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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
I have never baked, I’m exited to try this recipe because its easy, I have a question, I purchased Active dry yeast original, not instant yeast, would that make a difference? Thank you so much.
Hi Rose, you will need to active the yeast since it is not instant yeast. To activate your yeast, mix the packet of yeast with a 1/4 cup warm water and 2 teaspoons honey or granulated sugar. Let this mix sit for 10 minutes, until foamy on top. Then use this as directed within the recipe. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you!! xTieghan
Love this bread! It was super easy to make and came out awesome. One question is, for the 2nd rise after storing it overnight in the fridge, you don’t say whether the dough should be left at room temp or in the fridge? Also, my loaf didn’t have as thick of a crust as what the recipe photo shows… what is the reason for that? Otherwise, it was great and it was hard not to eat the whole loaf right away! Thank you!
Hi Michele!! I like to leave the dough at room temp for the second rise.
It is hard to know the reason since there are a lot of variables. Did you change anything about the recipe? Any details you can give will be helpful in problem solving. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I so glad you love this recipe! Thank you!! xTieghan
When you say “form the dough into a ball,” are you supposed to just loosely pat it into a ball or roll it?
HI! You should just loosely pat the dough into a ball. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you!! xTieghan
Made this for the second time today and can’t wait to cut into it! 1.5 more hours of cooling… and I’m counting! Both times I cooked this the bottom of the bread is a bit more done than I would like… pretty dark brown/nearing black. I cooked for 20 min lid on and 17 lid off at 475. Would you recommend adjusting the cooking time or the oven temp in the future to help with the bottom crust?
Hi! When you take the lid off, try reducing the oven temp to 350 degrees. I think that will really help! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you!! xTieghan
While letting it rise in the Dutch oven should it be covered or uncovered? Thank you!
Hi Lauren! It can be uncovered for that step! I hope you love this recipe! Let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Made this Friday and can I say it’s wonderful. I’m I bread lover especially sour dough. This is a dream come true, so easy and delicious. I love your posts, blog and the time you take to make recipes doable.
Thank you so much Kathi! So glad this turned out so well for you! xTieghan
This is the easiest bread to make and it’s delicious. It’s become a weekly habit!
Thank you so much Julie! That is so great! xTieghan
If this cheaters sourdough bread dough sits in fridge over night, does it need to come to room temperature and be allowed to rise again before baking? Thank you!
Hi there! Yes, I would recommend letting the dough come to room temp before baking. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you!! xTieghan
I have very little experience making bread. This was so easy and my kitchen smelled amazing. My only advice is to start early. Once you smell it it will be very hard to wait until it has cooled.
Haha that is so amazing! Thank you so much for trying this Randy! xTieghan
I am a terrible baker and I have made at least 5 loaves of this bread and they have all turned out great!! I folded in roasted garlic to one loaf and it was delicious as well. I used 5% and 2% milk fat Greek yogurt and both turned out wonderfully.
Thank you so much for a simple recipe that even a non-baker can make!!
Wow yes! I am so glad you have been loving this recipe Lindsey! xTieghan
I’m very interested in making this recipe, but I’m lactose intolerant and would like to know if I could use the non dairy yogurt that’s made with almond milk, it has culture in it also!
Hi Harris! Yes, any non-dairy yogurt should work well with this recipe. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you!! xTieghan
I used to love baking bread when I lived in Michigan, and when I moved to Colorado it got so frustrating and I had to re-learn everything (I even took a very long baking break!). This recipe is so tasty and an easy shortcut to a sourdough without needing to spend weeks developing a starter and works at high altitude without a hitch. My only issue is that mine was a touch under-baked, so I need to experiment to see if my oven is actually as hot as it says it is, or if I just needed to leave it in for a little more time. It was beautiful in French onion soup and I’m excited to make it again!
Hi Emily!! I am glad this started you making bread again! It is so nice to have homemade bread in the house haha! Thank you so much for trying this! xTieghan
I just made this today and it was so fantastic! I am very new to bread baking, so I was shocked how easy it was to follow! Thank you so much for the great sourdough recipe.
Hi Audrey! Thank you for trying this!! I am so glad it turned out so well for you! xTieghan
Can I use whole wheat flour instead all propose flour ?
Hi Louise, I am sure that will work well, though your bread will be a little more dense. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you!! xTieghan
Just curious, do you think this recipe could be turned into rolls? Thanks!
Hi Sharon! I bet this bread would be great as rolls. Fun idea! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you!! xTieghan