When all else fails bake this no-knead bread. Bake some bread that you are sure to have a success. I have had a couple of failures while baking this week. My pride gets so wounded when a recipe goes awry. While I do not think I am above it all, I like to think I can make a cookie.
I found a recipe online that I thought would be wonderful. It was lemon after all. I gathered my ingredients like I tell you all to do. I followed the direction exactly. The cookies smelled so good. They were lemon. I was so excited. They looked pretty when they came out of the oven. I hurried to get some beautiful photos. I took a bite. They were soooo dry. I spent the day agonizing contemplating a fix for the problem. Did I say they were pretty and lemon? I finally gave up and baked this bread.
I have made several versions of no-knead bread many times – sometimes very successfully and sometimes not-so-much. I have made this loaf of bread many times. I have always had success. I attribute it to watching the video to see how Chef John handles the wet dough. He made this with pumpkin, but somewhere, possibly in the comments he said we could make it without the pumpkin – to be sure to adjust the water – so I did.
If you make this, think about it today for tomorrow. This takes very little yeast and a very long ferment. It needs to proof at least 12 hours. I usually mix it up after dinner the night before. I use my 8-cup measuring cup to give it room to rise; then place a damp towel over the bowl. I place mine in the microwave just to get it off the counter and out of the way. If you choose to do this be sure no one turns on the microwave. If you mix this up at 8:00 pm, it will be ready the next morning at 8:00 am for the second rise that is about 1½ hours, and another 50 minutes to bake, another hour to rest. You can have it for lunch the next day. This may seem like a long time for some, but almost all the time is inactive time, and your house will smell so good. I mean really good.
No-knead is a very wet dough. I have sometimes would found it hard to work with. It seems to have a mind of its own. Then I started to weigh my ingredients. This recipe calls for 3 cups flour. A cup of flour weighs about 5 ounces per cup. I weigh out a pound of flour. I remove one ounce. I use that ounce for the bench-flour. Most of the time I try to add whole-wheat in with all-purpose flour. )I add 5 ounces whole wheat and the rest is unbleached all-purpose so I end up with one pound of flour.) It calls for 1½ cups water = 12 ounces of water. Weighing always works better for me and seems easier that using a cup to measure.
Finally, I will caution you not to cut into no-knead bread while warm. I know it is tempting. It seems to work like meat if you do not let it rest. The first bite will be good, the second will be tough and doughy – the bread –not the meat – meat will just be tough.
Slice it for toast or not, then spread it with good butter and good jelly, or make a tartine – that’s French for open-faced sandwich. Or, you can just take the ends and pretend you are at an Italian restaurant and dip into some good olive oil and balsamic. Since this bread contains no preservatives it has a short shelf life. If you see you can’t eat the loaf before it stales, cut in cubes, sprinkle with herbs or spice – make croutons, whiz some in the food processor for your own bread crumbs, cut it into slices and make a bread pudding. And if all else fails you can feed the birds. My guess is you will not have much left.
So thank you Chef John for another success. Now what to do with these dry lemon cookies. I’m thinking maybe the crumb crust for a lemon bar or tart….
- 1 pound of flour (3 cups + bench flour)
- 12 oz. of water (11/2 cups of water) tepid or you will kill the yeast.
- ¼ teaspoon of yeast
- 1 ¼ teaspoon salt
- In a large bowl add all ingredients together – stir to incorporate.
- Cover with a damp towel; set aside where it will not be drafty.
- Let proof and develop flavor for at least 12 hours.
- Gently coax dough out onto a well-floured surface.
- Sprinkle flour lightly the top of dough; pat out gently so not to deflate.
- Fold over dough to meet in the center then bring sides to meet in the center.
- Flip over so seams are on the bottom – then coax into a round or oval.
- Place on a cookie sheet that has been sprinkled with cornmeal.
- I actually use an upside down sheet-pan with parchment sprinkled with cornmeal.
- Cover with a dry/floured towel; let proof for 1½ hours.
- Carefully so not to deflate the dough, cut a couple slits in the top to give it room to expand when it starts to rise in the oven.
- Place a pan of water on lowest rack – steam helps to create a thick crust.
- Slide the dough, parchment and all on a pizza stone if you have one if not use the sheet-pan.
- Bake for 50 minutes at 425° F. You can turn the pan around after 30 minutes, then bake another20 minutes for a total of 50 minutes.
- Remove from oven – cool on a wire rack - Listen carefully and you can hear it sing.
