crusty no knead bread on cutting board

It’s been way too long — way, way, way, way too long (if anyone gets that 90s song reference, brownie points for you. And an actual brownie if I could send you one.) — since I’ve made and posted a real, legit bread recipe for you.

I’m sorry. I really am.

But I hope you can forgive me because I made things like caramel macchiato muffins and Mexican chicken bakes in the meantime.

And now, here we are, finally with a real, legit bread recipe. But this time, it’s extra exciting. Why? Because it’s the start of a 12-week video series I’m planning to do fer ya. Every Thursday, not only can you expect a real, legit bread recipe to be posted, but I’ll also include a super/awesome/crazy/cool video of a tip and or trick related to baking. I’ve already made a full list on my Tips and Tricks page, but I know some of us are visual learners (read: me) and I thought it might be helpful to have video clips to go with each tip.

Plus, videos are way more super/awesome/crazy/cool than me just rambling about how you can bake bread. Way, way, way, way more — OK, I’ll stop.

toasting grains and adding to the dough

So anyway, let’s talk about the bread first, and then let’s roll the video. So this bread — it’s good. Like, really good. Not only is it no-knead (all my fellow lazy baker peeps say holla!), the exterior is crusty while the interior is soft (my FAVE). The toasted grains — or in my case, seeds and grains — give the bread an added earthiness in terms of flavor and also add a little oomph in the texture department. If you’re like me, you’re the girl who picks out the “textured” breads from the bread baskets at restaurants — the crunchy ones, the crusty ones, the ones with seeds inside or on top. Ain’t nobody got time for those plain, monotonous rolls.

no knead bread ready for baking

Anyway, this is most definitely a “textured” bread.

crusty no knead bread with toasted grains on cooling rock

And now for the video! I know bread baking can be a bit intimidating and the last thing you need is to go through the whole process of baking a beautiful bread only to find out it didn’t bake all the way through in the center. Bummer. Good thing there are a few tricks to figuring out when, exactly, a yeast bread is done:

Two things: One, when you test the bread I suggest you take it completely out of the oven and close the door again quickly before testing it so the oven retains its temperature. Don’t be like me.

And two, I apologize that you just had a peek into my very, very dirty oven. Don’t be like me.

There you have it, friends! A real, legit, simple, crusty, no-knead bread and a video to boot. Next week I may or may not have a recipe for which this bread is MAJOR for the dipping. Gotta love a good dipping bread.

And OK, OK, I’ll spare you the suspense. Here’s the song I was referring to, in case you couldn’t figure it out. Ah, memories.

sliced crusty no knead bread

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crusty no knead bread

Crusty No-Knead Bread with Toasted Grains

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Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 cup uncooked grains or seeds (I used a combination of quinoa, millet and flax seeds)
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons (1 packet) active dry yeast
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons salt
  • 1 1/2 cups warm water (about 110 degrees F)
  • 3 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting and shaping
  • Cornmeal

Instructions

  1. Melt butter in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add grains and/or seeds and cook 5 to 7 minutes, stirring often until toasted (if the grains/seeds start to pop, you can cover the skillet). Remove from heat; cool completely.
  2. In a large bowl, stir together yeast, salt and warm water. Stir in flour and toasted grains with a wooden spoon until a dough forms and no dry parts remain. Cover bowl with lightly greased plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 2 to 3 hours.
  3. Punch down risen dough. Divide dough in half; reserve one half in a covered bowl in the fridge.* Lightly dust a surface with flour and shape dough on surface into a round loaf. Lightly sprinkle cornmeal on a pizza peel or the back of a baking sheet; transfer loaf to peel. Cover with lightly greased plastic wrap or a tea towel and let rise 40 minutes to 1 hour until puffy.
  4. When dough is halfway through its second rise, heat oven to 450 degrees F. Place a broiler pan on the bottom rack of the oven and a baking stone on the middle rack. Let the stone heat for 20 minutes.
  5. Dust top of loaf with flour. Using a serrated knife, lightly score top of bread three times. Slide bread from peel onto stone. Pour 1 cup hot water into the broiler pan and quickly close oven door.
  6. Bake bread 30 minutes until golden brown and tested for doneness.
  7. *The second loaf can be stored in a covered container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. If you want to bake both loaves the same day, leave the second loaf out for a full hour (instead of 40 minutes to 1 hour) before you plan to bake it, then proceed as directed.