King Arthur's No-Knead Country Bread

You say "no knead" and I'm there! This recipe has minimal "working" time - most of it's either waiting for it to rise or bake. This recipe is from the King Arthur Flour website and I'm loving it - lots of recipes, inspiration and things to buy if you're so inclined. This bread is really simple especially when you let it rise in the mixing bowl overnight. It has a nice flavor and chewy crust. I especially adore it because it uses whole wheat and flax flour.

I think I probably should have let it rise a bit longer on the second rise - it wasn't as "tall" as I thought it would be. But then I substituted regular yeast instead of instant* and used ground flax seed instead of flax flour. But don't get me wrong - it was still great! I'll be making this again but will follow the recipe to the letter next time. Five stars.

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/no-knead-country-bread-recipe

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups water
• 2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 1/4 cups King Arthur Premium Whole Wheat Flour or White Whole Wheat Flour
• 1/4 cup BakOmega flax flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon instant yeast

• 12 ounces water
• 8 1/2 ounces King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 5 ounces King Arthur Premium Whole Wheat Flour or White Whole Wheat Flour
• 3/4 ounce BakOmega flax flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon instant yeast

Directions

1) Stir together all of the ingredients (or use a stand mixer) to make a sticky dough. Continue to work the dough enough to incorporate all the flour, or beat for several minutes in a stand mixer.

2) Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let it rest at room temperature overnight, or for at least 8 hours; it'll become bubbly and rise quite a bit, so be sure your bowl is large enough.

3) Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. To make a single loaf, choose a 14" to 15" long lidded stoneware baker; a 9" x 12" oval deep casserole dish with cover; or a 9" to 10" round, 4" deep lidded baking crock. To make 2 loaves, lightly grease (or line with parchment) a large baking sheet.

4) Shape the dough to fit, and place it in the lightly greased pan of your choice, smooth side up. For two loaves, divide dough in half, shape each into an oval loaf, and place on the prepared baking sheet.

5) Cover and let rise at room temperature for about 1 hour, until dough has become puffy and fills the pan about 1/2 full.

6) Slash the loaf in a cross-hatch pattern or 3 diagonal slashes just before placing into the oven.

7) If baking in a lidded crock or pan, place into a cold oven. Set the oven temperature to 450°F.

8) Bake the bread for 45 to 50 minutes, then remove the lid and continue to bake for another 5 to 15 minutes, until the bread is deep brown, and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center registers about 205°F.

9) To bake on a baking sheet, preheat the oven to 400°F, and bake for about 25 to 30 minutes, until bread is deep brown. Remove the bread from the oven, turn it out onto a rack, and cool before slicing.

Yield: 1 large or 2 smaller loaves.

*I read online to substitute regular active yeast for instant yeast, you activate your yeast in warm water and REDUCE the overall liquid called for in the recipe by that amount. So, this recipe called for 1-1/2 cups water and I reduced that amount by 1/4 cup and used 1/4 cup to activate/proof the regular yeast. Just make sure the total amount of liquid in the recipe stays the same – or so they say!