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.
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.
Anyway, this is most definitely a “textured” bread.
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.
No-Knead Grain Bread
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 cup uncooked grains or seeds, I used a combination of quinoa, millet and flax seeds
- 2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast, 1 packet
- 2 ¼ teaspoons salt
- 1 ½ cups warm water, about 110 degrees F
- 3 ¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting and shaping
- cornmeal
Instructions
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Bake bread 30 minutes until golden brown and tested for doneness.
- *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.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this recipe? Rate & comment below!
I made this recipe today and cooked one loaf in a dutch oven- and one with the steam method described in the original recipe.
I also cooked a loaf using the no knead white bread recipe found elsewhere on this site and just added a cup of seeds. For that recipe- I followed it precisely- and only added 1 cup of seeds.
After all of the loaves were done, I had a blind taste test with three men and three women. All of them agreed that the best loaf was made as follows:
Use the crusty no knead bread with toasted grains recipe- but cook it for 30 minutes in a covered dutch oven at 450• remove lid and cook for another 5-10 minutes until crust is done.
The main differences in loaves was as follows:
The steam/ stone method made a short flat loaf with a great crust- but the interior was not as fluffy/ full of holes as using a dutch oven.
The other recipe had a great crust- but the interior was very dense.
Terica — I’ve never done it that way, but it’s worth a try!
Could this be made in a dutch oven instead of on a stone?
Natalie — Yay! You can use a baking sheet in place of a baking stone. Happy baking and happy Thanksgiving!
This looks beautiful!!!
So I am cooking thanksgiving dinner tomorrow for the family and I was planning on making this bread. Unfortunately, it looks like my grandmother doesn’t have any kind of stone for the oven! Any suggestions?
Hannah — Not silly at all! Yes, if you want only 1 loaf, make sure to halve every ingredient. Happy baking!
This is probably a very silly question, but if I only need 1 loaf, may I half the recipe? Or will that affect the bread? Sorry, I’m a first-timer at baking homemade bread!
Emily — Yay, I’m so glad you like it! As for the slits, I’d try making the cuts less deep and maybe only make one or two small slits — just enough for the bread to expand without breaking, but not enough to deflate (which, by the way, happens to me all too often). Hope that helps!