Tuesday, January 3, 2012

No Knead Artisan Bread


 I adore this bread because I can make the dough on Monday and have bread baked & ready in a snap for dinner or a quick snack! The crispy crust and chewy inside of this bread is what makes it so dang GOOD!!

3 cups warm water
 1-1/2 tbsp fast acting yeast (2 pkgs)
1 tsp sugar
 1-1/2 tbsp kosher salt
 6 cups flour

Combine warm water with yeast and sugar in a large mixing bowl that can be covered with a lid. An ice cream bucket with lid works great! Add 3 cups flour and kosher salt; stir till all the flour is combined. Add enough of the remaining flour to form a soft dough. Cover and let rest at room temperature about 45 minutes. (Dough can be stored in fridge covered for up to 1 week) Preheat pizza stone in oven 475-500 degrees and place on lowest rack of your oven a pan of water to steam. Take about a softball size piece of dough and from into a oval shaped loaf. Slash top of loaf with a sharp knife and cover with plastic wrap to rise for about 45 minutes. Once risen, place loaf on preheated pizza stone and cover with a metal bowl and bake 20-23 minutes. Remove metal bowl and decrease temperature to 400 degrees. Bake another 16-18 minutes; lightly spray the bread with a mist of water every 5 minutes till dark golden brown. (this will achieve an even crispier crust!) Allow bread to rest about 20 minutes and listen to it sing!! Ahh... singing bread is my favorite song!
Might I suggest a little balsamic vinegar, olive oil, & fresh cracked black pepper for dipping? Oh yeah! 
 Yield: about 4 small round loaves

7 comments:

  1. I love Artisan bread! I have a fun one similar to this with lemon and rosemary in it. You could probably use this same recipe and just add the lemon zest and fresh rosemary to it! With the balsamic dip, it's heaven! I'm going to try yours. Looks delicious! Thanks Aim!

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  2. Oh my goodness... Lemon & Rosemary are the best combo! I've got to try that! Yummy!

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  3. I am excited to give this a try. Wondering though, if I want to store part in fridge do I do that before or after the first 45 minute rise? Thanks,
    Candace

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  4. Candace, whatever dough I don't use right away, I still wait to store it until after the 45 minute rise. :)

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    1. Great, thanks. I am going to make this today. It looks wonderful.

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  5. Can you use whole grain flour in this recipe?

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  6. I haven't used a whole grain flour for this particular recipe...If I were to try it I would start by replacing about 2 or 3 cups of the all purpose flour with the whole grain first. If the texture still isn't too heavy or dense then I would use more whole grain flour in place of the all purpose. If you make it with the whole grain, I'd love to hear your results!

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