I came across this recipe while trawling through the NYTimes Cooking archives (as you do?), and was immediately attracted to the no-knead aspect, because.. well.. there is a certain kind of person who bakes their own bread. They are morally, emoionally and physically the epitome a person with their lives together. They are smug.
I am not such a person. I do not have the mental capacity nor the upper body strength to make my own bread at home. That is, however, until I came across this recipe.
From begining to your mouth it takes around 12.5 hours, which is perfect for our current home bound situations. But it really is SO easy, requires minimal effort and produces the best loaf of bread I have ever made by hand, so here is my recipe; a slightly alterred version of the NYT one. Enjoy!
INGREDIENTS
- 3 cups all purpose flour (plus a little extra for dusting)
- 2 tbs instant yeast
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 cups warm water
METHOD
- In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt.
- Add warm water and mix till dough is shaggy and sticky.
- Cover with a cloth and put to rest for 10hrs without touching. I like to put mine inside a turned off oven or somewhere else that it will stay a little warm.
- After 10hrs the dough should have doubled in size, and the surface should be "bubbly"
- Pull the dough from the sides of the bowl (it should be quite sticky) and tip onto a piece of backing paper or cling wrap dusted with flour.
- Fold the dough onto itself once, being mindful not to tamper with it too much, and tip back into bowl. Let rest for another 2hrs.
- Half an hour before you are ready to bake, preheat over to around 200 degrees, and place baking tray in, to heat.
- When dough is ready (it should still be a little sticky, but springy to the touch) tip onto baking tray and bake for around half an hour, or until golden brown on the outer and the delectable aroma of a bakery has filled your kitchen.
- Let sit for as long as you can possibly resist tearing into it, which won't be longer than 5 mins!
- Eat. Enjoy. Bask in the glory of your perfect loaf of freshly home made bread!
(did not last long enough in my household to take a picture of the full loaf)
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cover image by Lexie Smith at bread-on.earth
