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It’s about that time of year when I begin to crave bread baking, and this cheaters no-knead dutch oven sourdough bread is my newest homemade obsession.
Did anyone else’s moms bake bread when they were growing up? As I’ve mentioned…over and over, my mom is not much of a cook, but she has always loved to bake. Most of the time her baking was limited to chocolate chip cookies and pecan pies, but during the fall and winter months my mom would bake up a fresh loaf of bread for Sunday night dinner.
The woman loves bread like no other. Give her fresh, homemade bread and there’s a good chance she’ll end up eating the entire loaf within a day…the warmth, the carbs…the butter!
Anyway, mom baking bread on Sunday night is always such a relaxing and comforting memory for me. The house smelled incredible, the kitchen was warm from the oven, and often times there was also a roaring fire.
So basically the perfect fall night.
Recently, I’ve been seriously craving those comforting smells of homemade bread. A lot of this is due to my anxiety being kicked into high gear lately, but it’s also the extremely chilly nights and much cooler days we’ve been experiencing here that totally have me wanting to bake.
Also, it snowed up in the mountains while I was hiking on Saturday morning, so yeah, there’s that too.
Warm, baked things are clearly what needs to happen over here.
One of my favorite loaves of bread is a really good loaf of crusty sourdough. For years now I have been wanting to develop a sourdough bread recipe for the blog, but the involvement of making homemade sourdough always scared me off. It can take weeks to make a really great loaf of sourdough and let’s just be honest, that’s kind of way too much time for most of us.
I mean, right?
I make my homemade naan with plain greek yogurt, and it’s probably the most popular recipe here on the site…and with good reason. It’s incredible and I’m not sure I can really top that naan, but the use of yogurt in the recipe got me thinking.
Greek yogurt has some of the same cultures as a sourdough starter, so I thought I might try adding some to a no-knead bread recipe and see how it turned out.
The results? Sourdough bread perfection. YES.
Like any other no-knead bread recipe, this cheater’s sourdough is EASY. The dough is made with a total of six ingredients, including the water, and it all goes into one bowl, gets mixed up, and is then left to sit and rise. You can literally be done with the actual mixing of the bread in five to ten minutes. The rest of the time involved is rising and baking time.
Meaning hands-on work is so minimal. Mix. Let Sit. Bake. EAT. Simple as that.
As the title of this recipe states, you need a good dutch oven for baking the bread. It’s a must for getting a bread that’s crusty on the outside, but extra soft on the inside. I love my Staub 5 1/2 Quart Cocotte for this bread, it’s the perfect size. Any heavy cast iron pot that’s 4 quarts or larger will be great though!
Another key to success? A super hot oven and keeping the lid tight on the pot for the first half of baking. This traps the heat inside the pot, which in turn creates the extra hard crust, but extra soft interior.
Again, perfection and so easy!
I’ve made this multiple times now in the last few weeks, most of the time on Sunday, because I just love the smells and memories it brings.
Plus, serving it up with a bowl of chili is pretty much the best Sunday night dinner.
And of course, any leftovers are delicious when toasted the next day for breakfast, or used as a base for your favorite lunchtime sandwich. I’ve been spreading my homemade apple butter over toasted pieces of this bread, and it’s quickly becoming my go-to breakfast and/or afternoon snack…and yes, the apple butter recipe is coming soon. I’ll be sending out the recipe exclusively to all the HBH email subscribers, so if you aren’t signed up yet, I’d do so soon!
Cheaters No Knead Dutch Oven Sourdough Bread
Servings: 12 servings
Calories Per Serving: 241 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups warm water
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 cup plain greek yogurt (any % fat will do, but I use full fat)
Instructions
- 1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the water, yeast, honey, flour, salt, and yogurt. Using the dough hook, mix until the flour is completely incorporated. Alternately, you can mix the dough with a wooden spoon until it comes together. Cover the bowl with a wet towel or plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature 2 hours or until it doubles in size.2. If time allows, punch the dough down, cover the bowl, and transfer to the fridge to let sit overnight. This will help develop a stronger "sourdough" flavor. 3. Generously dust a work surface with flour. Scrape the dough out of the bowl. It should be loose and sticky. Form the dough into a ball and place in a parchment lined 4 quart or larger dutch oven. Allow to rise 1 hour or until doubled in size. 4. Preheat to 475 degrees F. Bake, covered for 20-25 minutes. Using oven mitts, remove the hot lid and continue baking until the bread is a deep, golden brown, about 20-30 minutes more. Remove from the oven. Carefully lift the bread out of the pot and place it on a rack to cool completely, about 2 hours. Don't slice into the bread right out of the oven, the bread continues to cook as it cools. Enjoy!
