Mini No Knead Boule Bread Recipes

NO-KNEAD CRUSTY BOULE

Steps:

• Whisk together flour, salt, and yeast in a large bowl. Gradually stir in water until no dry bits of flour remain and mixture is well combined. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until very bubbly and consistency resembles pancake batter, 12 to 18 hours.
• Turn dough out onto a generously floured surface or floured parchment paper. (Dough will be very loose.) Incorporating as little flour into the dough as possible, shape into a taut ball by folding edges of dough in toward middle and repeating folding process until dough begins to develop structure and hold its shape, 2 to 3 minutes. Line a medium (9-inch diameter) bowl with a large piece of parchment paper that goes up sides bowl; flour parchment. Gently lift and place dough, seam side down, into prepared bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand in a draft-free warm place until doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 500°F. About 20 minutes before baking, place a cast-iron Dutch oven (5-quart or larger) with lid in oven to preheat.
• Once Dutch oven is fully preheated, remove from oven and carefully remove lid. Carefully lift dough using the parchment paper as handles and place dough into hot Dutch oven. Using shears or a very sharp knife, make one or multiple slits down the middle into the dough about ½-inch deep. Replace lid to cover pot and return to oven. Reduce oven temperature to 450°F. Bake, covered, until loaf has increased in volume and turned a light golden brown, 28 to 30 minutes. Remove lid and continue baking until a deep golden brown, 12 to 15 more minutes. Carefully transfer loaf, by lifting parchment paper and using as handles, to a wire rack. Remove parchment and let cool on wire rack, at least 1 hour before slicing.

THE MIRACLE BOULE

Steps:

• Mix the flour, salt and yeast in a bowl. Stir in 1 1/2 cups/375 ml water to blend. What you'll have is a wet, shaggy, sticky dough, but not so wet as to be batter. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and let it rest in a warm place for at least 12 hours, and up to 24 hours. It's ready for the next step when the surface is dotted with bubbles.
• Flour a work surface and dump the dough out onto it. Sprinkle over a little more flour and fold it once or twice. Cover with the tea towel and let rest 15 minutes.
• Using only enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to your fingers, shape the dough into a ball. Coat a cotton towel with cornmeal, wheat bran or flour and lay the dough on it, seam-side down. Dust with more cornmeal, wheat bran or flour. (You need quite a lot because you want to be sure the dough doesn't stick to the towel). Cover and let rise for about 2 hours. When ready, the dough will be more than double in size.
• Half an hour before the dough is ready, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F/230 degrees C. Put a 2-liter cast-iron pot or Dutch oven (cocotte) inside to heat.
• When the dough is ready, remove the pot from the oven and turn the dough into it, seam-side up. (It will look messy, but this is OK.) Shake the pot to settle the bread evenly. Cover with the lid and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake until the loaf is nicely browned, another 15 to 30 minutes. Cool on a rack.

MINI NO-KNEAD BOULE BREAD

Steps:

• In a medium-sized bowl add all ingredients. Stir with a wooden spoon until a shaggy blob of dough forms. Do not over mix. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough sit at room temperature for 12-24 hours. Dough will double in size and bubble up.
• 1 hour before you're ready to bake, pour dough onto a lightly floured worktop. With floured hands form dough into a ball by pulling edges toward the middle. Place dough ball seam-side down on a piece of parchment paper placed on a baking sheet.
• Dust top of dough with flour and cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until dough has doubled in size and does not readily spring back when poked with finger, about 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 450°F When dough is ready to bake make a 3" slash 1/2" deep across the top of the dough with a sharp knife or razor.
• Cover dough ball with an upside-down large, deep, oven-safe pot or aluminum roasting pan. Make sure pot edges are flush with the baking sheet so that no steam can escape. Place baking sheet in oven and bake for 25 minutes.
• After 25 minutes, uncover bread and reduce heat to 400°F Bake for 10 more minutes, until deeply golden brown and internal temperature measures 205-215°F.
• Immediately transfer bread to a wire rack and cool for 2 hours.

NO-KNEAD BREAD

Steps:

• In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 1/2 cups/345 grams water and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
• Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.
• Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
• At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is OK. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

BREAD EVERYDAY! NO KNEAD BOULE

Steps:

• (I do this in my stand mixer) Combine water, salt, and yeast. Mix in flours. Don't over mix. It should be loose and just combined.
• Put in a non-airtight container. It needs to be covered, but the gasses need to be able to be released. Let rise about 2 hours, until it starts to collapse on its self.
• Refrigerate covered until ready to make bread. (At least 3 hours.).
• Preheat oven to 450 F with baking stone in center of oven. Place an empty broiler pan on another rack. (Preheat at least 40 minutes.).
• Prepare pizza peel with cornmeal (I don't have a pizza peel, I use a flat metal baking pan with no edges, and it works ok).
• Dust the dough with a bit of flour. Pull a hunk of dough from the refrigerator (1lb loaf is about the size of a grapefruit, if you make a single batch it will be 1/4 of the dough). Do not kneed. Gently tuck the rough edges underneath the ball. Place on the cornmeal. Let rise 20 minutes.
• Before you bake cut 2-3 slits in the top of the loaf. It helps it to rise during baking. Using a "flicking" motion with your wrist, shake the loaf onto the baking stone. (I almost always need to use a spatula to help it along) Carefully add 1 cup warm water to the broiler pan. Quickly trap the steam in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Until nicely brown on the outside. (Try not to peak).
• Let cool on a wire rack. Then cut.
• Store extra dough in fridge until you need it. The longer it stays in the fridge the more of a "sourdough" taste you get.