No Knead Bread Boule

I used to make this type of bread back in the late 90s. Yeah, more than 20 years ago! Back then I always used all white bread flour, just plain white sugar, and baked it on a baking tray. I’ve changed my recipe a little bit, but it’s basically the same and has worked for me 100% of the time for over 20 years.

I  used to proof it in my (cold) clothes dryer so my pets wouldn’t get at it because there were a few pet-related incidents. One where my dog ate the entire bowl of dough but was fine (he had bad farts for a few days), and one where I found a cat sleeping on the covered dough, which amazingly still proofed.

Back then I almost always used it exclusively for making spinach dip bread bowls. Nowadays, this type of bread is very trendy and I thought it was funny that 20+ years ago no one seemed to be interested when I talked about it. Actually, I remember most people I told about it seemed to think I was lying! Well as it turns out, I’m a damn trendsetter, years ahead of my time! Ha!

Ingredients

• 2 cups (256g) all-purpose or bread flour
• 1 cup (128g) wholewheat flour
• 1 1/2 tsp (20g) salt
• 1/2 tsp (2g) fast-acting (bread machine) yeast
• 1 TBSP (15g) olive oil
• 1 TBSP (22g) honey
• 12 fl oz (355g) room temperature water

Instructions

1. In a large mixing bowl, add all of the ingredients in order. With a wooden spoon, mix until just moistened and you have a shaggy dough. Scrap the sides and mix in the scrapings.
2. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit (proof) for 8 to 24 hours. The longer it sits, the better the flavor. Once proofed, turn out on to a lightly floured surface. The dough will be sticky.
3. Form into a ball, tucking the edges in so it’s smooth. Place onto a large square of parchment paper and cover loosely with a lightly oiled piece of plastic wrap. Let proof for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
4. Half an hour before you are going to bake the bread, place the dutch oven into the middle of the oven and preheat to 450 f. When the oven comes up to temperature carefully remove the dutch oven.
5. Remove the lid of the dutch oven and place the bread, on the parchment paper, directly into the dutch oven. Slash the top in an X, about 1/2 deep and cover with the lid.
6. Place into the middle of the preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake for 15 minutes longer. The bread should reach 210 f in the middle (use an instant read thermometer) to be perfectly done. If you don’t have an instant read thermometer just gently knock on the bottom of the bread, if it sounds hollow and the top is nicely browned it should be done.
7. Leave the bread to cool for 30 to 45 minutes before slicing. The bread should be just warm or at room temperature. If you don’t wait, the steam inside the bread will escape dry the bread out. It can also squish the bread and ruin the texture.

Notes

• Yes, I’ve sliced it before it was cool and wrecked the bread. I ate it anyway. I have no shame when it comes to homemade bread.
• No Dutch oven? Just place the bread (still on the parchment paper), on to a baking sheet, and on a lower separate wrack in the oven put a cake pan with at least a cup of hot water in it. Cook the bread for 35 to 45 minutes.
• You can use all white flour, but I wouldn’t go more than 1/2 whole wheat flour with this recipe.