Honestly though…it’s doesn’t get better than this bread…with a little salted butter. YUM.
This post was originally published on September 19, 2017
This sounds delicious! I would like to make it dairy free, though. Any suggestions on substituting out the greek yogurt?
Could you use a dairy free yogurt like coconut yogurt? I think that would work well! Let me know if you have other questions. enjoy! 🙂
This is such a great idea. I have a Dutch oven, so I might need to try this. My mom sometimes makes homemade bread too, but I can’t say I’ve ever attempted it. This recipe looks approachable haha. And it’s SNOWING here right now.. yup, you read that right. It’ll melt, but I am seriously feeling ripped off this September. I don’t even live near mountains!
WHAT! It is so early for snow! Well, I hope you love this bread Natasha, thank you!
I have never baked bread….gonna give this a shot this weekend with my Daughter. Thanks for the post!
This will be great for the two of you! I hope you enjoy the bread & the time spent making it! Thanks!
Does it matter if the Greek yogurt is nonfat or full fat? This recipe looks incredible, definitely want to try it!
-Claire
tallgirlbigworld.com
It does not matter, but I do use whole milk greek yogurt. Hope you love the bread! Thank you!
I have a question about step two of the instructions. Do I transfer the dough to the fridge after letting it sit on the counter two hours and doubling in size, or do I put it in the fridge as soon as it’s mixed and let it do its entire first rise there?
Hi! You want to transfer the dough to the fridge after it has risen at room temp for two hours. Let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love the bread!
I started this yesterday but my dough didn’t rise at all it was fresh yeast what did o do wrong? Should I still give it a go it’s been in the fridge overnight?
Hi Cindy, I think your bread is probably fine and I would follow through with baking it. It should be just fine. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe. Thank you!
Wow this bread is perfection, that crust!! <3 I love, love the smell of bread baking and I find it so comforting… It just smells like home and since I moved so often in my life, I always felt home whenever I would switch on the oven and bake bread… I will definitely try out this recipe, thank you! 🙂
I also love the smell, it is just the best! I hope you love this bread Lili! Thank you!
Does it matter if you use nonfat, 2% or Whole milk Greek yogurt??
It does not matter, but I do use whole milk greek yogurt. Hope you love the bread!
Will try it this afternoon. Get back to you with results.
Perfect! Thank you Joan & enjoy! ?
I don’t normally comment on recipes I haven’t made but… WOW. I love the no knead recipe that’s been going around the internet, but sourdough has always seemed like too much work. I AM SO EXCITED, and I love recipes where I already have all the ingredients. 🙂
I hope you love this one! Thanks Jamie!
Oh I need to make this real bad. I love making bread in my dutch oven. Never tried a sourdough recipe tho. As a side note I received your cookbook over the weekend! All I can say is ITS GORGEOUS!!! The pictures, the stories, I love everything about it. You did such a fine job Tieghan!
Thank you so much Kathy! This is super sweet?
I’ve been making no-knead bread for years but I love the concept of adding the Greek yogurt to the dough. I can’t wait to try it. My mom made bread all the time — no recipe just by feel. I got my love of bread baking from her. xoxo
I think its the secret to making it so yummy! I hope you love it! Thanks Marisa!
Thanks for this recipe Tieghan. I have been wanting to make sourdough bread, but not sure about the starter. I am going to give this a try this week.
Awesome! Hope it turns out great & you enjoy it! Thanks!
I can not wait to try this! Sourdough has been on my food “bucket” list for some time. Just the whole Starter process has both scared and put me off. I will try this recipe this weekend. Can not wait for the apple butter recipe. My mom use to make it but I do not have that recipe.
I hope you love it! Thanks Lucia!
I love bread, bread is my nemesis. My husband is a great baker, I don’t do so bad on soda breads myself. We tend to bake our bread year round and it’s so much better. This one went straight into my to bake list, love easy breads like this, I have a thing with touching dough…
https://bloglairdutemps.blogspot.pt/
Homemade bread is the best & I am sure your husband makes great bread! I hope you love this sourdough Ruth! Let me know ? Thanks!!
that golden crust + deliciously dense inside makes me crave homemade bread!
Homemade bread is the BEST! Hope you love this Maëva!!
This looks amazing and will be making tomorrow! I would love to give this as gifts ? any suggestion on wrapping presentation ideas to look pretty and keep it fresh?
How fun!! I would wrap in plastic first and then a decorative wrap to make it look cute! wrapping in plastic first will keep it fresh. Let me know if you have questions. Hope the bread is a hit!