry flour visible. Add enough water to make it very shaggy but not so wet that it’s batter-like. I use a dough whisk, love it. I do this in an 8 cup glass measuring bowl so it has room to rise 2-3 times its volume.
Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 12-18 hours. I’ve seen some recipes say it’s ok up to 24 hours! It will bubble and rise, then sink back down again.
When ready to bake, put your loaf pan and lid in the oven to preheat with the oven to 400 degrees F. While it’s heating, wet the counter (or flour it if you prefer) and shape the dough gently into a loaf shape, place on a strip of parchment paper that is about the width of the loaf pan. It’s ok for this dough to rest for up to an hour but I usually just start baking as soon as the oven is preheated. I like to turn the temp down to 375 degrees when I start baking.
Lower the dough into the hot pan by holding the sides of the parchment paper. Put the lid on. Bake for around 45 minutes or until 190-200 degrees F. Sometimes I take the lid off for the final few minutes. I don’t take the lid off when there’s raisins or chocolate chips because they tend to burn.
Be sure to take it out of the pan and place on a cooling rack for at least an hour before tasting! I love this recipe for testing out new grains. Emmer is delicious as a no-knead loaf!