- Cool - do not cut into hot or warm bread or the rest of the loaf will be doughy.
I am taking this to
Susan’s at Metamorphosis Monday
Yvonne’s at On The Menu Monday
Sarah’s at Make The Scene Monday
Linda’s at Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Marty’s at Table Top Tuesday
Kim’s at Wow us Wedsneday
Ashley’s at What’s In The Kitchen
Miz Helen’s at Miz Helen’s Country Cottage
Liz at The Brambleberry Cottage
Becky’s at Beyond The Picket Fence
Carol’s at BFF Open house
Debra’s at Be Inspired Friday
Cindy’s at Show and Tell Friday
Michael’s at Foodie Friday
Ruthie’s at Show and Tell
Leigh Anne’s at Finding the Pretty and Delicious
Linda’a at What To Do Weekends
Ms. Scaper’s at The Tablescaper
Aimee’s at Twigg Studios
Paula’s at Call Me PMC
Carole at Carole’s Chatter
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Marty@A Stroll Thru Life says
Oh this really does sound soooooooo good. I love bread, I really need to give this a try. Thanks for joining TTT and I wish you a very Blessed Easter. Hugs, Marty
Ms. Lemon says
Marty, Thanks for having me, and thank you for commenting. The more you make this the more comfortable you will become. And it really smells good.
Alycia Nichols says
I’ll give you this: You have enormous stick-to-it-tiveness!!!!!! Between the lemon bars and the wet dough on this bread, I am sure I would have thrown the apron in the trash and called it a day! But look how great both turned out in the end because you hung in there!!! That’s the fortitude it takes to be successful. I’m old…my fortitude fell of somewhere back there with my smooth skin and naturally brown hair! 🙂
Thank you for popping by my blog. I appreciate it! Have a wonderful Easter weekend!
Ms. Lemon says
Ha, I was determined. Failures make me lose sleep, and I need my sleep. Thanks Alycia for stopping by. Hope you have a great weekend.
Kitty says
I LOVE no knead bread and yours looks wonderful. I have the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day cookbook. It’s my hubby’s favorite bread I make. You’re so right about having to wait until it is cool to slice, however tempting it may be!
Ms. Lemon says
I have two of Jeff and Zoe’s books. I love them. My only issue is I do not have frig room and I usually cook in small batches. But I do love the books. Thanks for dropping by.
Rattlebridge Farm says
I can just imagine how wonderful this smells! I’ve gotten in the habit of dumping ingredients into the bread machine (I do love the smell, though), but your instructions are so detailed and “hand’s on,” I want to try this. Thanks for joining us at Foodie Friday! I’m looking forward to more of your receipes.
Ms. Lemon says
I like to use my bread machine, but I also love this artisan bread. I cannot eat “grocery store bread” anymore because they all have lecithin and my body will not tolerate anything with soy, so out of necessity I have had to learn to make my own. I am not suffering too much though, lol.
bj says
ummmm, this looks like Heaven. We love breads and this one with a no knead quality sounds great.
Over from Rattlebridge…
Michele Askeroth says
Thanks for the recipe. I have pinned this and want to try it soon.
Ms. Lemon says
Yeah! I hope you enjoy it.
Happier Than A Pig in Mud says
Cookies are my nemesis-love them but have a heck of a time baking them! Your bread looks great, I have no knead dough in the fridge as I type… Happy Easter:@)
The Tablescaper says
This looks delicious.
Wonderful to have you be a part of Seasonal Sundays.
– The Tablescaper
Ms. Lemon says
Thank you, and thank you.
lisa@cookingwithcurls says
Your bread looks awesome!!! I don’t know if I can give up my bread machine to make bread completely from scratch 🙂
Ms. Lemon says
I hope you will try this. No need to give up your machine, I still use mine from time to time. This just gives you another option. This makes more of an artisan type loaf. I love both.
Anjana @ At The Corner Of Happy & Harried says
I love homemade bread. Need to try this!
Ms. Lemon says
I hope you will try this. It does take some time, but most is inactive time. Watch Chef John’s video. It really helped me to learn how to handle the wet dough and each time I make it I get a little better.
Paula says
oh yum! I would make my meal out of this bread alone! Pinned to my SD board. Thanks for joining Saturday Dishes. ~ Paula
Lynn says
I made this! It came out absolutely perfect! Thanks so much for your perfectly detailed instructions. I will make this again and again. I also appreciate that I needed no special pans or equipment. Thank you thank you !
Ms. Lemon says
I am thrilled. Thanks for letting me know.