I made this two weeks ago and froze one of my loaves as a back up. Today when I got home from a four day trip in which it felt like the world lost their ever loving minds and a full pandemic was declared. I thought man freezing that bread wasn’t a bad idea… Bread aisles are empty right now. But friends if you too have in your pantry a stash of yeast (even if it’s past it’s date give it a try), flour, salt and water you can make your own bread! If like me you are working from home for the next two weeks this might even be fun. You will never find an easier recipe.
I first started using this recipe from one of my favorite sites Frugal Living NW a few years ago. Give them a follow, they have awesome tips on more than just cooking. This bread is also clearly a “frugal” option and tastes way better than store bought bread as well.
No Knead Bread Recipe was my base, but I halved the recipe as I cannot ever consume it before it goes bad. Remember this is homemade bread so no preservatives (yay, but eat it fast or follow my lead and freeze some).
Step 1: Mix all that flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill Unbleached), yeast, salt and water. Mine was initially a little dry with my halved recipe. I started with 1 1/3 C water, but I think in the end it was probably 1 1/2 C. My yeast was totally expired, but guess what friends? It worked like a charm!
Step 2: Leave it alone and covered for a really really long time.
Step 3: After it’s set for at least 12+hrs, longer is not a problem mine went probably 22 hrs. It should be nice and bubbly looking after having risen this long.
Sprinkle your counter with flour, a lot of flour, it’s sticky. Scrape your dough out onto the flour and shape into a ball. Cover the ball and let it sit for a while. I liked the tip on Frugal Living to use Parchment Paper. It really helps later to get it into the oven. The below video shows you it in double time. I cut mine in half so there could be two smaller loaves. Because again… You want to eat this within 2-3 days. You can freeze the other baby loaf if like me you won’t get through a normal full loaf.
Step 4: Heat up your oven to 450 and if you have a Dutch Oven put it in there to heat up. While it’s heating up your little loaves will hang out on the counter and rise a bit more.
Step 5: “Plop” those loaves into the Dutch Oven(s) and put them seam side up. I don’t grease the pan at all. They come right out. Cover them up.
Step 6: Now you will put them back in that hot oven for about 30 min if it’s the baby loaves like I did, or the big loaves for about 40 min. After that remove the lid(s) and cook another 7 min (babies) or 10-15 min (large) until the outside is nice and golden.
Leave the loaves alone to rest for at least 15-20 min. If you don’t you will be sorry. The bread will get gummy if you cut it while it’s hot.
Finally… Eat one, freeze one. You will be set for the next mandatory house quarantine. Also this is your friendly reminder to get some yeast that’s not expired.