No-Knead Sandwich Bread
I love bread but I don’t eat it often, so I never have bread lying around. I usually buy a nice crunchy loaf of sourdough or a good baguette from Dave’s Fresh Pasta, but sometimes I’m in the mood for just good sandwich bread. That’s where this recipe comes in handy.
It’s super easy, requires no kneading, and I have fresh baked bread in about 2 hours!
I highly recommend using a kitchen scale to weigh out the flour, but if you don’t have one the bread will be just as delicious. Toy around with the ratio of all-purpose to bread flour to make a total of 4 cups of flour. I use 2/3 AP flour, 1/3 bread flour, but have fun experimenting! This recipe is so easy, you can make multiple loaves and try them side-by-side (which is what I did).
Start by proofing the yeast in warm water – you know it’s ready when it becomes foamy. If it doesn’t foam up, throw it out and start with another batch of yeast.
While the yeast proofs (about 5-10 mi), stir together the flours and salt.
Add the yeast mixture to the flour and stir until the flour is absorbed. The dough will be very wet.
Cover with a kitchen towel and set in a warm place to rise until double, about 1 hour.
(obligatory baby in a bumbo picture)
Butter your baking pans. You can use 2 pyrex glass bowls or 2 bread pans or any other shaped pan you like!
Punch down the dough using 2 forks and fold the dough over itself. Separate the (very wet) dough with the forks and plop each half into a baking dish. Cover with dish towel and let rise for 20-30 min.
Bake until golden, remove from oven and take bread out onto cooling racks to cool at least 10 min before slicing. Then enjoy!
No Knead Bread (click here to print without pictures)
Ingredients
161 gm (1.5 cups) Bread flour
323 gm (2.5 cups) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 cups warm water
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp active-dry yeast
1-2 tbsp butter, room temperature
1. In a small mixing bowl, stir the sugar and yeast into the water. Let it stand for about 10 to 15 minutes or until the mixture is foamy and/or bubbling just a bit
2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. When the yeast mixture is foamy, stir it up, and add it to the flour bowl. Mix until the flour is absorbed.
3. Cover bowl with a tea towel or plastic wrap and set aside in a warm spot to rise until double, at least 1 hour.
4. Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Grease two oven-safe bowls or bread pans with the butter. Using two small forks, punch down your dough, scraping it from the sides of the bowl. As you scrape it down try to turn the dough up onto itself. You want to loosen the dough entirely from the sides of the bowl, and you want to make sure you’ve punched it down.
5. Then divide the dough into two equal portions, pull the dough apart with the two forks. Scoop up each half and place into your prepared bowls/pans. This part can be a little messy — the dough is very wet and will slip all over the place. Using small forks or forks with short tines makes this easier. It’s best to scoop it up fast and plop it in the bowl in one fell swoop.
6. Let the dough rise for about 20 to 30 minutes on the countertop near a warm spot or until it has risen just to the top of the bowls.
7. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 375º and make for 15 to 17 minutes longer. Remove from the oven and turn the loaves onto cooling racks. Let cool for 10 minutes before cutting.
adapted from Alexandra Kitchen
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