Do not be surprised by the heading because what you read is correct, it took me all of 5 minutes to put together this bread and look what a beauty is has turned out to be. I still find it difficult to believe that to get a decent bread it just needs 5 minutes of our time. With this bread, you are hands free and there is literally no kneading required at all. But I do love kneading not that I’m afraid of it as we at home, excepting my Hubby eat flat breads/rotis almost daily and I simply refuse to use a stand mixer to get the job done. I mean why miss the opportunity of a free exercise for your fingers and arms.
It was on an 8-hour maintenance power cut day, I get a call from my friend and as we were talking, baking bread was mentioned and to my reply that I had no power at home, she said that she would get back to me in a few minutes as she had an idea and a perfect solution. In the next 10 minutes, she was dictating me the recipe of this bread and I was taking down notes. This basic Boule Bread mix is from the the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day which makes bread baking a child’s play and put people who hesitate to use yeast at ease. When I read the recipe, I was still doubtful of how this could be possible as I have never had previous experience of baking an artisan bread especially this way.
So, I halved the original recipe and left the dough for 5 long hours and once again let it rise for 40 minutes, waiting for the electricity to come and kept my fingers crossed while it was baking. But this was fun too as I never had an idea of the outcome. But to my surprise it turned out so well. The bread was moist because of the water bath and tasted great the next day.
5 Minute No Knead Artisan Bread
Prep time: 5 mins | Rest time: 2-1/2 – 5-1/2 hours | Bake time: 40 mins | Makes: 1 Boule
Ingredients:
- All Purpose flour – 3+1/4 cups
- Active Dry yeast – 3/4 tbsp
- Salt – 1/4 tsp
- Water, lukewarm – 1+1/2 cups
- Flour – for dusting
Instructions:
1. In a large mixing bowl, add flour, yeast and salt.
2. Pour the lukewarm water (110 Deg F) and with a wooden spatula, stir until well combined and a mushy lump forms. This will take 2-3 minutes.
3. Cover the bowl with a greased cling wrap and let it rest for minimum 2 hours. I left it for 5 hours and it was still okay and turned out well.
4. In a wide plate / counter, spread the flour for dusting and also cover the dough lump with flour and form into a ball.
5. Place this ball on a baking sheet and once again let it rest for 30-40 minutes.
6. With a sharp knife, make 3 lines to help the steam out while baking and dust the top with flour.
7. Preheat the oven to 220 C (450 F) and place the baking tray. On the oven floor (below the baking tray) place bowl/pan with water. This is for a water bath which will keep the bread moist.
8. Bake for 30-35 minutes and once done, place the baked bread on a rack to cool.
9. Enjoy it with loads of butter, jam or nutella like I did.
Notes:
1. You can freeze this dough up to 2 months it seems. After you let it rest for 2 hours, wrap the dough and freeze.
2. Even if you do not make the slash on top with knife it will form by itself while baking to let the steam out.
3. Instead of using flour for dusting, you can also use cornmeal / almond meal.
4. Oven timings will vary accordingly.
perfect.within 5 minutes.wow super.
looks soo yummy
http://great-secret-of-life.blogspot.com
wow… this sounds inviting..
this is very new to me…’no knead’ is quite tempting.. 🙂
glad that i found you atlast..
there are lots of recipes, i would like to try..
btw, the pictures are beautiful!
The bread looks very superb and very professional.
I like the rustic look of the bread Radhi.. and i so agree that stand mixers dont work well for us at all
I should try making this some time…
have read about this bread before though yet to make it; 5 min for a decent bread is right up to my alley. loving it 🙂
Hi Radhika,
This bread looks yummy & easy.
Thanks for the recipe.
Lovely boule, extremely prefect and beautifully bakes.
Looks yummy !! Simple and spongy.
shrutirasoi
Today’s Recipe
Paneer Pav Bhaji
I write a monthly recipe column for our local newspaper that is based on international cooking (for the most part). I would love to feature one of your amazing recipes in March. I also like to talk about the person, a little bit, whose recipe that I used. The newspaper’s website is http://www.valleybugler.com and I write the Life in an RV article…it’s called that because that is what I used to have my blog titled as and I do, in fact, live full-time in an RV. Anyhow…let me know!! You can also email me, if you would like at laurriepiland at hotmail dot com. Thanks!
It is there in my long time to-do list. Will see when I am going to bake. It came out super perfect radhika.
wow…looks awesome..
This sound so good and easy. Just the thing to have with some good soup. We have a real cold weekend coming up. I need to make some soup in my pressure cooker while I’m making this bread.
Drop by my kitchen for a visit.
The Contessa
thecontessa@tumbleweedcontessa.com
i always thought making this artisan bread was hard work but your instructions are so simple that i think i can actually pull this off 😀
Wow….beautiful perfect bread in 5 mins….need to try..:-)
Helen
http://myworldmyhome2012.blogspot.in
Hard to believe that it took only 5 minutes. Have to try it out some time
I love a crusty no-knead bread but I rarely make some since I’m addicted to kneading LOL Yours turned out so beautiful, thanks for sharing it with #bakeyourownbread
Looks terrific and lovely presentation. Our family loves bread 🙂
Vardhini
Event: New U – 2013
This looks great! Is it really 3/4 Tablespoon of yeast? Seems like a strange measurement.
I had mentioned in the recipe that I had halved the original recipe. So if you go by that it will be 6 1/2 cups flour for which you add 1 1/2 tbsp of yeast. so the given 3/4 tbsp of yeast is not strange.
Thanks!
Wow, what a simple and quick recipe…will need to try 🙂
The bread looks delish and love the ease of this recipe. Good pick and thanks to your friend Radhi….we got a good recipe.
simply yet soft fluffy bread
your bread looks like it has lemon or orange peel in it but your recipe has nothing but flour, yeast, salt and water. Did I miss something?
No, it does not have any citrus peels and just the simple ingredients mentioned in the recipe.
hi Radhika..first time here! and glad tht i did..just saved this recipe. sounds great. thanks dear for sharing. happily following u. do drop by my space as well..
I found that it was still dry after adding the water and mixing. I have added 1/4 cup more and it was perfect. Did you encounter it not being moist enough?
Lindsay, I believe that the water needed depends on the quality of the flour. It happens to me too but glad that you acted quickly and got good result.
Nice recipe and if you have a dutch oven or covered casserole baker the water bath can be skipped. The moisture in the covered pot will give a nice crisp crust. Remove the lid to brown the loaf.