crusty no-knead bread with toasted grains

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.

Crusty No-Knead Bread with Toasted Grains

• Author: Adapted from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day
• Prep Time: 3 hours 30 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins
• Total Time: 4 hours
• Yield: 2 loaves 1x

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 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

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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.

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