Mini No Knead Boule Bread Recipes

BOULE - FREE-FORM NO-KNEAD BREAD RECIPE

Steps:

• Proof the yeast by combining warmed water, sugar & yeast. In the meantime measure & combine flour & salt in a large 5-7 quart bowl.
• When yeast begins to bubble, add it to the flour mixture. Turn KitchenAid on speed 2 and mix just until combined - about 60 seconds. This step can be accomplished with a sturdy wooden spoon instead if desired. (note, the dough will be rough & sticky)
• Cover bowl & let dough rise at room temperature for about 2 hours. Then refrigerate the covered dough for up to 7 days (but at least 2 hours). The longer you keep the dough chilled, the more tangy it becomes. If you're using a cover on your bowl you'll want to keep one corner open to allow pressure to escape.
• To bake the bread, pull the covered bowl from the refrigerator. Sprinkle a section of the dough with flour to make it easier to pull away. Flour your countertop as well. Then bring out a baking sheet and grease it lightly. Also grease your hands.Pull a section of dough from the bowl about the size of a softball and place it on your floured counter top.
• Shape the dough by stretching the top & tucking it beneath the dough ball. The ball will be rustically shaped, don't strive for perfection with this step.
• When the dough ball is round-ish, put it on the greased baking sheet and sift a light coating of flour over the surface of the dough. This will keep the dough from drying out during its rise time.
• Place the dough into a cold oven with the light turned on for gentle warming to allow it to rise After about 45 minutes, remove the dough from the oven. Make sure one oven rack is in the center of the oven and one oven rack is at the bottom. Place a shallow metal pan on the bottom rack and preheat the oven to 450°FNOTE: Use a metal pan not glass as the procedure to follow could crack glass or Pyrex pans
• When the final 15 minutes rise time is finished & the oven has preheated, slash the bread top 3 times.
• Place the bread onto the middle rack of the preheated oven. Then pour 1 cup water into the shallow pan on the bottom rack When the water hits that hot pan it'll sputter but that's what you want it to do. Now just close the oven door & set your timer to check your bread in 25 minutes.
• Allow the bread to bake for about 25 minutes, or until it's golden brown.
• Remove the bread from the oven and place it on a baker's rack to cool. Cover the cooling bread with a clean kitchen towel to help keep the crust softer.

NO-KNEAD CRUSTY BOULE

Steps:

• Whisk together flour, salt, and yeast in a large bowl. Gradually stir in water until no dry bits of flour remain and mixture is well combined. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until very bubbly and consistency resembles pancake batter, 12 to 18 hours.
• Turn dough out onto a generously floured surface or floured parchment paper. (Dough will be very loose.) Incorporating as little flour into the dough as possible, shape into a taut ball by folding edges of dough in toward middle and repeating folding process until dough begins to develop structure and hold its shape, 2 to 3 minutes. Line a medium (9-inch diameter) bowl with a large piece of parchment paper that goes up sides bowl; flour parchment. Gently lift and place dough, seam side down, into prepared bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand in a draft-free warm place until doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 500°F. About 20 minutes before baking, place a cast-iron Dutch oven (5-quart or larger) with lid in oven to preheat.
• Once Dutch oven is fully preheated, remove from oven and carefully remove lid. Carefully lift dough using the parchment paper as handles and place dough into hot Dutch oven. Using shears or a very sharp knife, make one or multiple slits down the middle into the dough about ½-inch deep. Replace lid to cover pot and return to oven. Reduce oven temperature to 450°F. Bake, covered, until loaf has increased in volume and turned a light golden brown, 28 to 30 minutes. Remove lid and continue baking until a deep golden brown, 12 to 15 more minutes. Carefully transfer loaf, by lifting parchment paper and using as handles, to a wire rack. Remove parchment and let cool on wire rack, at least 1 hour before slicing.

