No Knead Rolls

It has been coming on for a while now. The cloudy days and cooler nights have me thinking of baking. Today, I couldn't help myself. We just had to have homemade rolls with dinner.

So I looked up a no knead recipe. One of the top no knead roll recipes was from Oprah. Since it didn't have any milk in it, I gave it a try.

These first couple pictures are of my dough as it is rising. I used a plastic ice cream container left-over from our last milkshake party, and poked a couple holes in the top to allow it to breath while the yeasties were doing their rising thing.


Here are the rolls after I punched them down and formed them:

I had warmed the oven slightly (by baking brownies and then opening the door up to let it cool some) so that they would rise well.

Here they are after they have been buttered and are browning.

They turned out nice and brown on top.

My husband asked if this was a new recipe, because they were not as dense as the dinner rolls I typically make. Then he got himself a second light and fluffy roll to slather good jam on. I call that success.

What are you baking?

Lazy Day Bread Baking

Hello again!

I baked bread again from the batch of bread dough I mixed up about a week ago according to the directions in Artisan Bread In Five Minutes a Day. It is so easy, if you haven't tried it, you really should.

Here is a picture of the food grade plastic bucket I keep the dough in. It just sits in the fridge, doin' its thing, until I'm ready to bake.

You can see that I just tore about half of it off, and the rest is going back into the fridge for another day.

Here is a close-up of the dough resting. You can see it is on a cookie sheet -- not a baking tray with an edge on it, because I will be sliding it directly into the oven from here (I do not have a pizza peel which is used for this by people who are really serious about bread baking).

Underneath you may also notice that I have used a generous amount of cornmeal to keep it from sticking. It sits out for 20 minutes, then I preheat the oven to 450* and I set the timer for another 20 minutes - then I dust the top with a little flour and cut some little slits in the top. Then it goes into the oven.

Here is a really crummy picture of the bread while it is baking. The purpose of this ugly photo is to show that the bread is baking directly on a pizza stone which was preheated, and that below is a broiler pan with water in it, to create steam inside the oven. This really helps the bread have the moisture on the crust it needs during that last little rise, called "oven spring." (Don't worry, your crust will still be crisp when you are done baking.)

Here is the final loaf after 50 minutes in the oven. While I took this picture, the crust was crackling beautifully (like the sound of Rice Crispies with milk on them - but so much more satisfying when it comes from a loaf of fresh baked bread).

Happy Baking!

No Knead Bread

A few times since I began baking bread, a friend or family member has clipped out a recipe from the newspaper for me. And, invariable, it is for no-knead bread. The most recent time was from my aunt this Christmas Eve. I finally decided to give it a try.

But I didn't have the type of yeast on hand that was used in that recipe (which I now know could have been substituted with what I have, just in a different quantity - so I may try that recipe next) so I searched online and came up with a similar recipe at Steamy Kitchen. She demonstrates how easy this recipe is by having her four-year-old son mix up the dough. (You really have to take a look, he is so cute!)

Being fresh out of four-year-olds, I mixed the dough up myself. And you can too!

• 3 cups bread flour (I used 1/2 whole wheat and half white)
• 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
• 3/4 tablespoon sea salt (or 1 tsp table salt)
• 1 1/2 cups warm water

I thought the dough looked pretty dry, and assuming that might have something to do with my substitution of wheat flour for half of the flour in the recipe...

I decided to add just a bit more water.

I may have overdone it, actually. But I'd rather have dough that is too wet than too dry any day.

Cover it up and let it rest over night (12-20 hours). I put a post-it on top that said when I put it to bed, and when it would be ready for the next step.

The next morning it looked like this:

Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface with your spatula. It will deflate a little. The recipe claims you can shape it with the spatula - nudging it into a ball shape. But I prefer to use my hands.

Just fold the edges under a few times so that the top is nice and taunt. Then dust a cotton towel with flour (I used rye) and place your dough ball seam side down. Cover and let it nap for another 2 hours.

I let mine rest in my glass crock so that it wouldn't spread out but would gain a little height. But even just on the counter is fine.

During the last half hour, preheat your oven to 450 degrees and place your covered pot into the oven to get nice and hot as well. (I used a Pyrex dish with a lid.)

Below you can see I have flopped the dough ball into the hot dish at the end of the two hours.

Now, cover and bake for 30 minutes.

Uncover and bake for another 15-20. Tap on the bottom of your loaf with a spoon. If it sounds hollow, it is done.

Serve with lots of butter!


My husband was impressed with this loaf. He couldn't believe that it tasted so good and had such a nice crust and crumb for something I had "just thrown together." This would be a great bread to impress dinner guests. I imagine it would taste great beside soup or stew. Yum!

You may also want to take a look at this bread as made by Smitten Kitchen.