SMALL BATCH NO-KNEAD BREAD

Steps:

• In small cup, dissolve instant yeast in lukewarm water and stir to mix together (the mixture should start to bubble and develop a yeasty aroma.).
• In a large bowl, add flour and salt. Pour in yeast mixture and whisk until fully combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl (there should be no dry flour particles visible). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit at room temperature for 3+ hours (Note that a higher room temperature will speed up the fermentation process and will cause the dough to rise faster). After 3 hours, the dough will have risen and will approximately double in size.
• Transfer dough to a floured surface. Note that the dough will be sticky and that is okay. Sprinkle dough with a little flour and shape it into a ball by folding the edges over to the centre.
• Cut out a piece of 9 x 9-inch parchment paper and place the round dough at the centre. Place the dough together with the parchment paper in a medium size bowl (approximately 6 inches in diameter) and cover with a dish towel. Let the dough rest for about 30 minutes. This is called second rising or proofing. To check if the dough is ready, touch the dough lightly with your fingertip. If the indentation remains (ie. does not bounce back immediately), then the dough is ready.
• Place a small dutch oven or cooking pot (approximately 6 inches in diameter) with a metal lid in the oven and preheat to 450° F. Gently transfer the parchment paper and dough from the bowl into the preheated pot. Use a paring knife to score an "X" on the top of the loaf. Cover the lid and bake for 30 minutes.
• After 30 minutes, remove the lid and continue baking the bread uncovered in oven for another 10-15 minutes. This will yield a crustier bread. Let the bread cool for 20 minutes before slicing. (To check if the bread is done, you can tap the bottom of the bread with your finger. The bread will sound hollow when it's done).

BREAD EVERYDAY! NO KNEAD BOULE

Steps:

• (I do this in my stand mixer) Combine water, salt, and yeast. Mix in flours. Don't over mix. It should be loose and just combined.
• Put in a non-airtight container. It needs to be covered, but the gasses need to be able to be released. Let rise about 2 hours, until it starts to collapse on its self.
• Refrigerate covered until ready to make bread. (At least 3 hours.).
• Preheat oven to 450 F with baking stone in center of oven. Place an empty broiler pan on another rack. (Preheat at least 40 minutes.).
• Prepare pizza peel with cornmeal (I don't have a pizza peel, I use a flat metal baking pan with no edges, and it works ok).
• Dust the dough with a bit of flour. Pull a hunk of dough from the refrigerator (1lb loaf is about the size of a grapefruit, if you make a single batch it will be 1/4 of the dough). Do not kneed. Gently tuck the rough edges underneath the ball. Place on the cornmeal. Let rise 20 minutes.
• Before you bake cut 2-3 slits in the top of the loaf. It helps it to rise during baking. Using a "flicking" motion with your wrist, shake the loaf onto the baking stone. (I almost always need to use a spatula to help it along) Carefully add 1 cup warm water to the broiler pan. Quickly trap the steam in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Until nicely brown on the outside. (Try not to peak).
• Let cool on a wire rack. Then cut.
• Store extra dough in fridge until you need it. The longer it stays in the fridge the more of a "sourdough" taste you get.

MINI NO-KNEAD BOULE BREAD

Steps:

• In a medium-sized bowl add all ingredients. Stir with a wooden spoon until a shaggy blob of dough forms. Do not over mix. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough sit at room temperature for 12-24 hours. Dough will double in size and bubble up.
• 1 hour before you're ready to bake, pour dough onto a lightly floured worktop. With floured hands form dough into a ball by pulling edges toward the middle. Place dough ball seam-side down on a piece of parchment paper placed on a baking sheet.
• Dust top of dough with flour and cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until dough has doubled in size and does not readily spring back when poked with finger, about 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 450°F When dough is ready to bake make a 3" slash 1/2" deep across the top of the dough with a sharp knife or razor.
• Cover dough ball with an upside-down large, deep, oven-safe pot or aluminum roasting pan. Make sure pot edges are flush with the baking sheet so that no steam can escape. Place baking sheet in oven and bake for 25 minutes.
• After 25 minutes, uncover bread and reduce heat to 400°F Bake for 10 more minutes, until deeply golden brown and internal temperature measures 205-215°F.
• Immediately transfer bread to a wire rack and cool for 2 hours.